Editor’s note: This opinion column was sent in response to an article published by the Colorado Times Recorder on October 31, 2023, titled “School Board Candidate: Schools Should Teach Big Bang & Creationism & Let Kids Decide What’s True.“ The author co-wrote this column with her husband, Charles Evanson.
Update 11/3/23: Political columnist Ari Armstrong has written a response to this column, which you can read here.
Since I, Barbara Evanson, began my campaign to run for Mesa County School Board of Education, there have been inquiries, formal and informal into my opinion, here stated: you (Barbara Evanson) said: “If we’re going to teach the Big Bang then we should teach creationism and allow them to make the decision for themselves. You shouldn’t withhold one ideology and teach another ideology because then that just shows that you have an agenda. We need to be teaching these children with everything that we have as long as it’s factual, substantiated, evidence.”
We, Charles & Barbara Evanson, as an authorship team, offer this article in partnership as a detailed but not exhaustive explanation of our position on the above stated opinion.
First, we would like to start by saying everyone’s thinking starts from a presupposition. From these presuppositions proceed the thoughts and beliefs of every person past, present, and even those who live on in the future. People’s framework from which they make all decisions whether it be in the Physical Sciences or Social Sciences, on Morality or Ethics, to name a few, literally every thought pattern of the human intellect emerges from their presuppositions of Origins.
The question of origins is as old as the universe itself and has been the topic of much debate since the origin of language (a whole other topic in and of itself) and humanity. On the subject of origins there are namely two main origins arguments, Origins of the Universe (Nature) and Origins of Species (Human) with off shoots of each but none the less proceeding from both theories, within this debate. Let’s summarize the opposing theories.
The First Theory is the Big Bang Theory which presupposes the universe is self-existent, was formed by random chance for no purpose, and emerged from nothing because it needed to exist and from this universe came nature or earth which then presupposes the Origin of Species also known as the Evolutionary Theory or in other words Nature gave birth to Humanity.
The Second Theory is the Special Creation (Biblical Creation) Theory also known as Intelligent Design which presupposes the universe was purposefully designed by an Omniscient Self-Existent and Loving Creator who created everything with a purpose. In this presupposition the universe and Man both proceed from the Creator’s intelligent design.
Both of these Theories stand in antithesis to one another and as you can see above start from very different places in the time, space, matter continuum. There is one very important word here we would like to draw out and the word is “Theory”. Before we move on, I think we need to define the following words: Science, Theory, Idea, Law, Fact, Faith, Religion.
- Science is defined in the Oxford American Dictionary & Thesaurus as “the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. An organized body of knowledge on any subject. Synonyms: subject, discipline, field, branch of knowledge, body of knowledge, area of study.”
- Theory is defined in the Oxford American Dictionary & Thesaurus as “a reasoned set of ideas that is intended to explain why something happens or exists; an idea that explains or justifies something. Synonyms: hypothesis, thesis, conjecture, supposition, speculation, postulation, proposition, premise, opinion, view, belief, contention.”
- Idea is defined in the Oxford American Dictionary & Thesaurus as “a thought or suggestion about a possible course of action; a mental impression; a belief; the aim or purpose. Synonyms: Concept, notion, conception, thought, plan, scheme, design, proposal, proposition, suggestion, estimate, approximation, guess, conjecture, theory.”
- Law is defined in the Oxford American Dictionary & Thesaurus as it applies to science “a statement of fact that a particular scientific phenomenon always occurs if certain conditions are present. Synonyms: rule, tenant, doctrine.”
- Fact is defined in the Oxford American Dictionary & Thesaurus as “a thing that is definitely known to be true. Synonym: reality, actuality, certainty, truth, verity.”
- Faith is defined in the Oxford American Dictionary & Thesaurus as “complete trust or confidence in someone or something, strong belief in a religion, a system of religious belief. Synonyms: trust, belief, confidence, conviction, reliance.”
- Religion is defined in the Oxford American Dictionary & Thesaurus as “the belief in and worship in a God or gods, a particular system of faith and worship, a pursuit or interest that is very important to someone. Synonym: belief, creed, church, persuasion, ideology, doctrine (see religion synonyms under Faith as defined above).”
The above definitions lead us to conclude Big Bang and Evolution are not Facts or Laws of Science. Why do we then treat Evolution as though it were a fact or law of science? They are ideas taken on Faith. It’s lack of factual evidence meeting the standard of scientific law and the fact theory follows the title Evolution is evidence itself these are not true facts. Otherwise the title would be preceded by the word “Law of…”
There is no tangible evidence to support either of these notions or ideas to prove they are facts or laws of nature. If there were observable, measurable, and repeatable evidence, all required to become a law of physics or fact of science, to prove either of these ideas I am sure there would be a rush to change them from theories to Laws but sadly there is none. Evolution as a Law or Fact fails the first test of reason.
Speaking of Laws of Physics, we would like to point out the Law of Thermodynamics which is a proven law of physics. Specifically, the Second Law of Thermodynamics which deals with Entropy. According to the second law, the universe is inexorably degenerating, sliding irreversibly towards maximum state entropy, chaos. The Second Law of Thermodynamics as applied to physical science flatly refutes and disproves the idea evolution both of the universe as in Big Bang Theory and of Humanity as in Origins of Species Theory.
