SAINT
PETERSBURG, March 2, 2006 (IslamOnline.net and News Agencies) – A
Russian student and her father are suing the government to teach
creationism in state schools alongside Darwin's theory of evolution, a
case supported by the country's Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish
communities, the daily Izvestia reported on Thursday, March 2.
"I
have come to the conclusion that the theory of creationism is the most
logical" explanation of the origins of humankind, said Kiril, the
father of 15-year-old Masha Shraiber, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
case maintains that teaching only the theory of evolution violates
basic freedom of conscience and religion rights enshrined in the
Russian constitution.
It
asks the education ministry to rewrite textbooks to include the
alternative view of creationism.
"The
majority of great religions share this point of view," Kiril
said.
The
Russian father and his daughter are being assisted in their lawsuit by
three lawyers representing the Russian Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish
communities, according to the newspaper.
The
theory of evolution, first articulated by British naturalist Darwin in
1859, is based on the idea that life organisms developed over time
through random mutations and factors in nature that favored certain
traits that helped species survive.
In
Abrahamic religions, creationism or creation theology is the origin
belief that humans, life, the Earth, and the universe were created by
a supreme divine being.
Father
Dies
Henry
Morris, the man seen by both allies and foes as the father of creation
science, died Saturday at a convalescent hospital, reported the Washington
Post on Thursday.
He
was 87 and had had a series of strokes in recent weeks.
Morris,
who coined the term "creation science," founded the
California-based Institute for Creation Research in 1970 and built it
into an organization of far-reaching influence as the intellectual
center of the creationist movement.
He
wrote more than 60 books, most of which took aim at evolutionary
theory and offered justifications for creationism.
His
1961 book, The Genesis Flood, written with John Whitcomb, was
the first significant attempt in the 20th century to offer a
systematic scientific explanation for creationism and remains in
print.
"He
literally set the terms of the debate for the second half of the 20th
century," Edward Larson, author of Evolution: The Remarkable
History of a Scientific Theory told the Post in a telephone
interview.
Morris'
ideas have been roundly rejected by mainstream scientists.
His
books have been the basis for many attempts to introduce creationism
or similar theories in the public schools.
In
1987, the US Supreme Court ruled that creationism was a form of
religion, not science, and could not be taught in the nation's public
schools.
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