The Kansas Board of Education's decision to remove evolution from the state's science curriculum underscores that the evolution vs. creation debate has not abated and may even be intensifying. Thwarted by the courts in their efforts to require teaching that a supernatural being created humans and other species, creationists are trying various ways to call into question the science of evolution. One strategy is the quiet discouragement of the teaching of evolution. The Kansas board voted this month to delete virtually all references to biological evolution from its guiding curriculum. Another is the approach adopted by Alabama, which instructs teachers to present evolution as an unproven theory.
Evolutionists say their position has never been stronger or more widely accepted.
But creationists say schools should present the idea that humans and other species evolved from a common ancestor as a theory that cannot be verified. No one was present when life first appeared on earth. Therefore, any statement about life's origins should be considered as theory, not fact. Alabama Board of Education member Stephanie Bell, who wrote the final version of the insert, said the issue has resurfaced with such strength partly as a reaction to the way textbooks handle the topic. Some evolutionists fear the debate may prompt textbook publishers concerned with future sales to soften or delete descriptions of evolution from biology texts.