Should creationism be taught in public schools?

Now I know I will be attacked for my position in this essay, because that’s how opinionated essays go. However, if what I say is true, then no attack can do any damage to any statements I have and will make. I am a devout christian, and as other christians, both young and old, I do have crisis’ of faith, or rather a spiritual questioning. I am also a evolutionist, I believe in evolution and all of the evolutionary processes. I do believe that every species on this planet, living and extinct are related to one another by a common ancestor that lived millions or billions of years ago. 

I have my position because I have seen the proof of genetic relations between even the most strangely related species. I have studied and seen from my own eyes how evolution has made humans the current dominators of this planet. I also believe that evolution will eventually create a divergence in the human race, a new species in Homo. But what this essay concerns is not my opinion on whether evolution should be solely taught in schools, but should creationism be taught in schools.

I believe that creationism should be taught in schools, not because of my christian beliefs, but because it gives children a choice in what they want to learn. I believe that if we teach creationism, we also must teach evolution, but only as elective classes, not mandatory classes. As I have learned, a child will not take much heed in areas in which they are forced to do, or to learn, but rather learn in a setting where they have an interest in. If you give a child a chance to learn creationism more in depth, then make it a choice, not a demand. If you give a child the chance to learn evolution, then make it a choice, not a demand. The more you demand, the more they will rebel and not listen. But give the child a choice, and a voice in which he or she wants to learn. If a child wishes to learn creationism rather than evolution, then that’s the choice of the child, not the education system. If a child wishes to learn evolution, it is his or her choice, not the choice of the education system. Therefore, if we are to teach evolution and/or creationism, make it a choice, make it an elective. 

The reason why I believe that we should also teach creationism is to be fair. If we want our children to be exposed to the teaching of evolution, then it is right, and also fair to expose our children to the teachings of creationism. If we are to be a fair society, an unbiased society, then it is necessary to teach all, rather than to teach part. Just because I believe in evolution doesn’t mean I should dictate educational policy. Just because the pope believes in creationism, should it relate to legislative policy? The opinion of one, is as such, the opinion as one. My opinion does not dictate policy, nor do I want it to do so. Our society is regulated by the different opinions of individuals. The beauty of our nation is that our policy, both domestic and foreign is not dictated not by one man, but rather the many, with different ideologies. We can not stop our children from learning creationism because we don’t believe in it, or rather we believe more in evolution. No matter how you look at it, it’s simply not right, nor will it ever be right. We can not stop our children from learning evolution just because WE don’t believe in it. To be honest, we truly don’t know if our believes are necessary right. The reason why evolution as describe by Darwin is a theory, because it hasn’t been totally proven as being scientifically right. Creationism is a theory, and evolution is a theory, one may be right, while the other wrong. They both may be right, or they both may be wrong. But I believe that evolution exist because I have seen how species are so differentiated, divergent, all so changing, but does that prove that it’s superior to creationism?

Therefore, offer creationism as an elective, as a choice for a child. Let the child choose what he or she wants to learn. We can’t force feed a child an education that they don’t want to learn, I have seen first hand, and I have experiences such courses, where I have been forced fed information in which I have no interest. Let the child choose, for they are the ones who are to inherit the earth. Do not make creationism mandatory, do not make evolution mandatory, however make it elective. One of the greatest ideas that humanity has, is the idea of choice. We have choice in elections, our economic system, in our homes, in our television, in every sector of our life, we have the idea of choice. Why not in education? Why not give children the idea of choice, let them choose for themselves? If they don’t like creationism, then they have the choice to take evolution. The same goes for the latter. 

I have learned that keeping a child from learning something, will sometimes spark more interest in that area, or sometimes limit the interest. Do not keep your children from learning something, never keep children from learning something that you do no believe in. The more you take away, the more they will rebel. Be open to your children, be open to yourselves. Do not let your opinions get in the way of educational policy, nor your children. The people will say that creationism will blur the line between church and state, and idea that I hold dear. I do not believe in church mixing in with the state. However, when it comes to learning from all the prospectives, when it comes to fairness in education, then religion isn’t being forced fed, and evolution isn’t being forced fed, but rather being given as a choice for the student. In this case, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Atheism isn’t being forced fed. We give our students to take theology, world religions, why not creationism and evolution. Perhaps this essay will help persuade more individuals to be stop being so closed minded, and be more open in the educational choice we give to our students. We must remember that to be fair is to have choice, and the choice to receive or the choice to reject. We have that choice everyday, why not have it in education? Why not give our children the right of what they want to learn? 

