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Establishing Religious Ideas: Evolution, Creationism, And Intelligent Design, Kent Greenawalt
Establishing Religious Ideas: Evolution, Creationism, And Intelligent Design, Kent Greenawalt
Faculty Scholarship
In this article, I first sketch the basic conflict between evolutionary theory and creationism and describe the opposition of creationists to the teaching of standard evolutionary theory. I then state the basic educational and constitutional questions
about evolution, standard creationism, and "intelligent design." After exploring of five fundamental premises that, in combination, generate the most troubling questions about science, religion, and the public schools, I turn to claims of miracles. Like assertions that God has intervened in natural processes of development, these claims suppose that God transcends or violates scientific principles; their investigation suggests that scientific principles; their investigation suggests …
Religion As A Concept In Constitutional Law, Kent Greenawalt
Religion As A Concept In Constitutional Law, Kent Greenawalt
Faculty Scholarship
Because federal and state constitutions forbid government from infringing upon religious liberty or supporting religion, courts must sometimes decide whether a claim, activity, organization, purpose, or classification is religious. In most cases arising under these religion clauses, the religiousness of an activity or organization will be obvious. However; when the presence of religion is seriously controverted, the threshold question, "defining religion," becomes important. Most courts have prudently eschewed theoretical generalizations in approaching that question. Academic commentators have struggled to startlingly diverse proposals.
This Article suggests that in both free exercise and establishment cases, courts should decide whether something is religious …