I’m sure you all remember taking a U.S. history class in middle school. You know, the class where we learned about the end of slavery, the Industrial Revolution, the World Wars. What might have slipped under the radar was the famous trial of John Scopes, in which the creationists took on a teacher who was teaching evolution in a public school. This took place more than 80 years ago, yet it is still an issue today. The entire battle centered on the belief that religion and evolution can’t mix.

Welcome to the most stupid argument in the world. I’ve tried to avoid writing anything about this subject because, quite frankly, I can’t really differentiate between each side.

Confused? I’m not surprised. This is one of those issues where people can’t rationally discuss their perspective. It’s similar to abortion or President Bush, topics that people can’t think about without going off into tirades of self-righteous anger. However, I’m not going to touch on the great divider or baby genocide. This column is purely about evolution versus creationism.

In case you haven’t heard, the Kansas Board of Education is sponsoring court room-style hearings in Topeka discussing the feasibility of teaching evolution in school. The hearings have spawned groups of Kansans who have worked themselves into a fury. A majority of the witnesses that will be called are expected to denounce evolution, while a small number plan on defending it as viable scientific proof.

Among those defending evolution is Topeka attorney Pedro Irigonegaray, who was quoted as saying, “To debate evolution is similar to debating whether the earth is round. It is an absurd proposition.”

The opponents are equally strong in their defense. John Calvert, who will be debating Irigonegaray, claims that he’s “not against evolution. But there is a lot of evidence which suggests life is the product of intelligence. (Irigonegaray) said it is inappropriate for the state to prejudge the question whether we are the product of design or just an occurrence.”

Like I said, I can’t really see the argument. It’s just a large group of closed-minded people on each side of the debate yelling at each other. I can understand both sides if I close my mind, but really, the ideas aren’t that different. Now, it would be different if the two could explain exactly why they disagree, but all I hear are words such as “farce” used to describe people on both sides.

Evolution falls perfectly in line with creationism. I’m an open-minded person from a Christian family, and I have no qualms saying that I believe in both. Before you get all upset with me, think about it. The only sticking point is whether you think God created the Earth. After that, they parallel each other.

Those of you who are Christians know the first few chapters of Genesis very well. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, which was formless and empty. Then light and dark were separated, and land rose out of the waters of the Earth. Then God created vegetation, then small creatures, then animals and then man.

That’s the exact order that evolution says life on Earth evolved! Come on, the seven days of the creation are not actual days. Those seven days occurred over millions of years. The time track and sequential order that both religion and theory employ directly support each other. It makes sense.

Now, it’s a different argument if you want to say that God created Earth with a great underlying purpose. Not everyone believes that. However, all those people in Kansas can think about is how the other side is absolutely incorrect, and they can’t imagine that their belief systems could actually support each other. That’s the problem with America today: people are too quick to point out each other’s differences instead of focusing on the things that they have in common.

Matt Baxendell is a junior in civil engineering. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].