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The Bible and Science in Court

Expert Author Ed Raine

The debates between science and creationists have been controversial and sometimes reached a "dangerous" peak, becoming serious legal matters. An example of such situation was generated by the issue of what children should be taught in school.

In America, the subject regarding the role of the Bible in public government-funded schools is a hot topic since the country invokes the separation of church and state as a basic principle. Nevertheless, there were cases in which the religious party had victory over the science. In 1925, a law banning the teaching of evolution in the classroom was passed in the state of Tennessee. John Scopes, a public school science teacher, volunteered to be put on trial in an effort to challenge this law. The trail became famous and got the name of Scopes Monkey Trial, taking place in the same year. It consisted of a great public spectacle as the prosecutor and the defendant's lawyer engaged in a theatrical courtroom battle. The prosecutor was the religious fundamentalist and former presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, facing Clarence Darrow as his opponent. The two parties presented dramatically their views, the trial coming to an end by convicting and fining Scopes. Nevertheless, the case was later overturned on the basis of a technicality.

The controversy however didn't end with the above mentioned trial. Although evolutionist science has expanded, gathering more and more solid "evidence", there were still states that exerted efforts in order to emit laws restricting its scope. For instance, in 1999, the Kansas Board of Education took measures to push evolutionist theory way down in their school curricula. Consequently, the amount of attention paid in classroom to this matter was quite reduced. It could be mentioned in classroom, but discussions in depth weren't allowed.

In spite of the numerous debates creationists vs evolutionists, there are some principles which should be kept in mind so that things can settle and one can say "can't we get along?". For instance, scientists should know that Bible supporters rely their arguments on faith, which is not very debatable and, moreover, they deal with concepts that are not measurable in a laboratory. On the other hand, the creationists shouldn't be so vehement because if scientists come with some theories, that doesn't mean they are religion-hating atheists. Many believe in God, but have a different way to do it.

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