The Creationist Movement: Science, Religion and Ideology
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Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 4-1983 The Creationist Movement: Science, Religion and Ideology George M. Bevins Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses Part of the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Bevins, George M., "The Creationist Movement: Science, Religion and Ideology" (1983). Master's Theses. 1559. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/1559 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE CREATIONIST MOVEMENT: SCIENCE, RELIGION AND IDEOLOGY by George M. Bevins A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of Sociology Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan April 1983 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE CREATIONIST MOVEMENT: SCIENCE, RELIGION AND IDEOLOGY George M. Bevins, M.A. Western Michigan University, 1983 A sample of literature produced by participants in the "creationist movement" is examined in an effort to delineate the ideology of the movement. This ideology is seen as a repertoire of images of science, evolution and society which is used by creationists in their efforts to propagate their movement. Based on this literature, an "ideological substructure of belief" within the creationist movement is described, consisting of their belief in a created normative order in the world and of their fear that this order is breaking down. It is argued that the various particular aspects of the creationists' social ideology, their theory of knowledge, and their images of science and evolution can all be seen as derivatives of this ideological substructure. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people influence either directly or indirectly a given academic production, and this one is no exception. Mention is here made of those individuals to whom I am indebted for some form of assistance. Many thanks go to: Kathi Bevins who has endured me during the course of this project and who graciously typed the final manuscript; Jerry Markle who has been an invaluable aid as mentor, advisor, devil's advocate, and consultant on matters scientific; readers Bob Wait and Ron Kramer who have greatly improved the study with comments which provided insight and clarity; Thomas Gieryn, Barry Seltser, Paul Wienir, and Salahuddin Ahmed who have reviewed and provided comments on all or parts of the study at various stages of completion; Terry Portfleet and Brenda King who encouraged me in the early stages of my career, but perhaps did not see this coming; Eric Snider for many hours of constructive discourse on fundamentalism as a political phenomenon, usually conducted while trout fishing; and to Amy and T.J. for distracting me, thereby forcing me to occasionally stop and smell the flowers. George M. Bevins with permission of the copyright owner. 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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................ ii LIST OF TABLES................................................... .. LIST OF FIGURES.................................................. vi Chapter I. INTRODUCTION.............................................. 1 The Movement .................. 1 The Problem. ............................ 3 II. INTERESTS AND IDEOLOGY.................................... 5 III. THE GENESIS AND EVOLUTION OF CREATIONISM................. 12 Early Conspiracy Theories ................... 12 The Influx of European Ideas...................... 15 The Scopes Era...... 20 The Movement Retrenches.......... 23 IV. THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF MODERN CREATIONISM............. 26 The Creationist Movement's Political Platform.......... 26 Political Tactics........................ 30 Creationist Individuals and Groups........... 33 Summary. ........................... 40 V. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS......................................42 Images of Evolution....... 43 Images of Science........................................ 53 Theory of Knowledge...................................... 60 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Congruence Between Social Organization and Beliefs About Science.............. 63 Theory of Knowledge and Social Ideology................... 66 Historical Indicators of Creationist Ideology.............. 68 VI. PARTICULAR AND STRUCTURAL ASPECTS OF CREATIONIST IDEOLOGY.. 71 Particular Aspects....................................... 71 An Ideological Substructure of Belief....... 78 Analytic Conclusions.............. 82 VII. CONCLUSIONS............... 87 Summary of the Investigation.......... 87 Significance of the Investigation........................ 89 Unanswered Questions..................................... 90 NOTES....................................... 93 APPENDIX A: METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION.......................... 103 APPENDIX B: CREATIONIST ORGANIZATIONS....................... 110 BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................... 113 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission LIST OF TABLES 1. Reported inclusive membership of denominations in the United States......... 36 2. Sample of creationist monographs............................ 104 3. Consensus on overt assertions made by creationists.......... 107 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF FIGURES 1. Formal and informal relationships in the religious right...... 38 2. Relationship between substructure and elements of creationist ideology....................................... 83 3. Perceived tensions and resulting ideological trends in creationism. .... 84 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The Movement During the summer of 1925 the town of Dayton, Tennessee became the focus of national attention. The State of Tennessee had recently enacted legislation forbidding the teaching of evolution in the state's schools. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) set out to test the constitutionality of that law and offered legal assistance to anyone willing to stand trial in a test case. Some local business leaders in Dayton convinced John Scopes, a high school teacher who was not quite sure whether or not he had violated the "monkey law", to take up the ACLU's offer (Scopes, 1967, pp. 59-61). The world was then