Letter to GACS on Creationism in the Science Classroom

7/27/2019 Letter to GACS on Creationism in the Science Classroom

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August 12, 2013

Greater Atlanta Christian School

1575 Indian Trail Road

Norcross, GA 30093

Dr. David Fincher - President

Mr. Scott Harsh - High School Principal

Dr. Misty Overman - Junior High Principal

Board of Trustees

Dr. Betty Morris - H.S. Dean of Academics

Mrs. Mandy Richey - J.H.S. Dean of Academics

Dear all:

Greater Atlanta Christian has long championed itself as a school of stellar academic accomplishment.

This reputation is seen in the awards and scholarships earned annually by GAC students, and it is

reflected in the achievements of GAC alumni.

Nonetheless, such a reputation for academic excellence can still be tarnished if the lessons taught fail to

meet the educational standards of their own subjects if history classes were to teach fantasy, or English

classes to ignore grammar, or for science classes to promote pseudoscience. And unfortunately, it now

appears that GAC has fallen victim to that last offense.

The subject of evolution in schools has an extended history, and yet despite its longevity it remains a

point of contention for some. To offer one benchmark, the Scopes Trial was in 1925, at a time whenevolution was already the accepted scientific origin for mankind. Among the more recent developments

in science are the discovery of the neutron (1932), the discovery of nuclear fission (1939), the discovery

of DNA (1953), and the theory of plate tectonics. In fact, back in 1925, the notion that there were

galaxies outside the Milky Way was still a brand-new and controversial claim today, the existence of

multiple galaxies is a foundational aspect of astronomy, and no educated person insists that our galaxy is

the only one. Yet while these and other findings are now universally-accepted, the science of evolution

continues to receive resistance from some portions of the general public.

That is despite the fact that the number of prehistoric human fossils alone has exploded in the last ninetyyears, with multiple remains discovered ofHomo erectus, Homo habilus,Homo neanderthalensis,

andAustralopithecus afarensis (e.g., Lucy). And the fossil record merely provides archaeological

validation for what genetics has revealed to us about the common descent and divergent evolution of

life, which can be seen inside the DNA of every living thing on the planet.


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The ancient origins of the Earth and the universe are in turn confirmed by every other branch of science

that can opine on such matters. Anthropology, archaeology, astronomy, chemistry, genetics, geology,

paleontology, and even physics all independently point to a human species that is millions of years old,

and to a planet and universe that are billions of years old. To promote claims of a young Earth is not

merely to reject the science of evolution it is to reject the independent conclusions of nearly everyfield of science.

There simply is no legitimate scientific debate over whether evolution is the best explanation for the

biological origins of humanity. As such, there should be no debate over what should be taught as

science, in science classes. And when public schools have tried to muddy those waters, the courts have

universally found that creation science is not science at all.

Still, although the courts have been quite clear in what may be taught in a public school classroom, GAC

is naturally not bound by such precedent. But what is at issue is not whether GAC can teachcreationism in its science classes its whether itshould. And to teach unscientific principles in science

classes is to undercut the value of the education being provided. Students who will be expected to

grasp the real science in college, and who will need to properly understand the scientific method and

employ critical thinking in the real world, will instead be hobbled because theyve been instructed

instead to deny and distrust science.

Other Christian schools in the Atlanta area take a more academic approach to the science of evolution.

As of 2007, Westminster did not teach creationism at all, and Marist limited any discussion of

creationism to its religion classes. Whereas GACs approach was described as follows:

Conservative Christian schools, such as Greater Atlanta Christian, present evolution as a theory

alongside intelligent design, a theory compatible with the creation story in Genesis, though it

does not specify God as the creator.

