[Catalist] Religions and Science: Biological Evolution versus Creationism Revisited

[Michael McGarry]

Greetings CATALIST Subscribers,

“A survey of beliefs in the origin of life and the universe has found that the majority of Australians believe in creationism and theistic evolution.”

Reference 1 URL: http://www.australasianscience.com.au/article/issue-april-2011/nation-creationists.html <http://www.australasianscience.com.au/article/issue-april-2011/nation-creationists.html>
“ . . . This high prevalence of creationist belief among young adults, even in a society tending more towards secularism, widespread belief in creationism will remain in Australia for a considerable time.” [An Extract]

Reference 2 URL: https://www.plainreason.org/articles/survey-creationism-australia/ <https://www.plainreason.org/articles/survey-creationism-australia/>
“Giving so many children a daily diet of Christianity or Islam is one thing, but instilling in them the anti-science of Creationism is an entirely different issue. Clearly, there are increasing numbers of Australian religious schools teaching the Old Testament as the “infallible and inerrant Word of God”. A recent New York Times feature explains how this evangelical “worldview” of creationism turns children against the very principles of science.”

Reference 3 URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/science-vs-scripture-what-are-kids-being-taught-in-school/news-story/86ca517d2ed8f29252a5335d3b4a1237 <https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/science-vs-scripture-what-are-kids-being-taught-in-school/news-story/86ca517d2ed8f29252a5335d3b4a1237>
“The percentage of U.S. adults who believe that God created humans in their present form at some time within the last 10,000 years or so -- the strict creationist view -- has reached a new low. Thirty-eight % of U.S. adults now accept creationism, while 57% believe in some form of evolution -- either God-guided or not -- saying man developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life.”

Reference 4 URL: http://news.gallup.com/poll/210956/belief-creationist-view-humans-new-low.aspx <http://news.gallup.com/poll/210956/belief-creationist-view-humans-new-low.aspx>
“In March 2006, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, joined the evolution versus creationism debate when he said in an interview with the Guardian newspaper that he did not believe that creationism - the scriptural account of the origins of the world - should be taught in schools.”

Reference 5 URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/creationism_1.shtml <http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/creationism_1.shtml>
“The Qur'an further states that Allah created the sun, the moon, and the planets, each with their own individual courses or orbits. "It is He Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon; all (the celestial bodies) swim along, each in its rounded course" (21:33).”

Reference 6 URL: http://www2.nau.edu/~gaud/bio301/content/iscrst.htm <http://www2.nau.edu/~gaud/bio301/content/iscrst.htm>
“Why I teach evolution to Muslim students: Encouraging students to challenge ideas is crucial to fostering a generation of Muslim scientists who are free thinkers, says Rana Dajani.”

Reference 7 URL: https://www.nature.com/news/why-i-teach-evolution-to-muslim-students-1.17364 <https://www.nature.com/news/why-i-teach-evolution-to-muslim-students-1.17364>
“Denial of evolution is a defining characteristic of education in Orthodox Judaism. But what does the most modern segment of Orthodox Judaism — the small number of students permitted to go to a public university and be exposed to non-censored scientific knowledge — believe about evolution and other scientific issues?”

Reference 8 URL: https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/orthodox-jews-and-science/ <https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/orthodox-jews-and-science/>
“As the noted geneticist and evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900–1975) famously commented, “nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” However, creationism in its many forms insists that everything in nature was created by a deity: …”

Reference 9 URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2267227/ <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2267227/>
“Creationism and intelligent design are terms used to describe supernatural explanations for the origin of life, and the diversity of species on this planet. Many scientists have argued that the science classroom is no place for discussion of creationism. When I began teaching I did not teach creationism, as I focused instead on my areas of expertise. Over time it became clear that students had questions about creationism, and did not understand the difference between a scientific approach to knowledge and non-scientific approaches. This led me to wonder whether ignoring supernatural views allowed them to remain as viable “alternatives” to scientific hypotheses, in the minds of students.”

Reference 10 URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4469816/ <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4469816/>
Science, Religion, Evolution and Creationism: Primer

Smithsonian URL: http://humanorigins.si.edu/about/broader-social-impacts-committee/science-religion-evolution-and-creationism-primer <http://humanorigins.si.edu/about/broader-social-impacts-committee/science-religion-evolution-and-creationism-primer>
Best Wishes,

Michael John McGarry
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