Religious Freedom: Creation and Evolution

With the American election in full swing now, and the recent selection of Sarah Palin to be the Vice Presidential candidate for the Republicans, there is quite a buzz involving her belief in Creation. Frankly, I'm a bit astounded that many people think it is an issue at all, since America is still one of the more religiously grounded western nations.

So I did some checking; Pew Research Poll analysis of Creation and Evolution beliefs

Surveys are also fairly consistent in their estimates of how many Americans believe in evolution or creationism. Approximately 40%-50% of the public accepts a biblical creationist account of the origins of life, while comparable numbers accept the idea that humans evolved over time. The wording of survey questions generally makes little systematic difference in this division of opinion.

This article also speaks about other polls and why their results differ because of the way they asked the questions. One example was that Pew asked more yes and no questions, whereas some other polls questions asked them to pick from multiple mutually exclusive choices. Many people think Creation is mutually exclusive of an understanding and belief in evolution.

A 1999 Fox News poll of registered voters offered respondents the explicit option to say that both Darwin's theory of evolution and the biblical account of creation were true: 26% said both were.

My view is that schools are places where learning should occur, whether that be science or theology. I would think it best to limit science to the science classroom, and theology to a philosophy classroom. However, our spirituality, or lack of it permeates our lives. As a free people, we should be allowed to express our beliefs without repercussions. I would add, for those that might think I wish to bring religion into the biology classroom, that the theory of Intelligent Design, without corresponding scientific evidence, is still in the realm of science philosophy, just as is any other hard to prove theory such as are in the realms of cosmology, particle physics, etc. When things get too big (e.g. universe), or too small (e.g. subatomic), or too long ago (e.g. birth of the universe), science has little to offer, since it is based on observed phenomena.

I believe the true nature of God, is unfathomable for us who have a very limited perception. This is especially true for those that approach the topic of God, from the perspective of a scientist. My theory is that you don't find God with your head, you find him with your heart. Your head can help understand God by reading the Bible. I'll leave with a quote from Johannes Keppler (1571 – 1630) A Professor of Mathematics at the University of Graz, "That day is impending when people will admit the pure truth both in the book of Nature as well as in the Holy Bible and rejoice at the harmony between these two revelations."