In today’s world, the theory of evolution is taught as fact in our schools and no one seems to be allowed to question it. We are not taught to think critically about evolution, but instead to just believe it happened.

Can we really call that science?

Science, straight from dictionary.com, is the “systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation,” but that’s not what evolution is all about.

You cannot observe or experiment with evolution. It’s simply not possible because it’s based on the idea of something coming from nothing (i.e. the Big Bang, evolution of life), which is both illogical and unscientific. It also contradicts common sense, which tells us that a creator must be involved in the process of creation.

Evolution also deals heavily in chance. According to the theory, chance brought about the Big Bang, emitted galaxies from the “bang,” begun to form suns, planets and moons, brought about animals and humans and made us into what we are today. This is very unscientific because it doesn’t deal in fact. Rather, it deals purely in hypotheses and guesswork because no one can prove all of that actually happened.

Teaching evolution as a theory is permissible, to an extent, but teaching it as a fact is wrong. Such teaching does not encourage the advance of science, nor does it teach the younger generation to think critically or skeptically. Instead, it encourages them to believe without question, and that is a problem.

Gravity and the laws of physics can be taught because they are scientifically-proven facts, and that can be tested and proven by students and teachers alike. Evolution, however, can neither be tested or proven. Because of this, we cannot and should not accept it as fact and, instead, should be skeptical of it, just as we should be skeptical of what our government tells us (imagine the traps we’d fall into if we weren’t skeptical of our government).

Evolution is about faith and belief, science is about questioning. Questioning leads us to the truth. It is when we are told to stop questioning that we really need to worry. Albert Einstein said, “The important thing is never to stop questioning.” It’s about time we started following that sage advice.

Andrew Jenson can be reached at arg-opinion@uidaho.edu