UK Church Leaders Criticise Teaching of Creationism in Schools

|PIC1|The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, recently criticised the teaching of creationism in schools, stepping into the controversy between religious fundamentalists and scientists. He claimed that he does not believe that creationism – the Bible-based account of the origins of the world - should be taught in schools.

“I think creationism is ... a kind of category mistake, as if the Bible were a theory like other theories ... if creationism is presented as a stark alternative theory alongside other theories I think there’s just been a jarring of categories ... My worry is creationism can end up reducing the doctrine of creation rather than enhancing it,” he said.

Giving his first, wide-ranging, interview at Lambeth Palace, the archbishop was emphatic in his criticism of creationism being taught in the classroom.

In addition, the leader of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Bishop Bruce Cameron, also expressed that creationism should not be taught in schools, and that a "false battleground" was pitting science against faith.

|TOP|“We should be working towards a partnership between faith and science, rather than presenting a false battleground between them. To contrast the first chapters in the Book of Genesis with scientific theory fails to recognise that both are seeking different questions and answers, and there is a danger that we confuse scientific theories with the purpose of Creation," Mr Cameron told The Scotsman.

Creationism is already being taught in two city academies founded by Sir Peter Vardy, an evangelical Christian businessman, as well as in several other schools in England. It is not, as yet, taught in any schools in Scotland.

The teaching of creationist views is not required to be taught alongside Darwin's theory of evolution, according to the new biology syllabus in England, but it opens the way for classroom discussions in science lessons and pupils will be assessed on work they do on this topic.

Meanwhile, the decision of adding creationism in the academic courses fuelled heated debates in the US, where a judge in Pennsylvania ruled that intelligent design should not be taught in schools because it was a ‘religious idea with no scientific basis.’ The move has also alarmed scientists who fear it could open the door for the promotion of creationist ideas like "intelligent design" and give them scientific respectability at a time when they are being promoted by fundamentalist Christians and Muslims.