We believe the Christian school provides the ideal environment in which to learn about

evolutionary theory, intelligent design and the many hybrid theories that fall between the two,

says Dr. David Fincher, the schools president.1

As disappointing as this was in 2007, it seems that GAC in 2013 has swung even further away from

teaching science in its science classes. On the current GACS website, the Sixth Grade Science

summarized curriculum includes the following declaration:

1http://www.georgiatrend.com/October-2007/Educating-With-Faith/
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.georgiatrend.com%2FOctober-2007%2FEducating-With-Faith%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNE5KwS_zmlzOxBTrXSN-1w8kRSrmw


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Creationism, with respect to Gods word, is emphasized.2

This does not imply the teaching of evolutionary theory, or even the presentation of competing

arguments (not competing theories). It flatly says that Biblical Creationism is being given prominence

in a science classroom. And it plainly specifies the identity of the creator. Both of these implications ardirectly contrary to the claims made in 2007.

The issue is not limited to junior high science either. Since 2004, Robert Harsh has taught both biology

and honors biology to GAC high school students. At the same time he has also served as a leader of

the Atlanta Creation Group, and prior to moving to Georgia, he served eighteen years as a leader of the

Creation Science Fellowship in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 2005, he penned a published column titled3

How I Became a Young Universe Creationist, where he expressed thanks for his work at GAC

because he had the freedom and the encouragement to go beyond pointing out that evolution is devoid

of good science, to telling the rest of the story.4

Nor is this mere rhetorical bluster on the part of Mr. Harsh. Posted to his instructional page on the

GAC website are multiple PowerPoint presentations for his students, including several that touch on

evolutionary theory. Those presentations bear such titles as:

Neo-Darwinism: Logically Impossible

Human Ancestry: From God or Apes?

Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth?

The last of these takes its name from a well-known creationist textbook, and the content of the

presentation appears to be adapted from a series of columns discussing that same book that Mr. Harsh

wrote in 2002 for the Creation Science Fellowship newsletter. (The weaknesses of this book and its5

approach to evolutionary science are beyond the scope of this letter, but are well-summarized by

Professor Massimo Pigliucci. A more thorough rebuttal was produced by Alan Gishlick of the6

National Center for Science Education. ) Attached to this letter are several screenshots taken from Mr.7

Harshs PowerPoint presentations, illustrating what his biology students are being taught in their science

class. Additionally, here are several quotes taken directly from those presentations:

2http://www.greateratlantachristian.org/page.aspx?pid=2893http://community.benchmarkemail.com/users/AtlantaCreationGroup/newsletter/ACG-Schedule-Change-Oct-07-2009-Email4http://www.csfpittsburgh.org/2005OI/Feb05.pdf, http://www.csfpittsburgh.org/2005OI/Mar05.pdf

5http://www.csfpittsburgh.org/2002OI/feb02.PDF6http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/Pigliucci-IconsReview.html

7http://www.ntskeptics.org/creationism/discovery/icons.pdf
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ntskeptics.org%2Fcreationism%2Fdiscovery%2Ficons.pdf&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNF97e9hKl0BNlzTwK2wq-aPKh0akQhttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fchem.tufts.edu%2FAnswersInScience%2FPigliucci-IconsReview.html&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNG6y8gh0omZnpjo3yo5vYAp1K2OEghttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.csfpittsburgh.org%2F2002OI%2Ffeb02.PDF&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNF-pmWAXqX_KDRe7wbVb2EJEZR66Qhttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.csfpittsburgh.org%2F2005OI%2FMar05.pdf&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNEWWfeJV13EKSZZORWdA6pbarpdzQhttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.csfpittsburgh.org%2F2005OI%2FFeb05.pdf&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNEuysHa2gD6fb2r5NH0YgHIesEpoQhttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.benchmarkemail.com%2Fusers%2FAtlantaCreationGroup%2Fnewsletter%2FACG-Schedule-Change-Oct-07-2009-Email&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFg7Th4vlWjZaefN-S979e-xVrxSAhttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.greateratlantachristian.org%2Fpage.aspx%3Fpid%3D289&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHsWK8EZXxzOb420f8-x2macqOc8g


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Neo-Darwinism Is Statistically Impossible!

The evolutionary line of ape-like ancestors to man is a lie!

Pre-biotic soup theory is a fairy tail [sic]

Similarity of organs in different species is positive evidence that a Divine Engineer planned how

to construct successful animals. Materialists believe: that life evolved by natural forces into more complex organisms.....Let us

examine the materialist origin of life myth first. [emphasis in the original]

The Ultimate Truth! God, who is extra-material and extra-Universe, created life by

supernatural means.

