Neither. It is a belief, based upon ancient worldwide tradition. See also:
No. Teaching creationism alongside evolutionary theory would suggest that they are equivalent explanations. They are not. Evolutionary theory is a well-established scientific model; creationism is a religious myth, and should be taught as such.
Creationism IS taught in public schools. There are many forms of creationism taught in mythology classes. Creationism, itself, is explored in philosophy classes. Biblical creation is taught in English and literature classes. Musical interpretations of Genesis are taught in music classes. Creationism is not taught in science classes because it is not supported by any scientific evidence whatsoever. It makes no verifiable predictions. It also has no practical application.
The United States Supreme Court has defined creationism as a religious hypothesis, which should be taught only as part of religious education. It is not permitted to be taught in science courses.For more information, please visit: http://christianity.answers.com/theology/the-story-of-creation
Evolution is a widely accepted scientific theory supported by extensive evidence, and should be taught in science classes. Creationism, however, is based on religious beliefs and is not supported by scientific evidence, so it is not appropriate to be taught in a science classroom. It may be more suitable for discussion in courses on religion or philosophy.
There are two questions here, one explicit and one implicit:The first addresses whether the concept of creationism should be taught in public schools in some class.The second concerns whether or not creationism should be taught in a science class.The answer to either has NOTHING to do with the theory of evolution.Let's address the second question first, because it's the easiest to answer.Creationism absolutely should never be taught in a science class. The reason has nothing to do with the subject matter; it has to do with Creationism not being a scientific theory. In order for an idea to be science (and consequently, have a scientific theory constructed around it), it must follow certain rules: there must be experimentally verifiable assertions made, and the theory as a whole must be constructed using these (testable) assertions combined with the reproducible experimental data. That is, science consists of making an assertion that can be proven FALSE, and then making a sufficient amount of tests to either prove that assertion false, or increase the confidence that the assertion is true (as a scientific theory is based on a preponderance of evidence, and cannot be shown "true" in the same way a mathematical proof can be).Creationism cannot produce these testable conditions. There is no test that can be run to show whether there is a God (or Intelligent Designer) or not - that is, Creationism is rooted in faith (a form of, by definition, baseless belief), which cannot be used in science. Thus, Creationism is a form of faith/religion, not a scientific theory, and cannot be taught in a science class. You can't teach Philosophy in Science class.The first (explicit) interpretation of the question is more tricky, as it concerns the content of Creationism as a belief system. Creationism is inherently a Christian faith system; while it is possible to structure Creationism as some form of general monotheistic belief, the literature and supporting movements of the system are derived (and almost exclusively practiced) by those of a Christian faith.As a form of religious faith, teaching such a subject in a public school - which has a duty as a government-sponsored institution not to promote one religion over others - can be tricky.Legally speaking, it is possible to teach Creationism in a class where the context is sociology and/or philosophy, and where the discussion and study is not "accept this as true", but more "analyze what this says and why, and look at the roots of where it came from." It would NOT be possible to teach this in any way which endorsed Creationism as "truth" or which judged people according to their adherence to its tenants, because in both situations, it would be the school (aka government) promoting the views of a specific religion over those of others not of that religion.Thus, it could be entirely appropriate to discuss Creationism in a Comparative Religions class, or Western Philosophy class, or even a Sociology class. It might even be possible to be taught to younger kids in a Social Studies class. That is, you could "teach" Creationism in the same way you would "teach" Shakespeare or Ayn Rand. The prime point is that Creationism cannot be presented as accepted fact, or as supported by fact.Whether or not it would be beneficial to students that such a subject be taught is left up to your local community to decide.
No. Teaching creationism alongside evolutionary theory would suggest that they are equivalent explanations. They are not. Evolutionary theory is a well-established scientific model; creationism is a religious myth, and should be taught as such.
Creationism.
Creationism.
Creationism can and should be taught in a sociology classroom setting, but not in a science classroom like some people want it to be. The reason for this is that creationism is not a scientific theory or even principle, it's part of cultural mythology.
To be technical it is supported by no evidence, is internally inconsistent and is not falsifiable.
President Eisenhower did not mandate evolution, this is a myth as far as my research has shown. As a matter of fact he was a staunch believer in Creationism. See link: http://www.icr.org/article/presidential-support-for-creationism
Evolution is a scientific theory explaining the diversity of modern life. The various forms of creationism are religious beliefs, usually inspired by ancient myths captured in religious scriptures.
Gap Creationism
Aside from some genuine scientific concern about the mechanism of heritability and the role of genes at about 1900, the greatest opposition to the theory has been religious ideology and social science/humanities misunderstandings about the theory. Google creationism. Google secular creationism. Google the modern synthesis.
The Foucault Pendulum Hoax is a myth and not a real conspiracy theory.
Creationism comes in two significantly different varieties. Traditional creationism, often known as ‘Young-earth Creationism’ holds that the world was created in just six days, and only a few thousand years ago. Old-earth Creationists accept that science has proven its case, that the world is over four billion years old. They seek to harmonise this with the Bible by looking for innovative ways of interpreting the Book of Genesis, to allow both science and the Bible to be seen as true.Many people now believe the biblical account of creation to be a myth, but 'creationism' is more than a myth. Whether we look at Young-earth Creationism or Old-earth Creationism, it is a quite modern set of beliefs designed to support belief in God as the ultimate creator of the world.
One example of a sacred myth is the official conspiracy theory of 9/11.