Learning is a gift, and to reject some, and to approve some isn’t right, but philosophically wrong and politically wrong. Be more open, give more choices. This is a new age, this isn’t the time to go back to close mindedness, to reclusion, but rather to be more open minded, to give choices, and receive choices. Evolution and creationism isn’t so different, but rather we force it to be different, because we reject the notion of similarity in both of those ideas. We can’t stand similarity.

I believe it’s time for the end of the death penalty. The proponents of the death penalty say it’s a way to defer crime, and to prevent crimes for happening because people will fear being caught and thus end up on the death penalty. I disagree with that notion, because since the earliest of times, crimes were punishable by death, crimes were committed then, even in the face of possibly death.

And the same goes for now, people still commit crimes, people still go out and murder other individuals even when they know that if they are to get caught, they will most likely end up on the death penalty. Crimes were committed then, crimes are still committed now, the death penalty doesn’t scare people as we imagine it to scare people. I for one don’t believe in the death penalty because as a Christian, I find the death penalty to be a contradiction to the Ten Commandments. It says “Thou shall not kill,” so it’s not acceptable for a person to walk into a home and murder an entire family, but it is acceptable for a state to “legally” end that persons life? It’s telling people, “Murder is a bad thing, you can’t go out and kill people, but if you do go out and murder a person, we have the right to end your life as well.” People now state that even if we do get rid of the death penalty, then the cost of keeping inmates in prison for life will drastically increase and put a strain on the resources of the state. So now, we’re comparing the worth of life, to the worth and importances of state finances? What happened to the little ol’ debate about the worth of life in fetuses? So they have a right to life no matter what, however when it comes to a person who’s on the death penalty, that’s not a life worth saving? I may be different, but I value every life, not just the children, but the adults as well, because we’re born on this earth as imperfect beings, and every now and then, we all screw up, some worse than others. However ending a life based on irrational anger, is just completely idiotic.

I understand how it feels to witness the death of a loved one, my uncle was killed by an intruder who walked into his home and shot him in the head. I know the pain, I know the agony of never seeing a loved one again because of the ruthless actions of the still unknown murderer. However anger will not solve the issue, killing will not sooth the soul, and it will certainly not being any peace to anyone. My family always say i’m the different one, because I so strongly disagree with the notion that when a person is murder by someone, it’s alright to murder that person by the state, and then go to a sunday service, and say “Amen, isn’t that the truth,” when the preacher talks about the Ten Commandments. Such hypocrisy! People always say “What would Jesus do?” I don’t know what Jesus would do, but he wouldn’t put a man on the death penalty. For believers and nonbelievers alike, I believe we should at least follow the role of what Jesus did. Even when he was betrayed by his own follower, instead of him raging out in anger, calling him everything but a child of god, he forgave him. Life isn’t perfect, humans aren’t perfect. We screw up, everyone messes up in some point of their lives. However mistakes are mistakes, even if the murder was on purpose. The life should no be ended. Punishment is to serve life in prison, and not to be in prison with a television, or play video games, but to sit in a cell and think about the crimes that were committed. The best punishment for a person is to think about what was committed, and if the person has a conscience, then that conscience can do more damage than the needle can do to a person. It’s time to end the death penalty, for once and for all.

              This whole mess about Treyvon Martin and George Zimmerman is getting out of hand. I don’t condone the actions of George Zimmerman, nor do I agree with the “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida, however, this entire case is going crazy. First of all, no one really knows what happened during the confrontation, yes, Zimmerman could have shot Treyvon in a fiery rage, or perhaps he was protecting himself in his mind. Perhaps Treyvon got tired of someone following him and confronted Zimmerman about it, who knows. I rather have the courts to decide how this case should proceed, rather than the court of public opinion spinning this case out of control. We have seen the damage of what the media and the court of public opinion can do on a criminal case. Now the media is suggesting that Zimmerman used a racial slur. Are you fucking serious? You got a racial slur from a piece of audio that HAD to be fixed to the point to be partially, and probably not even partially understandable to the human ear? Come on people, I don’t know if Zimmerman is a racist, but what I do know is that a young boy is dead today, that’s what I know, and that’s not what I’m speculating on. Yes, I’m glad the people are getting into this case, rallying for the rights of the people, however, at what point does the defendant have rights as well? Because by law, libel and slander is illegal, and I for one, will not tolerate, no matter who the defendant is, if he’s a liberal, conservative, American, Iranian, British, christian, atheist, jewish, muslim, buddhist, neo-nazi, klansmen, the president, anyone. We are better than this, and speculating on what might or might not be true should be left to the courts, not the court of public opinion who’s beliefs about this man has be compromised. You can say I’m against Treyvon Martin, and what would be false. I don’t support a law that gives a person the right to inflict harm on someone just because they feel threatened. What an idiotic law! So, if I feel threatened because someone is walking behind me, does that give me the right of self defense, just because I feel threatened. Come on, we can write better laws than that. Fighting for justice is a damn good thing to do, and I support it, however there’s a limit to that support, and I don’t support any cause that seeks to defame a person just because the victim was a person of color, I don’t support that, and never shall I do so. You give me the facts, you give me the proof, and perhaps I will put it to mind, but for the time being, stop trying to speculate about everything possible about what happened that day. We know that a boy is dead, and we know that George Zimmerman is still resting at home. That’s what we know, not what we think we know. Every life is precious, and a life can not be taken away simply on the whim that you feel threatened when YOU follow someone. No mother or father should have to bury such a young child, no one should have to live through that horror of uncertainty, and the sleepless nights of asking over and over again, why. I’m glad the neighbors are trying to so something, because I have learned that people will not act because they think others are acting, I’m glad that theory has been proved wrong at least this time. May this be a point to all of those who have in their mind that they can harm another person just because they feel threatened by them. Let this send out the message that this will not be tolerated anymore.

