Anti-evolution theories making a comeback in Tennesse schools
Sunday, March 25, 2012 by Unknown
Last week, the Tennessee Senate passed legislation allowing “alternative” scientific theories to be taught in public schools essentially allowing creationism and other “pseudosciences,” as labeled by critics, to be taught in Tennessee science classrooms. The law seems dangerous to opposition who claim that teaching theories that are largely denied by the scientific community threatens the proper education of students and poses a threat to the separation of religion and secular education. To many, this legislation may seem to be a step backwards in the secularization of the public school system made during the 20th century; however, a closer look at the judicial history of the matter reveals that Tennessee’s legislature may be an unexpected step towards greater educational freedom.
The 1968 Supreme Court case, Epperson v. Arkansas, ruled that the Arkansas statute prohibiting the teaching of evolution in public schools was unconstitutional as it violated First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The Justices in the case ruled that while states should exercise their right to specify their school curriculum, banning a particular branch of knowledge because it is contradictory to religious dogma “hinder[s] the quest for knowledge, restrict[s]the freedom to learn, and restrain[s] the freedom to teach" (Epperson v. Arkansas). The Epperson case was one of many Supreme Court cases that would “secularize” the public school system and allow room for a scientific, non-religious voice in the classroom.
The Epperson case provides an unusual precedent by which to examine the current Tennessee legislation. Just as the teaching of Darwinian Theory or climate change should not be prohibited in public schools, the teaching of alternative theories like creationism should not be denied either. To deny the teaching of such alternative views would be to suppress knowledge and prevent true educational freedom. The only boundary that has the potential to be crossed here is that of religious propagation. The law leaves much room for pedagogical error and trusts teachers to present the material in a balanced way that does not support or favor the said "alternative" theories. It is indeed a slippery slope here; how much confidence do we have that teachers will present secular and religious theories in an evenhanded way without violating boundaries set forth by the Fourteenth Amendment?
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