Are you shocked to read stories of creationism still being presented in American schools? I’m sure the folks who originally came up with the biblical story of creation had good intentions and that it was the best they could do at the time. At the time most people came to accept it on faith. After a while enough people bought into the idea that the creation myth became a culturally shared misunderstanding.
But here we are in 2011 and the creation mythology is still thriving in some corners. Now it’s becoming corrosive and holds people back. What about the saying: You do what you know, but when you know better you should do better?
Sure, teach the creation myth in school if you want to; just not in the same classroom that evolution is taught in. I think the creation myth can be included in mythology class, where it now belongs. I really enjoyed the mythology class I took in sixth or seventh grade. Thousands of years ago, lots of people firmly believed in Thor, Zeus, and other colorful gods and their stories. I’ve never met a believer in Zeus, but I’m sure if I had been around 3,300 years ago people would have been confident in their myth too – that the goddess Eurynome coupled with a huge snake and went on to…. you get the picture.
This issue is one of the things stifling the United States. Teaching the creation myth in place of science only winds up displacing real eduction, effectively holding back students. Ironically the proponents of teaching creationism seem to attribute some divine nature to the United States. Whatever factors that have made the US great have done so despite the influence of myth pushers and their ideas, not because of them.