High Level Government Support for
Creationism
|
Author: Dr. Jerry Bergman |
Essays by Author |
Introduction
A large number of
recent American presidents and high government officials have openly supported creationism/Intelligent
Design, or at least have expressed the view that students and teachers have the
right to question Darwinism. In the last century alone, presidents who spoke
openly of their doubts about Darwinism include Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush,
and George W. Bush. A few of the many “on the record” statements of
presidential support of their belief in creationism are reviewed below.
President Harry S. Truman
President Truman
was raised in a devote Baptist family in Independence, MO. As a child he attended the Presbyterian
church and Sunday school because it was nearer to his home than the Baptist
church. At age 18 Truman formally
joined the Baptist church. As president,
he worshipped at the First Baptist Church of Washington, DC. An “avid student of the Bible all of his
life, he singled out the Sermon on the Mount” as the Bible’s greatest passage.”
He also firmly “believed in the power of prayer” (DeGregorio, 2005, p. 510).
From his school days until he became president, DeGregorio notes, Truman
“regularly recited the following prayer”:
Almighty and Everlasting God, Creator of Heaven, Earth and the Universe
Help me to be, think, to act what is right ... Give me the ability to be
charitable, forgiving and patient with my fellowmen:help me to understand their
motives and their shortcomings:even as Thou understandest mine!
(McCullough, 1992 p. 55. emphasis
mine).
After being sworn
in as President, Truman asked members of the press to pray for him. His devotion was to the degree that he
proclaimed July 4, 1952 the first annual day of prayer. Furthermore, many of
the most familiar life guidelines of Truman and his society “came directly from
the Bible” (McCullough, 1992 p. 54). He stressed that, in religion, there is much
more value in acting than in just talking (McCullough, 1992, p. 83).
President Dwight Eisenhower
Dwight
Eisenhower’s upbringing was “Steeped in Religion” by two devoutly religious
parents (Bergman, 1998). Eisenhower stated that he was reared with “a deep
Bible-centered faith” that has
colored my life since childhood.
Devout parents, who loved the Bible as dearly as life itself, made sure
of that. Indeed, before I was eighteen,
I had read through the entire Bible and discussed it, chapter by chapter, with
my mother” (Quoted in Gammon, 1969, pp. 3-4).
Eisenhower’s
religious background was River Brethren and a fellowship then called Bible
Students. Both groups were strong creationists. The importance of this doctrine
is illustrated by the fact that acceptance of Darwinism is a excommunication
offense. The first book that the Bible
Students published that critically examined evolution was a 1898 work titled The
Bible Versus the Evolution Theory, and a recent book they published on this
topic was the 1985 work called Life:How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or By Creation? The latter book was published in 27
languages and, as of 2006, had a total printing of over 30 million copies. Their latest book, Is There a Creator Who
Cares about You?, has been printed in
47 languages and has sold almost 20 million copies. The Watchtower has also published hundreds of articles supporting
creationism and critical of Darwinism.
Those who have
studied Eisenhower’s life have concluded that he had an unshakable belief in the
Bible teaching that God is the creator and sustainer of life (Hutchinson, 1954,
p. 369; Bergman, 2000). Dwight had an
unshakable belief in the Bible teaching that God is the creator and sustainer
of life (Hutchinson, 1954, p. 369).
Eisenhower’s world
view may have influenced certain statements that he made. An example is his conclusion, based on his
reading of the our nations’ founders’ writings, that America is a religious
nation today because the country’s fathers expressed their complete
reliance on “the laws of nature and nature’s God’ and because they published
before the world these self-evident truths: “that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights . . .
.’ In contrast with this concept of the
sacredness of life, modern atheistic dictatorships treat men as nothing more
than animals or educated mules. How
many materialistic psychologists and smart-alec professors sneer that men
invented God in a childish search for security; yet, I have noticed that men in
the foxholes or at the moment of death turn to some higher Power for comfort
and courage . . . . although I have seldom displayed or discussed my religious
philosophy with anyone, a deep Bible-centered faith has colored my life since
childhood (Quoted in Gammon, 1969, pp. 3-4, emphasis mine).
Another example is Ike’s statement that at the
core of our nation is belief in a Creator who has endowed all men with
inalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. In that belief is our
country’s true hallmark, a faith that permeates every aspect of our political,
social and family life (Speech over radio and television, Washington, D.C.,
December 3, 1959. From Eisenhower, 1967b,
pp. 85-86, emphasis mine).
