Teaching creationism, as a part of the science curriculum, would be a very difficult task for any science teacher. The teacher would justify the theory of evolution, and everything else in the curriculum, based on the “the scientific method” using observable factual information. He or she would then have to turn around and offer the student the option of believing in creationism strictly on the basis of “faith”, even though it conflicts with observable factual information. In my opinion, this incongruity would be obvious to any serious, reasonably intelligent student, and would be doing a disservice to both religion and science.
Personally, I’ve never had problems being a scientist and being religious at the same time. Science for me is about using my knowledge of the laws of Nature to find oil and gas. Although, that knowledge has often times been imperfect, as I have ended up finding salt water instead. I too am disappointed at the large percentage of people who “stay in the box”, unable or unwilling to insist on the facts, to look them in the face and to be loyal to the truth as they see it.
As for religion, I find the Bible to be an invaluable resource. In my opinion, it is full of universal truths which cannot be proven, but provide us with hope, guidance, and meaning in the course of our daily lives. For me, it helps to believe that the Bible was written by men, generally inspired by God, about situations as they perceived them in the past. In general, I consider the Bible to be primarily allegorical in nature and not meant to be taken literally, including the story of creation.
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