Analysis of Creationism in the United States from Scopes (1925) to Kitzmiller(2005) and Its Effect on the Nation’S Science Education System

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Analysis of Creationism in the United States from Scopes (1925) to Kitzmiller(2005) and Its Effect on the Nation’S Science Education System Analysis of Creationism in the United States from Scopes (1925) to Kitzmiller(2005) and its Effect on the Nation’s Science Education System Dissertation To Fulfill the Requirements for the Degree of “doctor rerum naturalium” (Dr. rer. nat.) Submitted to the Council of the Faculty of Biology and Pharmacy of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena by Elizabeth Watts, Dipl. Biol. born on 3rd of January 1981 in Seattle, Washington USA Gutachter 1. Prof. Dr. Uwe Hoßfeld: Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena, Arbeitsgruppe Biologiedidaktik, Am Steiger 3, 07743 Jena 2. Dr. Doz. Georgy Levit: Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena, Arbeitsgruppe Biologiedidaktik, Am Steiger 3, 07743 Jena 3. Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kutschera: Universität Kassel, Lehrstuhl für Pflanzenphysiologie und Evolutionsbiologie, Heinrich-Plett-Str. 40, 34109 Kassel Datum der Verteidigung: 15. Dezember 2016 For Zoey - my thunder & joy Acknowledgements If a student is lucky, they may be fortunate enough to receive one good advisor. In my case, I was doubly blessed. My sincerest thanks goes to my exceptional “Doktorvater”, Prof. Dr. Uwe Hoßfeld, and my gifted secondary advisor, Doz. Dr. Georgy Levit, for supporting me with their endless wealth of knowledge on the subject and for fortifying my interest in the subject throughout my studies. It was a true pleasure and honor to work with the both of you. I would also like to thank my parents, who blazed the trail, instilling in me a love for science from a very early age and for later providing me with encouragement and jubilation along the path to my own dissertation. Last, a heartfelt thank you to David - my best friend & the ultimate yin to my yang. ii Zusammenfassung Der Kreationismus in all seinen Varianten geht weitgehend bis heute von der Annahme aus, dass die biologische Vielfalt nicht durch natürliche Ursachen, sondern durch Einwirkung übernatürlicher Kräfte entstanden ist (Einwirkung eines Schöpfer-Wesens). Nicht mehr hinterfragbare Begründungen sind dabei für kreationistisch geprägte Theorien charakteristisch, auch die ID-Bewegung setzt hier fort. In beiden Fällen (Kreationismus/ID) handelt es sich nicht um Theorien, da sie die Ansprüche, die man in der Wissenschaft an eine Theorie stellt, nicht erfüllen. Es sind vielmehr pseudowissenschaftliche, antidarwinistische Theoriengebäude die derzeit mit dazu beitragen, dass die „Religion“ generell in Misskredit gezogen wird. Diese Sichtweise kann sich auch negativ auf den naturwissenschaftlichen Unterricht auswirken, wenn Kreationisten bspw. versuchen, übernatürliche Erklärungen für das Auftreten von Arten im Biologieunterricht zu propagieren. Diese „weltanschauliche“ Interpretation ist besonders stark innerhalb des naturwissenschaftlichen Unterrichtes in den Vereinigten Staaten zu finden, wo fast 75% der Bevölkerung die naturalistische Evolutionstheorie ablehnt. Zudem sind die meisten amerikanischen Schüler unfähig, erfolgreich an naturwissenschaftlichen Universitätskursen teilzunehmen. Vorliegende Arbeit liefert eine erste umfassende Bestandsaufnahme des „Kreationismus-Phänomens“ aus historischer, rechtlicher und pädagogischer Perspektive. Es wurden hierfür 24 Rechtsfälle, die auf anti-evolutionärer Grundlage basierten, im Detail analysiert und die strategischen Tendenzen der Kreationismus-Bewegung identifiziert. Hierbei wird verdeutlicht, dass die kreationistischen Strategien Großteils als Reaktion auf die jeweiligen Gerichtsentscheidungen entstanden sind. Weiterhin wurde die direkte Einflussnahme des Kreationismus auf das Bildungssystem mittels staatlicher Einflussnahme auf Lehrbuchinhalte und Bildungsstandards im Fachbereich Biologie analysiert. Da die Inhalte von Lehrbüchern und Bildungsstandards vorwiegend durch politische Prozesse und Gremien in den USA festgelegt werden, gelang es so den Kreationisten, durch entsprechende politische Einflussnahme, die Wissenschaftlichkeit der Evolutionsbiologie innerhalb der Lehrbücher und Bildungsstandards herabzusetzen, mit der Konsequenz, dass das Thema „Evolution“ nur noch marginal unterrichtet werden kann. Zusätzlich ergab eine Analyse frei wählbarer amerikanischer Lehr- und Lernmaterialien, dass die Kreationisten auch sehr erfolgreich darin sind, ihre Ideen entsprechend zu vermarkten (Bücher, Filme, Errichtung von Museen), um so ihre Ziele auch außerhalb des Klassenraumes zu stärken. Ebenso wurde die Kreationismus-Bewegung in Deutschland dargestellt. Dieser Vergleich zwischen den beiden Ländern soll mit dazu beitragen, die generellen Schlüsselkomponenten kreationistischer Bewegungen aufzudecken. Die Studie liefert hier neue, detaillierte Einblicke in die Kreationismus- Bewegung und zeigt, dass diese Strömung derzeit weiter sehr aktiv und erfolgreich ist. Überdies wird gezeigt, dass der Kreationismus (ID-Bewegung) sich nicht nur in den Vereinigten Staaten ausgebreitet hat, sondern auch zunehmend in europäischen Ländern zu finden ist. Table of Contents 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................8 2 Understanding the Conflict: science, religion and the United States .........................................13 2.1 Understanding the difference between religion and fundamentalism ...................................... 