Muhammad Ali was a man who was known for his boxing prowess and skill. He was not a man known for his humility. There is a popular story of Ali on a flight right before take off. The stewardess was reminding him to buckle his seatbelt when he replied, “Superman don’t need no seatbelt” to which she quickly shot back, “Superman don’t need no plane.”

We often think and feel that confronting a wrong idea is rude. There was nothing rude about this stewardess wanting to protect Muhammad Ali. No matter how much Ali thought he was above wearing a seatbelt, it was for his safety that he needed to wear one. Confronting falsehood is actually an act of love. If someone saw their friend about to step off a cliff, the most hate filled thing they could do would be to let them take the next step. I hope these next few chapters will not only help you confront your doubts, but encourage you to show falsehoods and reveal Christ to your neighbors.

Are Local Textbooks and Teachers Biased?

You may want to ask, “Are we, our local students and parents, really dealing with the problems discussed in these chapters?” Are students really taught views that replace God with themselves, views that say truth is relative, and views that deceitfully make Christianity appear as a fairy tale or hoax? The short answer is yes. I have collected several of the biology books that were once used by students in our area. These problems are not kept locked away in the textbook. As a local small town highschool syllabus I have quoted from shows, these ideas are not limited to the textbooks but are accepted by the teachers too. The textbooks I have quoted are from highschool biology courses and introductory biology in college. If your student has a different textbook from the editions I have used, this chapter will still be applicable, almost all the books use the same supposed evidences and present the same narrative when it comes to Christianity and evolution. I have gone through the most repeated “evidences” I saw commonly given in textbooks.

Before we look at answers to these claims, let us look at how our classrooms and textbooks view evolutionary ideology and present Christian truth. The Jefferson County highschool syllabus outlines the overview and direction of their class as follows, emphasis mine:

“The course content follows a traditional timeline all the while focusing on the four Big Ideas and the Enduring Understandings identified in the Curriculum Framework published by the College Board. We will follow a micro to macro theme, starting with biomolecules and moving to cell structure.This is followed by a systematic study of cellular organelles as we look at cellular homeostasis, cellular energetics, and the cell cycle. Mendelian genetics follows, which will flow into a hefty unit of molecular genetics culminating in the truly unifying theme to all life science - Evolution. We then move into organismal homeostasis, multicellular molecular signaling, developmental biology, ecology and animal behavior – which we can now look from (Sic) a truly evolutionary standpoint. The year finishes up as we tie in all content into the major themes of the course. The Big Ideas are woven into the treatment of the course material at appropriate points all year.”

We see not from a textbook perspective, but a teacher’s perspective a rejection of God as our unifying theme of life. God is replaced with a supposed system of progression of improvement through death (evolution) as this unifying theme. We see that this evolutionary narrative is considered central, and is an often referred to topic for this classroom. From below, I want us to see that the material that our children, or possibly you our reader, endure are not only trying to promote their view of reality, they want to take the time to claim yours is a lie.

“Paley made his famous “argument from design”: that is, many creatures are so finely constructed and well adapted to their environment that their existence implies the existence of a designer-much in the same way that the existence of a watch implies the existence of a watchmaker. To many people in the 19th century, that designer was God. With the idea of natural selection, Darwin did away with the need for a watchmaker: natural selection could accomplish the same thing without any input from a designer.” Biology For a Changing World 2nd Edition

Our textbooks tell our youth that there is no need for a Creator or Designer. Science has done away with that supposed need. In addition to claiming that God is not needed, this textbook goes on to claim that a literal reading of the Bible is factually wrong.

“Earth was much older than the 6,000 years popularly accepted at the time (a figure based on a literal reading of the Bible)” Biology For a Changing World 2nd Edition

This next textbook does not mention the Bible specifically, but speaks of those who believe in a Designer and says:

“One of the obstacles that had blocked the acceptance of any theory of evolution in Darwin’s day was the incorrect notion, widely believed at that time, that the earth was only a few thousand years old.” McGraw-Hill_Biology

Many textbooks claim this ‘unscientific’ view of taking the Bible at its word is something no longer believed and relegated to the past. We have moved from denying a need for a creator to painting an image of ignorance for those who still believe in outdated superstition. With this framed to our youth, textbooks end the chapter by having these students apply this new knowledge.

One textbook contains a section titled “Darwin’s Critics” and asks students to make a list of counterarguments against the ‘misguided’ objections given. Students before starting have a section to read explaining that most criticisms “exist from a lack of understanding scientific principles.” It is a clever way to push students to believe those who doubt evolution are simply ignorant. Here is a question this section asks:

“3. The Intelligent Design Argument. “The organs of living creatures are too complex for a random process to have produced - the existence of a clock is evidence of the existence of a clockmaker.” - Biology 9th Ed, Raven pg 492

Students then must respond with an argument showing why we do not need God to exist and to show the fallibility of making such an argument. If students are unable to answer this particular question, they have a section following this that gives and prods students with an answer. As the textbook tries to remove the belief of God, it is also trying to give a sense of confidence in evolution.