In a letter to
his life long friend, Swede Hazlett, Eisenhower wrote “I believe fanatically in
... the rights of the individual ... because of his being created in the
image of a supreme being ...” (Quoted in Chernus, 2002, p. 91, emphasis
mine). In a speech given to Congress in
Washington, D.C. on January 5, 1957, President Eisenhower said that the:
Middle East is the birthplace of three great religions: Moslem, Christian and
Hebrew. Mecca and Jerusalem are more
than places on the map. They symbolize
religions, which teach that the spirit has supremacy over matter and that the
individual has a dignity and rights of which no despotic government can
rightfully deprive him. It would be
intolerable if the holy places of the Middle East should be subjected to a rule
that glorifies atheistic materialism (1967, p. 128).
In yet another
example, in a commencement speech Dwight gave at Messiah College on May 29,
1965, he said that the president of Messiah College emphasized that man is not
just an educated mule. He is a
spiritual being at the same time.... Every once in awhile get out the
Declaration of Independence and read its opening passages. There you will find that our founding
fathers, in trying to explain the kind of government that they envisioned, laid
out that, first of all, we are created by some Supreme Being:a Creator:and
we are endowed with certain unalienable rights and among these are life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (page 3, emphasis mine).
Morin concluded that Dwight’s belief about “religious faith and
man’s instinct to be free,” were not only directly related, but that “faith in
God is the necessary base for a free nation” (1969, p. 133). Morin gave as an
example that Dwight “often mused over the phrase in the Declaration of
Independence that says all men “are endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights . . .’” The President stressed the word “Creator.’
which signified to him that American was “founded on a basis of religious faith”
(1969, pp. 133-134). Dwight concluded that, “A free government without a
foundation of deep religious faith makes no sense,” and that this fact was a
major strength of Democracies in their conflicts with Communists (1969, p.
134).
Eisenhower
believed that clear evidence exists to support his conclusion that God had
intervened in response to his prayers.
For example, Eisenhower believed the numerous contingencies that all
worked together in his life to allow him to destroy fascism and Nazism were not
a result of chance, but rather God’s will.
Eisenhower strongly believed that God was with him in his battle against
“Hitler and all that he stood for” (Eisenhower, 1967, p. 52). Toward the end of
his presidency Dwight was still active in religious work. For example, at the
Christmas Pageant of Peace Ceremonies on December 23, 1960 delivered over
national radio and television, he said
We commemorate the birth of the Christ Child by the giving of
gifts, by joining in carols of celebration, by giving expression to our
gratitude for the great things that His coming has brought about in the
world.... Yet, as we look into the mirror of conscience, we see blots and
blemishes that mar the picture of a nation of people who devoutly believe
that they were created in the image of their Maker. ... When, through
bitter prejudice and because of differences in skin pigmentation,
individuals cannot enjoy equality of political and economic opportunity, we see
another of these imperfections...this failure, too, is a blot on the brightness
of America's image (emphasis mine).
President James Earl Carter
Religion for
Jimmy Carter was at the forefront of his presidency. Always more in agreement with Intelligent Design than
creationism, he wrote that the evidence of the design argument was so
persuasive that even for persons
without specific religious convictions ... the awe-inspiring beauty of starlit
sky or sunset, the emergence of a butterfly from a chrysalis, the industry of
an ant, or the sprouting of a seed were adequate proofs of God’s hand in our
lives and in creation (2005, p. 48).
He added that he believed an “omnipotent Creator” created the
“entire universe” (2005, p. 49). An
example where he stressed the clear evidence for design in nature was in a 1989
letter to one of his “favorite writers on scientific subjects,” Harvard
Professor Stephen Jay Gould. The letter was in response to a statement Gould
wrote in what Carter considered “the most enjoyable of his books, Wonderful
Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History.” After noting that some of Gould’s theses
“were later disputed by other paleontologists” (2005, p. 49) Carter added that
he disagreed with Gould’s conclusion that evolution was
like a tape going through a machine, with the results being attributable to a
completely haphazard recording. I wrote
him a private letter, expressing my belief that there had obviously been some
logic or order in the process. He
didn’t respond directly, but subsequently quoted and slyly ridiculed my opinion
in one of his monthly magazine articles (2005, pp. 49-50).
Carter added that “my own personal belief [was] that God created
the universe” and not a blind watchmaker as taught by orthodox Darwinism or
Richard Dawkins.
