Why do Conservatives believe that Creationism should be taught in schools?

Question

Yet believe that tobacco's link to cancer, stem cell research and global warming are "junk science"?

John: Research is what I do for a living....

Garment888: If Alexander Fleming felt the same way you feel about stem cell research, before discovering Penicillin in 1928, we would be in a lot of trouble!!
No research...no discoveries...no potential to bring miracles to market.

Answer 1

It's because of their belief system. And it's not all conservatives, just religious conservatives.

They believe that religious values form the foundation for a stable society, and that turning away from those values leads to chaos.

They follow the teachings of their religion, and believe that is the most accurate way of promoting morality. They think that anything which contradicts any part of their religion is obviously trying to undermine their religion as a whole.

It's generalization and pandering. But it conforms to their idea of the proper way to indoctrinate people into the belief system they support, and to avoid exposing their children to any contrary ideas.

Besides, all of those other scientific studies you mention are linked to so-called "liberal" ideas, and everyone in their house knows that liberals with their freedom of thought are inherently evil.
[/end sarcasm]

Answer 2

Hi there Michelle. I would like to answer your question , but I would also like to know your definition of a "conservative". In reference to stem cell research which I have done research on myself, I have never heard it referred to as "junk science" a single time. If you have heard this being said, please get back to me with your source, I would greatly appreciate it. On the same topic, if, when you say "conservative" , you are actually referring to , say, Republicans, or Christians, then I can answer you:

Scientists are free to do this research , they have been doing so for decades , the issue with the above two groups is that the government should not be subsidizing the industry , because it is not the government's responsibility, It belongs in the field of science and medicine , quite separate from politics. Also, you need to keep in mind that for everything the government decides to stick its nose into leads to increased taxes for you.

Although I havent heard stem cell research called "junk science" I will put my name in and tell you that it is at least dubious at best. There isn't a single case in the world where stem cell research has resulted in any benefit to any single person or group anywhere. Again, if I am wrong then I encourage and even implore you to document any case where stem cells have done any good for anyone

Take Care
Hope this helps

Answer 3

Stem cell research isn't junk science and the Christians do not believe it is. They do not want their tax money going toward it especially since adult stemcells can be broken down now into all human types. Everyone believes there's a tobacco link to cancer. Global warming has been politicized by non-experts (like Al Gore) to the point of being confusing. As for Creationism? Why can't they have the possibility of their beliefs taught in their neighborhood schools? No one is saying they won't teach evolution (that also has large gaps).

Let scientists do the science. Conserve because its the right thing to do and leave people to locally decide whether they want both creationism and evolution taught. What difference does it make???

Answer 4

First, I'd like to point out that you are misconstruing conservatives' beliefs, or misstating what we believe. Second, there is no 'party orthodoxy' regarding beliefs like what we just saw in the CT Democrat primary. So, with that out of the way, let me address your statements.

1. Creationism. You are confusing the creationists with all conservatives. You would find that the majority of conservatives do NOT support creationism being taught in school (at least not in science class). First, it isn't science. Second, if schools can't teach math or English or history, why would we trust them with teaching religion?

2. Tobacco's link to increased risks of cancer and heart disease are well known and have been known for over a century, despite all the stupid recent lawsuits by people unwilling to take responsibility for their choice to get addicted to nicotine. The nickname 'coffin nail' or 'coughin' nail' predates WW1. If you are referring to tobacco companies' statements, they used lawyerese weaselwords. If you're talking about 2nd-hand smoke, then that has not been proven. Sorry, but there are plenty of studies that show no link. In science, mixed results means a link is tenuous, not proven.

3. Embryonic stem cell research. Over the past couple of decades, while adult stem cell research has developed a number of lines of treatments for diseases, and placental and blood stem cell research shows a lot of promise, embryonic stem cell research is still a long, long way from producing any results. 'Superman' can whine all he wants about the cure being around the corner, but it isn't.

4. Global warming. We are currently in a slight warming trend, about 1ºC over the past 100 years or so, most of it in the 1st 50 years. This is not in dispute. What is disputable is whether some or any of it is due to human activity, whether there is anything we could or should do about it. We also know that researchers get more funding when they say there's a problem, we know their models use incorrect data or assumptions, and that their powers of prediction are the equal of a carnival fortuneteller. We know that Kyoto, for all its supposed benefits, would result in a ½% reduction in CO2 in 50 years - an insignificant gain at a huge cost. We also know that there are climatologists who believe a warmer Earth would actually be better for human life, and some who believe our global warming may prevent an ice age. But, like Al Gore's dire predictions, those are also pure speculation.

So, there it is.

Answer 5

If there were more people who actually knew the variations of Creationism perhaps the kids in school might actually do something novel these days and actually learn something in school. Learning one thing does not mean you can't learn something else. Kids should learn everything there is to know and make up their own mind.

Most people have no idea what Creationism actually is or that there are varying degrees of it. Some people are literalists and only believe what is in the bible. Some just say if you can't explain it maybe there is a greater power behind it. There is all sorts of room in the middle. Unfortunately nobody knows because one group of extremists has painted with a broad brush covering everyone.

Teaching things like different points of view and acceptance of others with different points of view is what school is there for. When a kid asks a question in class his teacher should not have to say, "I am not allowed to talk about that. I can only talk to you about the stuff in this text book." (I think that happened once before, they even made a move about it)

Answer 6

If you genuinely want to know the answer you should listen to a conservative. Most of the other people's responses just hate what they don't understand or want to try and understand.