“Evolution explains both the unity and diversity of life. As stated at the beginning of this chapter, all organisms share the same basic characteristics of life because we all share a common ancestor.” Inquiry into Life, pg 5

The idea of a common designer instead of a common ancestor is considered preposterous in these books, every public school textbook teaches evolution as the unifying theme of life. The only secondary view that many textbooks will include alongside evolution is that life may have arisen from outer space and arrived on Earth. This view is given since no satisfying theory has been given to life arising on Earth. Even secular scientists agree that there is not a satisfactory answer for the claim that life arose on Earth by chance. The idea we are aliens or brought to earth is not a replacement for the view of God or an answer to our origin. This just adds another step to the ‘what if’s’ with no real answer. We have replaced one maybe with another, without fact or reasoning having a place to speak. A large number of textbooks will make the claim that life may have come from space, but look at the wording the textbook presents:

“Life may not have originated on earth at all, instead it may have infected Earth from some other planet.” Biology 9th 508

These textbooks will deny and reject the notion of humans being created by the Designer at any cost to reason. Textbooks will tell students that we do not know the exact details of how we came to be, but we are certain it was not God. As previously noted, when we remove the view of a designer, we also remove the view of humans having divine dignity. As a result we start to see others as an “infection.”

One textbook has an opening page titled “Committed to Excellence” and states to teaching staff and donors that this new edition has been updated to strengthen the evolution components in various sections then says of the book as a whole “Biology is based on an understanding of evolution. (Biology for a changing World)” From there we see the book taught as though that were true. The book opens up to chapter one giving an incorrect view of Christianity and a push for students to see evolution as the basis of all life. Likewise the textbook Biology Concepts and Investigations starts on page eight speaking of evolution calling it “ the single most powerful idea of biology.” and tells teachers that evolution should be discussed in every chapter. When we see this, we need to see that these textbooks authors are replacing the role of God with death. Evolution teaches that progression happens on the backs and deaths of others. Evolution glorifies death. Further in this name of progress, it places us as the current supreme being on a track to godhood. This is the agenda our textbooks teach with and demand teachers to do also.

This textbook opens up with a section titled “thinking for life.” Unfortunately there is not much thinking they allow you to have.

“Focus on Evolution. All around us, we can see that life seems perfectly suited to its habitat. Centuries of Scientific Research tell the compelling story of how this came to be. When Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, he set into motion the science of evolutionary biology. But it didn't stop there. Generations of scientists have built on that foundation, and we now have a richly detailed understanding of the evolutionary process that has brought life to this point. A famous journal article is titled, “Biology only makes sense in the light of evolution” a profound statement that should not be taken lightly.” Biology 9th Ed, Raven V

Evolution runs counter to the Christian worldview and has pervaded our education systems. Evolution is declared to be fact, and this system takes the time to claim that Christian ideas are wrong. As we will see, they will claim that their idea should be imprinted on the youth minds, and claim that my beliefs and yours are superstition. I have 3rd and 5th grade Tennessee textbooks that teach evolution. One book starts teaching evolution on page 4, and another textbook asks students to draw that they think people will look like in a million years. This isn’t an attempt to teach truth, but to indoctrinate. Asking kids at young ages to draw evolution is not pushing science. It is pushing the young imagination to embrace a false idea as cool. This chapter focuses strictly in the science classroom, but Christian values are ridiculed in almost every public school room. For trivia, the title of Darwin’s book is not, “On the Origin of Species” it is “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.” When we remove the Creator, we make the creation of less value. We remove any promises that allude to the equality, value, and meaning of life. Could the indoctrination of evolution, denial of truth, and other actions that deconstruct our youth’s value be contributing to the hate in our culture, the growing suicide rates, and other heartbreaks?

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” ― Mark Twain

Evolution Pervades the Class

When we see evolution taught to our youth, we should see it as our youth being taught to reject God and His truth. All of the textbooks I have picked up continue what we have seen. They give a warped strawman view of Christianity that they are able to knock down. They give their supposed evidence and ask students to regurgitate it back. Evolution pervades the science books, with a section of ¼ to a ⅓ devoted exclusively to teaching the doctrine. In our other courses like literature, evolution exists as a background premise, and sometimes even in the questions. Any question on evolution that requires thought seems to be in a multiple choice format, as if they are too afraid to allow students to fully think. The textbooks also always seem to have a question section for students to answer related to Christian beliefs and the descriptions they have given for it. Some of them are very frank about trying to tear at our students' faith like you have seen and others are more subtle and ask questions about how Darwin challenged the faith and beliefs of people of ‘his time’ as if no one in the present day believed such.