You are here Americans United for Separation of Church and State
(2006) An Evolving ControversyAround the country, disputes have
arisen over the teaching of creationism, or its closely aligned
cousin, "intelligent design" (ID), in public schools. Aggressive
Religious Right activists are working feverishly to undercut the
teaching of evolution by insisting that students be exposed to
"both theories." This approach threatens the separation of
church and state and sound science education. Creationism and
its variants are religious doctrines, not science. While some
religious believers accept the validity of these ideas, many
others do not. In addition, the scientific community is in
overwhelming agreement that creationism and its more modern
variants are not legitimate science. In its traditional form,
creationism is a literal reading of the Book of Genesis
repackaged as science. It makes several claims that clash with
modern scientific understanding. For example, supporters of this
viewpoint contend that the Ea