Conservatives want creationism taught in schools along with Darwin's theory of evolution. This is the only logical answer seeing how neither of them are proven fact, And I have yet to hear a better theory. I do lean in the direction of evolution because I see no evidence of a creator actually existing (God or aliens take your pick), But there is plenty of evidence supporting that most of the life on this planet appeared around the same era when it did not exist the previous. This is to fast of a development for evolution alone to explain we are missing a part of the picture and we are all better off not just assuming one thing is wrong without proving it wrong.

Also as soon as someone proves global warming is even happening and especialy caused by us please let me know. Untill then I won't jump to conclusions.

Answer 7

Usually just conservative Christians. Many people are conservative but have 21st century views of the world - i.e creationism is religion and intelligent design is just religion disguised.

Conservative Christians are the ones who have 15th century view of the world based on a simple-minded literal reading of the bible (which should be a crazy idea to anyone with above a 5th grade education).

Can't speak to the tobacco part- I've not really heard that consistently from conservatives.

Answer 8

We don't.

Except that global warming thing, what a crock of poopy!!

I actually had one girl tell me that the summers being hotter was proof of global warming. Can you believe these idiots?

We also don't believe the earth is 6000 years old. Only the dunces who get confused when trying to study the Bible think it's 6000 years old. The rest of us realize the gap between "In the beginning..." and "the earth was made formless and void." Simple Hebrew lessons take care of straightening out that problem. The ones who think it's 6000 years old also think it's okay to bomb abortion clinics and campaign against contraceptives.

Did you ever stop to realize that ice shelves break off because they are growing larger? They are in some ares, but you won't hear that from Uncle Albert.

Answer 9

Wow, I was just reading some of the posts where people have a hard time believing in global warming. We're not talking heat indexes here people, we're talking oceans rising by degrees. Ice shelves (bigger than some of our states) breaking off. Glaciers disappearing at a rate that is more than double the norm. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to interpret the information. And you don't have to skim the hype stories to find this type of info. Look at stories that are small and in the background. Not everything is highlighted for sensationlism. Global warming is real. Next time you want to spout off, please do some research first.

Answer 10

Your question is not really a rational question. You lump in a whole bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with creationism.

this reminds me of a joke question that was often asked many years ago.

"Have you stopped beating your wife, yes, or not?"

Yes, means the man must admit he had been beating his wife,and no means he is stil beating her. A no-win question.

First, not all conservatives believe creationism should be taught in schools. Some conservatives believe in evolution. If you stopped emoting (acting on emotion instead of with intelligence) you would know this. So, your question is thus irrational.

Next, in spite of what you have been told by your teachers, and television personalities, there is actually not one molecule of evidence to PROVE evolution. The greatest leap of blind faith in modern science is the blind faith which says one species changed to another.

Darwin originally came up with his theory when he took a trip around the world on a ship. In every Pacific Island he saw common creatures, such as butterflies or moths or some birds, and on each isolated island, they had different colors. So, he assumed this was an addition of genetic materials, and thus assumed one species can turn into another species.

Alas, this change in colors is actually A LOSS of genetic material.

All the so-called evidence of evolution does not at all show that one species ever turned into another, which means a dramatic increase in genetic material happened. It is conjecture by a bunch of Ph.D's who look at different species and tell us one changed into another.

The first "proofs" 150 years ago, were rapidly disproved. And, so it has gone for the entire 150 years. Evolutionists come up with "proof" of their theory, it is rapidly disproved by the evoluionists themselves, os another is developed, and it is in turn disproved.

I was a good student in the 50's, and I learned well the theory of Evolution. So, I waa quite angry when I finally realized they had no proof at all of it.

So, where does the theory of evolution come from?

It is based on the religious beliefs of the evolutionists, just as creationsism is also based on the religious beliefs of some (not all) religious people.

Religious people believe that a divine creator exists. Thus, it makes sense to them that God made everything, though some religious people do believe God chose to use evolution to create humans.

Evolutionists mostly do not believe a God exists. That is their religion, the belief that the Universe somehow created itself. (Talk about a great blind faith!) So, they have no choice but to believe in evolution, no matter they can find no proof at all.

The correct statement would be that most reasonable people of religion believe that BOTH IDEAS should be taught to children, and let them make up their own minds. So, why does that bother you?

As far as the totally unrelated items you mention for reasons only known by yourself, THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF GLOBAL WARMING. All through the last decade as extremists claimed the planet is burning up, NASA's project which measures the actual temperature of the planet every year, has reported the average temperature HAS NOT CHANGED EVEN 0.1 DEGREEES.

Hard science shows that the planet goes through a 1700 year temp cycle, and we are not in the hot part of that cycle. This panic is pure ignorance, by people who in their ignorance accuse conservatives of being ignorant.

Around 1931, I forget exactly, there were over 30 days in Washington, DC over 100 degrees every day, much hotter than this hot summer in the East.

The 30's overall were the hottest and dryest in all recorded history. Yet, later it got so cold the same crazy people who tell us we are in global warming announced we were entering another ice age. This was about 1960 when I graduated from high school, and we had a very, very cold winter.

In the late 1890's, National Geographic reported a fast glacier melt off like we are seeing today. In a few years, the cold came back with a vengerance.

Do not ever confuse your own junk science with ours.

Answer 11

This is the issue confronting all intelligentsia and educated. Should they go by what is written in scriptures or believe only in hard science, logic, reason and technology as the only engine to lead us to progress? No hard and fast rules can be drawn. It is various shades of belief as it suits individuals depending on their level of growth and understanding. Those who are hard core conservatives are reluctant to accept concepts which are in conflict with thousands of years of values and beliefs.It is in a way good for a society to have all such shades of beliefs to promote debate and discussion which is the only way to have healthy growth!