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Georgia Parent Fights For Right To Expose Flaws In Evolution

9/14/2002   

"Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." (Genesis 1:26)

Most professional educators resent the whole notion of teaching creationism in the classroom because it has nothing to do with science and everything to do with faith. But there’s an interesting argument coming out of Cobb County, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb, where a parent is asking the Board of Education to require teachers to expose flaws in evolution.

It’s a different twist this time around because Larry Taylor’s argument has nothing to do with religion. Well read and articulate, Taylor grew tired on seeing critics of evolution dismissed as unenlightened misfits. He recently told an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter, "If it raises tough questions in the classroom, that’s why they’re there."

The Board vote on the policy is scheduled for September 26. However, the debate has already drawn national attention and regardless of the decision, litigation will likely follow.

While he disagrees with biological evolution, Taylor will not identify himself as a creationist or an advocate on "intelligent design", which argues that the diversity of life is result on some master plan by an unidentified "designer."

But Taylor has read "Darwin’s Black Box," a challenge of evolution by a biochemist and Lehigh University, and a stack of other books that question evolution. He believes that these books, many written by scientists if not biologists, are being ignored unfairly by school teachers and the media. "The media presents it as the educated scientists vs. the religious, fanatical extremists."

Taylor was particularly angered when school teachers told the Cobb school board that criticism of evolution was based in religion. All the facts should be taught in the science class," he said. "There are many credible scientists in America who believe evolution has many flaws."

I’m glad to see that evolution is being challenged on grounds to which today’s court system will likely listen. The irony is that while science will provide the platform to discredit evolution, the same science will open the door for some not-so-new ideas about the origin of life. Did you ever think you’d see the day when science would imply that some of the other ideas about how we got here now merit some investigation? It certainly gives Christians an excellent opportunity to point out that God’s version is also worth a second look.

This is a very important argument for Christians because we believe that there was no death until Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In other words, the physical process of dying began with, and because of, Adam’s sin. That’s why Paul said in Romans, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) So you see, if death preceded sin, which is the case with evolution, then it waters down the gospel and dispels many of the biblical principles that point to the need for a savior. In short, it suggests that it’s not just sin that kills. Think about it. If death comes from something other than the wages of sin, then maybe Jesus is not the only way to attain eternal life.

Evolution is more than a theory. It contradicts the very core of what Christians believe and has done as much damage to our country as prohibiting prayer in the classroom. It’s good to finally learn that science to beginning to help prove what God once told Isaiah: So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void " (Isaiah 55:11)

posted by Mike Ruffin on 9/14/2002