I was just reading on a website about a guys girlfriend cheating on him with a black guy. The responses were horrifying just to say the least. The amount of racial comments, calling black males monkeys, niggers, black trash who have AIDS, that they should be castrated to stop crime in the world, driving crown vics, being on government welfare. As a black male myself, I don’t have AIDS, and though I could go into the history of AIDS to give a bit of knowledge to these self inflicted ignorant pricks, I wouldn’t want to waste my time on these people. I don’t agree with the notion that we should be castrated, because if you want to stop crime, you don’t castrate an entire people, nor will that help. Secondly, african americans aren’t the only group of people in this nation that commit crime, EVERY race commits a crime. I have never, nor possibly will own a Ford Crown Victoria, and honestly, what’s wrong with driving a crown vic. If that’s what the person wants to drive, then let them drive it, I thought we had freedom of choice. And the best for last, welfare. I myself have never been on welfare, my mother was during my youth in the 90’s when she was a single mother raising three children, while taking care of her blind father. Yes we were on welfare, and there’s nothing wrong with that, it helped us survive during times of trouble, and it defined us as a family. At the end of the 90’s, welfare was no longer needed because we were financially stable. Welfare does not breed a criminal race, diseased race, welfare does have it positive and negative aspects, however the good outreaches the bad. It’s so sad to see these “christian” people act like this, believing in the false notion that god didn’t create the races equal. Change will come, I tell myself this everyday, and I hold the faith everyday, every hour when faced with racial comments, with discrimination. I hold my faith that one day, racism will be reduced to such a small scale no one will recognize it. Change will come, I pray everyday that it will come one day, if not in my lifetime or generation, at least in those who will live after me, or during the times of my children and grandchildren.

So for the past few years, the hacking group Anonymous has simply hacked into federal websites, and other privately owned websites to prove a point, to end the attacks on the american people, to stop censorship on the internet. I applaud their efforts to attempt to help the American people, and people worldwide, I like what their doing, I like that they’re standing up for what they think is right, however what they are doing, is it actually a good thing? When groups such as Anonymous spring up, yes, they are to protect a certain group, however at the end of the day, they are the ones who are grabbing the same power they fought to get rid of. The people who fight the dictator end up becoming the dictators. So can they be fully trusted? I have no idea, for one, we have no idea who they are, where they are, they’re even attacking websites, hacking into peoples personal accounts. How is that helping the people, when you’re putting the peoples personal information on the web. You’re no better than the FBI, CIA, and other government agencies you’re fighting against. They are purposefully putting private information in the hands of those who will commit harm. 

However, when do we, the people draw the line. They are becoming the self appointed sheriffs of the internet, but where do we draw the line of their authority. Yes, they’re doing something we have never done, however, they are starting to take it to the extreme now. Yes, we don’t like SOPA, it’s evident that the American people don’t like SOPA, however when is it right for people to purposefully download content that they did not buy like the rest of us. How would a car sale man feel that if we just came on the car lot and took the cars, simply because we have a “right” to do so. What right is there to take content that you never created nor bought? I must admit, in my younger days, I did use Limewire, and Frostwire, but now since I am older, I buy every song I wish to have because it’s only fair. If I was a music artist, I wouldn’t want people taking my music for free, all the hard hours I took to write, compose, and so on, and get nothing in return. People say they have a right, well then if you have a damn right, go to a college, or go to high school for example, and when the teacher gives you an assignment, and if you plagiarize that paper, you will receive academic disciplinary actions, because it was never yours. The same goes for online content, if you never created it, nor bought it, then it’s not yours. Yes, the average music artist has millions in the bank, but fairness is fairness. We are to be better, not worse. We are to show everyone that we can be a moral, good society, not a thieving society who believes that stealing furniture out of a house is wrong, but taking content off the internet for free is right. Come on people, be better than that. Anonymous, be better than this. You are fighting the government, and it seems as though you’re trying to become a government, you’re suppose to be for the people, and now it seems as though you’re fighting against the people. 

