America's Evolution and Creationism battles really began with the infamous Scopes Trial of 1925. Authorities charged a school teacher, John Scopes, with the crime of teaching Darwin's dangerous theory of evolution to his students. Though found guilty of the crime, the Scopes Trial opened the door to teaching evolution in high schools and igniting the conflict we still fight today. Actually, we are still fighting this battle in Tennessee.
Scientific American highlights the rising battles and the new tactics used by the creationists. The creationists perceive themselves as modern-day Scopes fighting oppressive laws that limit teacher discussions. In this light, Tennessee's anti-evolution bill and others in the country are misleadingly called "Academic Freedom" bills. On the surface, these bills promote critical thinking skills by allowing teachers to present the strength and weaknesses of scientific theories: evolution, abiogenesis, big bang, global warming and others. Realistically, fundamentalist teachers can introduce creationism and intelligent design to the classroom. Instead of actively promoting the teaching of creationism, these bills simply say that there is no prohibition on the topics.
We can deduce the actual motives of the bill from their writers. The Discover Institute, who introduced Intelligent Design, wrote at least part the the Tennessee bill. Fresh off their defeat in Dover, the Discover Institute has learned from the previous failures and are helping these legislators search for a legal loophole to circumvent the First Amendment. They care far less about strong science education than they do about religious indoctrination.
This is why we must continue to fight against these anti-evolution bills.
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