Latest Challenges to the Teaching of Evolution

Evolution is already being taught in schools

What solution did that idiot offer?

The coal is no use to anybody until science comes along. Our science. The Christian version.

Are you really being intellectually honest with yourself? Really?

Dogmas deny evolution, hinder scientific progress
(By: Natalie Casanova, Brookhaven College Courier, 4/25/11)

One of the most absurd controversies today is the teaching of evolution. It is true evolution is a theory, but it is illogical to deny something with great merit backed by overwhelming evidence. Gravity - also a theory - is widely accepted as fact, after much systematic research and time.

A typical misconception about evolution is that we evolved from monkeys. Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, on richarddawkins.net, states chimpanzees and bonobos are related to humans through a common ancestor. It is more accurate to view humans as cousins of apes in the Homo genus, not descendants.

Those who oppose evolution either deny or are ignorant of critical evidence like human vestigiality. The appendix, wisdom teeth, tailbone and ear muscles are all vestigial structures. They once served a purpose, but now either have less significant or functionless roles, face agenesis (failure to develop during the embryonic stages of life) and are ultimately phased out of existence.

In the documentary "Inside Nature's Giants: The Giraffe," Dawkins explains how the recurrent laryngeal nerve in mammals is valid evidence for evolution. The nerve connects the brain and larynx, and controls sound production, breathing and swallowing. The nerve should only have to travel a few inches from point A to B. Instead, it starts at the brain, spans the length of the throat, loops through blood vessels near the heart and travels up the neck into the larynx.

Dawkins said this was the most direct route in mammals' earlier, fish-like ancestors. The nerve lengthened over millions of years with the elongation of mammalian necks, making small changes versus path-altering ones.

In 2006, researchers at the University of Chicago discovered 700 regions in the human genome that suggest DNA adapted to various environmental changes in different regions over time. An example is the manifold development of skin pigmentation in indigenous people across the world.

Researchers at New York University's School of Medicine recently identified a shocking variation in a gene found in Atlantic tomcod of the Hudson River. The river has high levels of toxic Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Some of these fish developed a resistance to the harmful pollutant by rapid evolutionary change, which is necessary to continue living in that environment.

After nearly being eradicated, tuberculosis is back on the rise. According to the textbook "Biology: Science for Life," Mycobacterium tuberculosis fits Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection because it mutates to become more antibiotic-resistant. The newest variations of the bacteria contain drug-resistant traits in their DNA and are more likely to survive treatment - survival is not random. The common cold mutates in a similar way.

I respect all religious beliefs, but I think people should keep their dogmas to themselves, especially when they discourage freethinking and scientific advancement. Many faiths accept evolution because it has been proven as scientific fact. Other beliefs, such as Creationism, do not, and instead are actively counterproductive to scientific innovation.

Some groups advocate against evolution and push for public schools to "Teach the Controversy." If public school began to teach intelligent design, it would be a direct violation of separation of church and state.

Think of how silly it would be to teach young, impressionable students the Earth is flat and is the center of the universe? Some faiths believe schools should teach Earth is only 6,000-10,000 years old, when according to the Smithsonian Institution, there are multicellular eukaryote fossils dating back 2.1 billion years.

We don't introduce the Greek gods of Olympus as historical fact in public institutions, we teach them and other religions as theology - the study of gods and religion in general. If we let faith overflow into public education, it would discredit all the scientific progress we have made. Does anyone remember what happened during the Dark Ages?

One of the most absurd controversies today is the teaching of evolution.

Why would anyone seek to continue to read what can only be a justification of such a crass absurdity?

I dismissed the de Vinci Code after about 8 lines.