With the current state of affairs in this nation going into a positive light, the economy, slowly, but surely getting better, ending the war in Iraq, and winding down the war in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden being eliminated, as well as many al Qaeda leaders, it’s looking pretty good, it’s not perfect, but it’s not hell. People still complain today that they can’t find a job, or they’re worried about worrisome health care costs, and I fully understand their worries, because I like everyone else, worry about some issue. However I don’t place full blame on President Obama, nor President Bush. The problem started many years ago, possibly decades ago, the economic collapse just waiting to happen, it was something that was possibly preventable, but totally ignored by the politicians and the  American public. It will take longer than four years, more than perhaps ten years to fully fix the mess we’re just now starting to come out of. Officially, the great depression didn’t end with World War II, the effects of the great depression outlived the war, and went into several decades.

The effects will live on, and it will take time to fully fix the mess, it will take more than President Obama to help ease the pain we’re feeling, but what we don’t need is a President who is only acting on behalf of his personal beliefs, and not the will of the people. I only fear that we will have a president that will abuse the people, in that he will make us of the fear we all have inside of us, the fear of losing our jobs, losing our health care, losing our education, losing our sense of being safe even in our own homes. Yes, I fear that we will have a leader that will insert fear into us, and that may sound like a contradiction, however my fear isn’t trying to prove a political point, but to prevent the fear in the people. Leaders come and go, but those who stay are the people. We have seen that in Egypt, we have seen that in Libya, and we are currently seeing that worldwide with the people, tired of being fearful, are now putting the fear into the leaders. For far too long, it has been the political leaders, our “representatives” who are misleading us, who are mistreating us, and abusing us. For far too long we, the people have sat by idly because we had a certain fear not to face the fear that we have. We are taught not to interfere in national affairs, that what is right will come along one day. However, how long must we wait? How long must we sit idly by, letting our “representatives” do as they please simply because they hold the seat of power? We’re the people, we are the voters, we are the hearts and minds of nations. We the people make the Alexander the Greats, we make the Caesars, we make the Bismarck’s, Elizabeth’s, Lincoln’s, Washington’s, and sadly the Hitler’s, we the people are the leaders, yet we sit by knowingly of what the nations leaders do. We sit while they insert fear into us because we fear to stand up for not what we think is right, but what we know is right. We sit in our living rooms, watch the news, read the papers, and learn about the wrongdoings of our leaders, but yet sit and tell our children that when they come of age, that they will have the chance to do what we could never do. I’m telling you right now, why tell the children to wait, while we can do as we tell them to do. It may not be a total revolution, it may not be an occupation, but as long as we stand up and fight for what is right, it doesn’t matter if it’s one person or ten thousands. One person can and will change the nation for the better and sadly the worse. We will have one of those who will abuse of what we rightfully undertake, but don’t let that rethink of what you do, don’t let your morale decrease. This isn’t a liberal issue, nor a conservative issue, this isn’t about being an Obama supporter, or a Romney, Gingrich, Paul supporter, it’s about being a supporter for the nation that we live in. If we truly love America, if we truly love for what we live for, the freedoms we have, the best political system we could possibly have, an economic system that at least at times gives us the chance to become a Rockefeller or a Carnegie, an education system who say we can be the Darwins, the Einsteins of our day, to find new cures that those before us could never find. If you truly love that, fight for what we have, it’s not the best, but it’s not the worse. However, how much better can we get? No, we don’t walk and drive on golden streets, we don’t all drive Rolls-Royce’s, no we don’t all go to Harvard or Princeton, no, we are not all the children of congressmen, senators and presidents, but what we are, are Americans, we are human being, and that’s something to fight over. Do what is right, keep a clear mind, and never let anyone, including myself put in your mind that you can’t possibly do anything that can be life altering. 

Who ever wins tonight doesn’t necessarily mean that they will win the nomination, nevertheless the general election against President Obama. Tonight only gives us a feel of who will continue vs. who will drop out. I just hope that those from Iowa who participate in the caucuses will choose wisely, being rational, choosing who will best lead the nation if he/she wins, rebuild the economy, and end the wars, and not be irrational, just using what they see on the news, or their testimonies during a church service. Don’t rely upon their spiritual faith nor their attacks upon the other candidates. Choose wisely.