British teachers must say ‘creationism not scientific’

LONDON — The British government has given teachers the go-ahead to discuss creationism with their pupils — but only if they stress that the controversial theory has “no underpinning scientific principles.” The Department of Children, Schools and Families said Oct. 1 that it issued such guidance after several teaching unions and civic groups said science teachers were unsure how to tackle the issue of creationism in their classrooms.

One Christian group, Truth in Science, sent DVDs to schools across Britain in late 2006 promoting intelligent design, an offshoot of creationism, in an attempt to get it taught. Under the government’s guidelines, teachers are expected to contrast the belief that the world was created by God in six days with Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, which teaches that life on earth evolved over millions of millennia. The government’s move is seen as an attempt to avoid the situation in the United States, where some schools have been pressured by some religious groups to teach lessons on intelligent design. British ministers conceded that “there is scope for schools to discuss creationism as part of religious education — a component of the basic school curriculum — in developing pupils’ knowledge and understanding of Christianity and other religions.”

But the guidance document said that while “creationism and intelligent design are sometimes claimed to be scientific theories,” it firmly insisted that “this is not the case, as they have no underpinning scientific principles, or explanations, which are accepted by the scientific community as a whole.”