President Ronald Reagan
During Reagan’s
1967-1975 California governorship, Reagan’s “state board of education had
pushed to weaken the teaching of evolution and endorsed creationism.” (Mooney,
2005, p. 36). A Science magazine
editorial opined that
Reagan’s sympathy with the creationists was common knowledge when he was
governor. Reagan supported an
unsuccessful 1972 suit brought by the state school board -- whose
superintendent was a friend of the governor -- to bring the teaching of
creationism to public schools (Science, 1980, p. 1214).
During a 1980 press conference, presidential candidate Ronald
Reagan was asked if he thought the theory of evolution should be taught in
public schools. He answered that
evolution is a
theory only, and it has in recent years been challenged in the world of science
and is not yet believed in the scientific community to be as infallible as it
once was believed. But if it was going
to be taught in the schools, then I think that also the biblical theory of
creation, which is not a theory but the biblical story of creation, should also
be taught (Science, 1980, p. 1214).
Asked if he personally accepted the theory of evolution, Reagan
replied: “I have a great many questions about it. I think that recent discoveries down through the years have
pointed [out] ... great flaws in it” (Science, 1980, p. 1214).
After Reagan’s
election, several key members of his administration also supported teaching
creationism. Due to the sometimes-rabid
opposition of mainline science to anything less then dogmatic teaching of
Darwinism, though, they had to be circumspect.
For example, Reagan’s science adviser, George Keyworth, “refused to
repudiate the teaching of creationism in public schools during his 1981
confirmation hearing.” Reagan’s
secretary of education William Bennett also supported teaching of creationism.
For example, in 1986 Bennett “declared that in his view, the selection of
public school textbooks should involve the “judgment of the community,’ a tacit
nod to creationist forces at the local level” (Mooney, 2005, p. 36).
Mooney concludes
“The Reagan administration’s sympathies with creationism signaled a new
development for the Republican Party and conservatism more generally” (2005, p.
36). Reagan also wrote in a letter to a
correspondent that certain quotes, evidently made in response to statements
made by Paul Kurtz in The Humanist, that
“Humanism can not in any fair sense of the word apply to one who still believes
in God as the source and creator of the universe. Christian Humanism would be possible only for those who are
willing to admit that they are atheistic Humanists. It surely does not apply to God intoxicated believers” (Skinner, et al., 2003, p. 644).
Reagan then expressed his concern about teaching Humanism in public
schools by paraphrasing John J. Dunphy from the Humanist magazine who
wrote that “the battle for humankind’s
future will be waged and won in the public school classroom and the new faith
of Humanism will replace the “rotting corpse of Christianity’” (Skinner, et
al., 2003, p. 644). Some of Reagan’s
cabinet members also supported Reagon’s view.
For example, Reagan’s Secretary of the Interior, James Watt, said that
the issue in the Scopes trial
was not whether the doctrine of evolution should take the place of the Biblical
account of Creation. The question was
whether the theory of evolution could be discussed ... Scopes lost the trial
... Censorship was as wrong then as it is now.
We believers in the Old Testament want the theories of both evolution
and Creation taught. ... Unfortunately, in many school systems, the
liberals have now censored the teaching of Creation. Yet is censorship by liberals right and by conservatives wrong?
(1985, pp. 109-110).
Dr. C. Everett Koop.
C. Everett Koop
graduated from Cornell Medical School at an age when many people finish their
bachelor's degree. He was one of the nation’s first pediatric surgeons, and
pioneered many surgical operations.
Indeed he “wrote the textbook” in his field and, thanks mostly to his
work, some procedures that carried a 95 percent mortality rate when Dr.
Koop began his work have improved to a 95 percent survival rate (Koop,
1991).
His research
abilities also are legion. Some of his
books were written in a single night (Koop, 1991). He has succeeded in nearly everything he has ever attempted. At an age when most men retire, he began a
new career as the U.S. Surgeon General (Chief of the U.S. Public Health
Service), articulating the nation’s health care goals and programs. After noting this, a Life magazine
author (April, 1982) grudgingly admitted, “no man who ever held the office
brought to it the conscientiousness, or the background, of Everett Koop.”
Dr. Koop has
openly supported the creation worldview and eloquently expressed his
reservations about Darwinism. In a letter to Paul Humber Koop wrote “It has
been my conviction for many years that evolution is impossible. However, I have
never been able to convince anyone who held the opposite point of view.” The
reason, Koop wrote, is because “I am of the firm conviction that until the
scales are lifted from the eyes of those who oppose creation, no scientific
evidence will be of value in proof” (Koop, 1986)
President George H.W. Bush
George H.W. Bush’s writings also indicate
that he accepted the creation worldview, and felt that Darwinism should be
taught objectively in public schools.
