The 1968 Supreme Court case, Epperson v. Arkansas, ruled that the Arkansas statute prohibiting the teaching of evolution in public schools was unconstitutional as it violated First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The Justices in the case ruled that while states should exercise their right to specify their school curriculum, banning a particular branch of knowledge because it is contradictory to religious dogma “hinder[s] the quest for knowledge, restrict[s]the freedom to learn, and restrain[s] the freedom to teach" (Epperson v. Arkansas). The Epperson case was one of many Supreme Court cases that would “secularize” the public school system and allow room for a scientific, non-religious voice in the classroom.
The Epperson case provides an unusual precedent by which to examine the current Tennessee legislation. Just as the teaching of Darwinian Theory or climate change should not be prohibited in public schools, the teaching of alternative theories like creationism should not be denied either. To deny the teaching of such alternative views would be to suppress knowledge and prevent true educational freedom. The only boundary that has the potential to be crossed here is that of religious propagation. The law leaves much room for pedagogical error and trusts teachers to present the material in a balanced way that does not support or favor the said "alternative" theories. It is indeed a slippery slope here; how much confidence do we have that teachers will present secular and religious theories in an evenhanded way without violating boundaries set forth by the Fourteenth Amendment?
7 comments:
i like the fact that this post goes hand in hand with this week's discussion. I is like an introduction but also a step back into the history of these kind of cases. Its interesting to know that the Tennessee legislature is taking this step towards educational freedom. I am curious to find out how many other states follow in this case.
I find this vastly thought provoking. It is interesting how society gets "hyped up" on either evolution or alternative creation theories be taught in school, there seems to be a conflicting issue in that there isn't much mention of the investment of "trust" in educators to follow through with presenting the material in a secular manner. If public education is to be held as the "symbol of democracy" and that the quest for knowledge should be respected, I find that it would be wrong and hurtful not to respectfully teach both theories of evolution/creation. If teachers are allowed to teach about religion - then in terms of creation theory being taught - it must be presented in a historical, objective manner. Just as evolution theory should be presented.
I think it is extremely important for young students to have a diverse educational experience. It is important for students to be exposed to an array of ideas so that they can learn how to think for themselves and formulate their own beliefs. When people are exposed to different theories they are more likely to be open minded. If the Tennessee schools can find a way to present these theories in an equitable way, I see no problem with it. It might prove to be an advantageous decision for young students in Tennessee. Although, if there is evidence that there is one scientific theory that is promoted over another, there might be another free speech or establishment clause issue as seen in the Epperson case.
I'm in agreement with Alicia. This post allows me to use my favorite reasoning to this case and a few others we've read."If-then-both-and"
"If" we teach one theory "then" teach "both" "and" figure out how to do it in a balanced way. After all you're teachers and school administrators. Surely you're among the educated. I say up with knowledge that causes students (and their parents) to think!
This is in direct violation of the US Constitution’s separation of church and state, which states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". The churches have begun to preach politics, and the politicians are preaching religion so there is no longer a distinguishable separation of church and state. There are presently some politicians who claim that our Founding Fathers created our country based Christian principles. Because of their lack of a non-biased education they are wrong. And as a result of their biased views and political standing, our children are being deprived of a thorough education.
I really like what Anne said, “’If’ we teach one theory ‘then’ teach ‘both’ ‘and’ figure out how to do it in a balanced way.” I just do not agree with the teach both. Not every religion believes in the creation theory. Why should the non-Christians have to learn about the creation theory? I believe that the creation theory should be left up a world religions class. Also, if creationism is going to be taught, then should teachers also teach about different religion’s creation story? In a college biology class you are only taught about evolution, meaning that there is some validly to the theory. So, why cannot high school students not be taught the same thing, why do high school teachers have to balance both evolution and the creation theory?
This article and these comments present very interesting perspectives on these issues. I almost am inclined to say that the inclusion of religion in science classrooms is an unfair privileging of religion. Why should religion be given permission to be included in science classrooms? They are not scientifically founded and the inclusion of them in a science classroom exists only as a privileged for a religious viewpoint. I think it is certainly advantageous for these to be presented in other classroom settings, but to place them in a science classroom serves no purpose but to privileged a religious viewpoint.
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