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It is a popular misconception that evolution is a singular scientific explanation for the origin of life.  The so-called "theory of evolution" is not taught in schools as a debatable theory but as a scientific fact considered so obviously true that competing opinion is no longer allowed.  In today's schools, the debate is settled and final.  Maybe a legitimate question to ask is this - exactly what is evolution?

According to the website of the University of California Museum of Paleontology (source: www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/evotheory.html),

"The theory of evolution, formalized by Charles Darwin, is as much theory as is the theory of gravity, or the theory of relativity. Unlike theories of physics, biological theories, and especially evolution, have been argued long and hard in socio-political arenas. Even today, evolution is not often taught in primary schools."

The tortured syntax of the second sentence aside, the most obvious error in the above quote from a website purporting to represent higher learning is its reference to the theory formalized by Charles Darwin as evolution and not its real name, which is natural selection.  Yet the footnote for a preceding quote cites the title of Darwin's so-called master work as The Origin of the Species By Means of Natural Selection, Or The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle For Life.  The mistake is so obvious it begs the question whether the error was intentional.

What is evolution? The term is actually a conglomeration of four separate and distinct theories, each of which must be successfully addressed in order to explain our existence.  The Big Bang theory attempts to explain the origin of the universe.  The theory of abiogenesis attempts to explain the origin of life and how inanimate matter became a living organism.  The theory of speciation attempts to explain how the first simple, single celled life forms evolved to become every known species of plant and animal life we know today.  Finally, Darwin's theory of natural selection defines the process by which a given species mutates over time through "descent by modification".

The Big Bang makes sense for the most part.  Astronomic observations of a continuously expanding universe have essentially validated the Big Bang theory as the explanation for the origin of the universe.  The theory makes sense until one realizes there is no viable explanation for the origin of the matter which exploded to form the universe.  God is required to explain the source of matter and provide the catalyst for the Big Bang.

Without God's involvement in creation, the conglomeration of theories known as evolution falls completely apart.  Scientific evidence for abiogenesis flat out does not exist.  In fact, the dictionary defines abiogenesis as "the now discredited" scientific theory to explain the origin of life.  No further elaboration is necessary. 

Likewise, there is no credible evidence for speciation.  The much touted fossil record only proves the existence and extinction of life forms before modern life came into being.   Speciation is supposed to work like Darwinian natural selection, but takes a lot longer.

The big problem with speciation is that virtually every form of modern life emerged within the last 480 million years in the time since the last great extinction.  A theory called punctuated equilibrium was formulated in an attempt to reconcile the fact that evidence of at least five mass extinctions has been detected in the fossil record. 

If the biblical week of creation account in Genesis actually spans millions or billions of years, the four theories collectively known as evolution begin to make more sense.  Darwin's theory of natural selection is also logical to accept by those who believe in the Bible because it explains the expansion of life since Noah, the Ark and the great flood.  Noah took two of every kind of animal; not two black bears, two brown and two Grizzlies, just two bears total.  Natural selection is a logical explanation for how life propagated over the earth again.

Claiming evolution is not often taught in primary schools is ridiculous and wrong.  In most publicly funded schools, evolution is the only theory allowed in the classroom.  Recently over two thousand parents in Georgia petitioned their local school board to have a sticker placed on the exterior of the science textbooks teaching evolution that simply said "This textbook contains information about evolution.  Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things.  This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered". 

Parents of six students were joined by the ACLU to file a lawsuit in federal court.  A federal judge predictably ruled the stickers violated separation of church and state and the freedom of religion guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, another popular myth frequently mentioned in conjunction with evolution.

The phrase "separation of church and state" originated from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptists.  It is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution.  The Constitutional freedom guaranteed by the document was freedom of religion, misinterpreted frequently to mean freedom from religion. 

Freedom of religion guaranteed by the Bill of Rights was intended to protect against the establishment of any national church.   Many early settlers fled religious persecution from the national Church of England, the Anglican Church.  This protection meant only that all religions are guaranteed the same freedom to worship as they please.

The incredible bias and animosity against the theory of creationism stems from a thinly veiled objection to religion in general and God in particular.  Ironically, those who most vehemently object to any mention of God often attempt a rational approach to the problem, but ultimately resort to irrational logic and theories when evidence supporting faith becomes a topic of conversation.  It appears the primary objection to creationist theory is the perceived duration of the Creation week.  Opponents of the theory paint all creationists as people who believe in a "young earth" only 5,000 to 10,000 years old.

It is true an Irish priest extrapolated the age of the Earth was young when he calculated the elapsed time from Adam to the current generation.  It is also true many Christians believe in a young earth.  But there is ample reason to believe the week of creation was millions or billions of years long.  One simple misunderstanding should not be used to discredit the entire Creation account and the rest of the Bible. 

If one reads the first chapter of Genesis carefully and notes the sun and moon were not created until the fourth day, simple deduction leads one to conclude the first three days of Creation were not twenty four hour periods defined by the rotation of the earth around the sun.  It is also extremely interesting to note the biblical account of creation describes life emerging in the same order indicated in the fossil record. Thousands of years before the fossil record was discovered, how could the earliest writers of the Bible know that level of detail?

The theories collectively known as evolution should be honestly and fairly taught in school against competing theory, not as gospel truth.  Each individual theory should be examined and judged on merit, not given shared credibility by implying all have evidence comparable to Darwin's famous observations.     

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