An example of how this view was reflected in Bush’s thinking was in his
speech to the National Academy of Science:
20 billion years ago, the theory goes, it all began with a universe of energy
and mass unimaginably hot and compressed containing everything that would
become what we now see in the heavens.
And then, science tells us, in one incomprehensively powerful instant,
energy and matter of every kind exploded in every direction--or as a layman
might explain it, somebody hit that cosmic baseball right out of the park
(1990).
Importantly, Bush then added, “Science, like any field of
endeavor, relies on freedom of inquiry; and one of the hallmarks of that
freedom is objectivity.” He concluded
by adding “I’m not here as an expert but as a believer. ...Thank you very much
... and God bless each and every one of you.”
Even more direct is Bush’s statement about creationism made while campaigning,
as summarized by the journal Church and State:
Creationism also gets a Bush nod...the candidate says, “I’m not a scientist,
but it seems to me that the Bible has an abundance of clues and evidence to
help archeologists, astronomers and other scientists in their endless quest for
knowledge. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the Biblical account of creation
and the scientific evidence of the origins of the universe will yet find common
ground (Boston, 1988, p. 10).
President George W. Bush
When campaigning
for President in 1999 Bush openly
“supported the teaching of creationism alongside evolution in public
schools” (Mooney, 2005, p. 9). President Bush has also openly given support to
creationism while in public office. In a Roundtable interview he gave on August
1, 2005, Bush was asked about his personal views on the “growing debate over
evolution versus intelligent design” and if he thought “both should be taught
in public schools.” Bush answered that
“harking back to my days as governor ... I said that, first of all, that
decision should be ... [up] to local school districts, but I felt like both
sides ought to be properly taught ... so people can understand what the debate
is about” (2005, p. 4). During his 2000
election campaign President Bush was quoted as saying that “on the issue of
evolution, the verdict is still out on how God created the earth” (Dowd, 2005).
Both Democrats
running against Bush, Albert Gore and Joseph Lieberman, supported Bush on this
issue. Professor Gregory Paul noted
that
Gore supported teaching both creationism and evolution, his
running mate Joe Lieberman asserted that belief in a creator is instrumental to
“secure the moral future of our nation, and raise the quality of life for all
our people,” and presidential candidate John Kerry emphasized his religious
values in the latter part of his campaign (2005, p. 4).
Other world leaders have also expressed support for creationism
including Tony Blair, prime minister of Great Britain (Smith, 2003, p. 4). Blair openly stated he is “very happy” that
“the teaching of creationism alongside Darwin’s theory of evolution” occurs in
state schools (Tonge, 2002).
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
Senator Bill Frist,
a doctor and graduate of Harvard Medical School, supports teaching ID. One report noted he echoed President Bush
when he stated that “intelligent design” should be taught in public schools
alongside evolution. Frist ... told
reporters ... that students need to be exposed to different ideas, including
intelligent design. “I think today a
pluralistic society should have access to a broad range of fact, of science,
including faith,” Frist said. Frist ...
said exposing children to both evolution and intelligent design “doesn’t force
any particular theory on anyone. I
think in a pluralistic society that is the fairest way to go about education
and training people for the future” (MSNBC report, 2006, p. 1).
Senator Rick Santorum
Santorum has been
one of the most active supporters of Intelligent Design in the government. Berman wrote ID advocates now sit on state
and local boards, in state houses, and in seats of the U.S. Congress. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) is a strong
opponent of evolution. Senator Rick
Santorum (R-PA) is an ID advocate with close ties to CSC fellows. He introduced language in the U.S. Senate’s No
Child Left Behind Act language that sanctioned teaching the “controversy”
surrounding evolution; it passed the Senate by a preliminary vote of 91 to 8
(2003, p. 648).
Senator John McCain
John McCain,
responding to a question about a report that noted he thinks “intelligent
design” should be taught in schools, mocked the idea that American young people
were so delicate and impressionable that they needed to be sheltered from the
concept, which says that God had a hand in creation and which has been
challenged by Darwinists as unscientific.
“Shhh, you shouldn’t tell them,” he said, mimicking those who would
shield their children from the fact that some people believe in intelligent
design (Stoll, 2006, p. 1).