I believe, and the entire scientific community also believes, the Law of Thermodynamics to be true and factual. Therefore, either evolution is true, or thermodynamics is true, but both cannot be true at the same time. It is the opinion of many creation scientists and our opinion based on scientific law and fact evolution cannot and does not and never did exist because it is antithetical to a proven Law of Physics; the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
The fact is, the universe and humanity are not progressing from featurelessness to states of greater organization and complexity, it is running down at every observable level toward chaos, as stipulated by the scientific Law of Thermodynamics. Local and temporary increases in complexity are only possible when driven by designed programs and directed energies, neither of which is possessed by the purely speculative notion of vertical upward evolution. Evolution, both Origins of the universe and Species, fail the test of applied physics.
With all this being said we would also like to state in the same vein, there has never been in human history the observance of a star being born, only dying; a galaxy being born, only devolving into maximum chaos; and no new species coming into existence, only extinction. Evolution has never been observed; therefore, it cannot be measured, and as such is in no way repeatable. There is not one instance in primordial history, neither archaeological, paleontological, anthropological, or otherwise, of one species turning into another species: for example, a dog turning into a lion or an ape turning into a human. There are, however, examples of adaptation occurring in species which are and have been and will be observable, measurable, and repeatable.
Evolution of both the universe and of species fail the test of scientific law as stated and in addition are not supported and cannot be proven by archaeological, paleontological, and anthropological sciences. Evolution fails on the Fact of the provision of observable, measurable, repeatable, and historical physical evidence.
Finally, We cannot bring ourselves to believe something came from nothing. There are three requirements in the physical sciences for anything to exist and those three requirements are Space, Time, and Matter. Every single thing in the universe proceeds from this Golden Triangle of Life.
Space and Time are universal forms of the existence of matter, the coordination of objects. The universality of these forms lies in the fact that they are forms of existence of all objects and processes that have ever existed and will ever exist in the infinite universe. Infinitude is an idea that is incomprehensible to the human mind because we have a finite mind, the fact is we will never see outside of our universe (space), we exist inside of time therefore we cannot understand time on anything but a linear perspective and have no way of knowing how far time reaches back into history or forward into the future, and we can hardly begin to comprehend the matter that precedes from space and time. It is, in our opinion, a matter of the highest hubris to believe our limited intellect can grasp the things of an infinite universe, not that we shouldn’t try to understand by applying ourselves to the discipline of science.
The question that no scientist, no matter their intellect, has ever been able to answer, or explain without invoking the idea of a scientific miracle, is how something came from nothing, and how nature somehow overcame and continues to overcome the established Laws of Physics. So, I ask if not from God, where did all this Space, Time, and Matter come from?
A rational thought process leads one to understand the existence of Space, Time, and Matter, a Fact of Physical Science, is and was preceded by something. What is and what was that something? The Fact is there is no scientific answer that can be applied using proven Laws of Physics. So, as stated in the beginning of this short dissertation, we all have to make a choice, the choice is based on Faith, we choose to put our Faith in an Omniscient and Infinite Creator God who brought all of these things into existence because there is no other answer suitable or in the realm of rationality that can explain how the three things required for the universe to exist and come into being, themselves came into existence.
It seems to me more rational to believe in Intelligent Design than believe in scientific miracles which have no grounding in any proven Law of Physics and are otherwise man made and ever-changing theories about the origin of the universe and its preceding biological life. It seems quite irrational to us to believe something came from nothing and the Laws of Physics applies to everything except Evolution. We choose to believe in something rather than nothing, and we choose to base our Faith in proven scientific law. Evolution fails the test of rational and systematic study of applied physics and science.
There are many more arguments to be made against the “Theory of Evolution” with respect to origins. However, those can be left for a later time. The FACT is we both have presuppositions both of which must be taken on Faith. Our Faith is in the Creator and yet others’ Faith is in Man. We believe wholeheartedly in proven Laws of Nature and also believe they ought to be taught to every single person.
With regard to a Free nation both Theories ought to be taught to allow people the Free Choice of which they will base their thinking. We believe Biblical Creation, also known as Intelligent Design, Special Creation, because we have weighed the scientific evidence or facts such as the Law of Thermodynamics and others against the writings of the bible, which are found in the most ancient writings, and find them to be historically and scientifically accurate and true.
There are many other reasons for our Faith in Intelligent Design and why it ought to be taught alongside Evolution, but we believe the above explanations and refutations are sufficient to answer your inquiries.
Genesis 1:1-8. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day. Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. God called the space sky. And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.”
The last fact is when this nation was founded it was founded on the idea of Freedom. Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, and most importantly Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness which presupposes freedom of education. On this premise it is our opinion, and the opinion of millions in this nation, both Theories ought to be taught in public school as to give people a true Freedom of Choice in education. To deny teachers the right to teach, the students the right to learn, and for people to decide what they can and cannot believe and say is a direct, vulgar, and egregious, outright attack on the civil liberties and constitutional rights of those who choose to believe these ideas.
It is our united opinion and the opinion of millions of other American Citizens that both ideologies must be taught in public school. Our goal is not to eliminate ideas but to illuminate the mind. The goal of education is not to tell people what to think but to teach them how to think. Give them the choice. DON’T TREAD ON ME!