Robert Harshs presentations do not reflect a curriculum that is teaching accepted science a class in the

natural sciences should certainly never provide supernatural explanations for its own subject matter.

GAC students are being instructed in nothing less than scientific denialism in their science classes. Not

only are they denied a proper education in one of the bedrock principles of modern biology, but if thesepresentations are any indication, it would seem that their success in a GAC biology class would actually

depend upon them adopting that denialist attitude themselves. The consequence is that scientific

knowledge is punished, while pseudoscience is rewarded. What, then, is the value of a grade in a GAC

biology class?

Perhaps most troubling is that as objectionable as all of the above might be, it is still limited to the fruits

of mere online research. This is only what GAC and its staff have chosen to release for public

consumption. Were one to sit in on a freshman science class, or to review a test or homework

assignment, or to engage a teacher directly, what else might be observed? When Robert Harsh tests hisbiology and honors biology students on evolution, are the right answers those that are consistent with

established and accepted biological science, or those that reject that science but are consistent with Mr.

Harshs personal beliefs?

Oftentimes, evolution is seen as a threat to faith that must therefore be undermined and discredited. This

attitude is reflected in Mr. Harshs own presentations, where he tells his biology students that if evolution

is true, then man has no soul and religion is false. But it is a false dichotomy to suggest that a better

understanding of our physical world requires the sacrifice of our spiritual beliefs. It was not the death of

faith when we learned that Earth was not the center of the cosmos. It was not the death of faith when

we learned that the human body is made of the same elements and proteins and nucleotides as all other

living things. It has not been the death of faith in the last twenty years as we have discovered over 900

planets outside our own solar system. And it will not be the death of faith if and when we encounter life

someplace other than on this planet.


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It is not the role of religion to reject science in the defense of faith rather, it is the role of religion to

recognize that science informs us about the workings of our world, and to defend the spiritual in the face

of our greater understanding of the physical. The alternative would be to stay wedded to a first-century

understanding of science. As students graduate, they will move on not just to colleges that will instruct

them in modern science, but also into a world that is steeped in science. They will be faced with choicesof believing in the real versus the ethereal, and if theyve been taught that choosing one necessitates

abandoning the other, then the result will be either more atheism or more scientific illiteracy.

No, the defense of faith should never be to deny science, but should instead be to find and proclaim the

glory in the new discoveries that science makes. Earth was once believed to be the center of all

Creation, around which the heavens themselves revolved. Now we know that Earth is just one of

several planets circling one of billions of stars in one of billions of galaxies. But the sheer magnitude an

variety of our universe is far more awe-inspiring than any simple Earth-centered cosmology ever was. If

the Genesis account of creation were literally true, man was made from mere dust, just a few thousandyears ago. Whereas evolution tells us that the elements that make up our bodies were forged in the

hearts of stars that exploded billions of years in the past. It is not the fault of science if one fails to

recognize the beauty and majesty in that.

Thus, our complaint is simple, and its remedy is simpler: science classes at GAC should teach science,

nothing more, nothing less. Regardless of what ones religious feelings may be, evolution is science and

creationism is not. That is what is taught at the colleges that GAC students will attend, and to instead

teach them pseudoscience and denialism is a disservice to them. It is also a disservice to their parents

who sacrifice so much for their children to attend GAC, under the belief that their children will receivethe best possible education. And it is, sadly, something of an embarrassment to those of us who claim

GAC as our alma mater. But it doesnt have to be any of these things the power to right the course of

GACs science education rests in your hands.

Signed,

Loren Collins ('97)

Sara Baker ('97)

Aaron Bickell ('97)

Brandon Bier ('97)

Lara Collins Boyce ('00)

Lyle Collins ('99)

Bryant Green ('87)

Courtney Hutton ('97)

Adam Kissel ('97)

Stephanie Wickham Kissel ('95)

Stacey Snax Wettermann ('97)

Patrick Wickham ('93)

Sean Wickham ('95)


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Documents

Letter to GACS on Creationism in the Science Classroom