Other Government Leaders
Other government
official that support creationism/Intelligent Design include: Rep. Steve Chabot
of Ohio, Senator Judd Gregg (R) of New Hampshire, Rep. Texas Democrat Sheila
Jackson Lee, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Rep. Charles Canady (R-FL), Senator
Mike Fair (R-SC), Rep. Bruce Borders (R-PA), Jim Hoops (R-OH), Senator Karen
Johnson (R-AZ), Rep. Thomas Petri (R-WI), Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA), Rep. Mark
Souder (R-IN), Rep. Charles Stenholm (D-TX), Rep. George Allen, Rep. John
Boehner, Senator James Inhofe, chair of the Senate Environment and
Public Committee, the President's Press Secretary Tony Snow, Former House
Speaker Rep. Tom DeLay, Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), former Florida
Governor Bob Graham, and Rep. Terese Berceau (WI).
Conclusion
It is clear from
this review that at least five presidents and other high government officials
openly supported the right to “teach the controversy” about the topic of
origins and to avoid indoctrination in Darwinism. Several other presidents
accepted the idea called intelligent design, the conclusion that evolution can
not fully explain the living world which displays clear evidence of
intelligence.
References
Bergman, Jerry. 1998. “Steeped in
Religion: President Eisenhower and the Influence of the Jehovah’s
Witnesses.” Kansas History,
21(3):148-167.
______.
2000. “The Influence of Religion on President Eisenhower’s Upbringing.” Journal
of American and Comparative Culture. 32(4):89-107.
Berman, Marshall. 2003.
“Intelligent Design Creationism: A Threat to Society: Not Just
Biology.” The American Biology
Teacher, 65(9):646-648, Nov/Dec.
Boston, Rob. 1988. “God, Country, and the
Electorate” Church and State. October: 8-15.
Bush, George H.W. 1990.
“Remarks to the National Academy of Sciences.” April 23.
Manuscript
in George Bush Presidential Library and Museum.
Bush, George W. 2005. “Transcript of
Roundtable Interview.” Washington
Post, Tuesday, August 2.
Carter, Jimmy. 2005. Our Endangered
Values: America’s Moral Crisis. New
York, NY: Simon and Schuster.
DeGregorio, William A. 2005.
The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents. Sixth edition. New York:
Gramercy Books.
Dowd, Maureen. 2005. “Inherit the
Windbags.” The New York Times,
February 3.
Eisenhower, Dwight D. 1965.
Speech of Dwight D. Eisenhower at Messiah College Commencement. May 29.
______.
1967. At Ease, Stories I Tell
to Friends. Garden City, NJ: Doubleday.
______.
1967b. The Quotable
Eisenhower. Anderson, SC: Drake
House Pub.
Gammon, Roland (ed). 1969.
Eisenhower speech reprinted in All Believers Are Brothers. New York:
Doubleday, pp. 2-4.
Hutchinson, Paul. 1954.
“The President’s Religious Faith.”
Christian Century. March
24:362-369; reprinted in Life.
March 22:150-167.
Koop, C.
Everett. 1986. Letter to Paul Humber dated March 23.
________.
1991. Koop: The Memoirs of America’s
Family Doctor. New York: Random House.
McCullough, David. 1992.
Truman. New York: Simon
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Mooney, Chris. 2005. The Republican
War on Science. New York: Basic
Books.
Morin, Relman. 1969. Dwight D.
Eisenhower; A Gauge of Greatness. New York: The Associated Press.
MSNBC.com. 2005. “Frist Voices
Support for “Intelligent Design.’ Senator Encourages Teaching of Faith-Based
Theory Alongside Evolution.” The
Associated Press, NSNBC.com, August 19.
Paul, Gregory S. 2005.
“Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with
Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies.” Journal of Religion and Society, 7:1.
Science 1980. “Republican Candidate Picks Fight with
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Skinner, Kiron K., Annelise Anderson and
Martin Anderson (editors). 2003. Reagan: A Life in Letters. New York: Free Press.
Smith, Chrandra. 2003.
“The Recent Controversy Regarding the Teaching of Creationism in English
Public Schools.” Rutgers Education
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Stoll, Ira. 2006. “McCain Does
Manhattan, By the Issues.” New York
Sun, July 18, 2006.
Tonge, Dr. Jenny. 2002.
“Prime Ministers Questions.” Commons
Hansard, 13/3/02 Column 886-887.
Watt, James G. (with Doug Wead). 1985.
The Courage of a Conservative.
New York: Simon and Schuster.
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