14 2.2 American History: understanding the growth of evangelicalism in the United States ............ 36 2.3 Understanding the importance of Science, Evolution and Darwinism .................................... 59 3 Creationism and Intelligent Design ...............................................................................................85 3.1 Creationism and Creationists ................................................................................................... 85 3.2 Creation Science/Scientific Creationism .................................................................................. 96 3.3 Intelligent Design ................................................................................................................... 105 4 Examining the Legal Conflict ......................................................................................................130 4.1 An overview of the US court system, the Constitution and other relevant laws .................... 131 4.2 Court cases involving creationism: from Scopes to Kitzmiller .............................................. 138 4.3 The geography of legal conflict and where the Americans stand .......................................... 163 5 Examining the conflict and its effect on education ....................................................................170 5.1 The organization of the American education system and curriculum standards .................... 170 5.2 Curriculum (Science) standards ............................................................................................. 176 5.3 Textbook Adoption ................................................................................................................ 197 5.4 Classroom Strategies .............................................................................................................. 206 6 Beyond Borders: post-Kitzmiller, free-choice learning and creationism outside the US ......212 6.1 A Look at the conflict after Kitzmiller – Creationist movement post 2005 ........................... 212 6.2 Conflict Outside the Classroom – The Power of Free-Choice Learning ............................... 234 6.3 A look at creationism outside of the United States: Focus on Germany ................................ 263 7 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................284 8 Afterward ......................................................................................................................................300 9 Literature ......................................................................................................................................302 10 List of Appendices ........................................................................................................................323 10.1 Appendix 1: The Declaration of Independence ...................................................................... 323 ii 10.2 Appendix 2: Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Biology .......................................... 326 10.3 Appendix 3: California Science Standards for Biology for Grades nine through twelve ...... 331 10.4 Appendix 4: The Wedge Document ....................................................................................... 336 10.5 Appendix 5: Council of Europe Resolution 1580 .................................................................. 348 10.6 Appendix 6: List of Theses .................................................................................................... 352 11 Index ..............................................................................................................................................353 List of Tables and Figures Table 2-1: Comparison of Creation Stories in Genesis 1 & 2 (Scott, 2009) .......................................... 16 Table 2-2: The Allegorical Interpretation of the Genesis Story (Scott, 2009) ....................................... 16 Table 2-3: Reasons for a literal reading of the Scripture ........................................................................ 19 Table 2-4: Horizontal comparison of the New Testament (New International Version) ....................... 21 Table
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