Proposal to teach creationism in school

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - A heavily debated bill passed a Senate panel and heads to the floor of the Indiana Statehouse.

It's a topic that’s been debated since almost the beginning of time: creationism.

The proposed bill allows public schools to teach the ideas of creationism in their classrooms.

Specifically, the bill allows schools to teach "various theories concerning the origin of life."

It cites “creation science” as one of those theories.

Creationism is a Premillenial Fundamentalist Protestant Christian belief that the Earth and it's creatures were created by a diety.

The debate not only includes government and science, but also various religious groups disagreeing on the origin of life.

Religious leaders argue that it's best to keep faith out of the classroom, and scientists say this idea is completely religious based. They argue it can't be compared to evolution, which is the scientific theory of the origin of life.

One local scientist who studies the topic and its history says this isn't scientific at all.

"The problem is that creationism is not science,” Indiana State University professor Dr. George Bakken said. “They start out with the answer, and the answer never changes.

“They just change the evidence and the approach. That's not how you do science."

This topic has a strong history in the court system.

In 1968 in Epperson verses Arkansas, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a law prohibiting the teaching of evolution violated the First Amendment.

In 1982, a U.S. federal court said balanced treatment of creation and evolution was unconstitutional.

Seven years ago, a school board in Delaware attempted to create a similar law calling creationism “intelligent design”. It later failed when challenged by the courts.

In all of these cases, the courts ruled it as a violation of First Amendment rights.