Good news is hard to come by regarding the origins battle in education. The majority of educators and scientists around the world have an evolutionary worldview. Therefore, they’re not open to any alternative to Darwinism be it some form of intelligent design (ID) or biblical creation.

However, in a breath of intellectual fresh air the administration of Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro recently appointed “a creationism advocate” to head Brazil’s graduate study programs.¹

This appointment has the evolutionary educators “rattled.” Benedito Guimarães Aguiar Neto, an electrical engineer by trade, is heading the graduate study agency and would like to introduce the ID model into Brazil’s basic education curricula. However, evolutionists view Aguiar of being “guilty” of having a religious background.

The Science article begins by addressing “the encroachment of religion on science and education policy.” Non-evolutionists maintain there is already plenty of religion masquerading as science in public schools—including Brazil. For example, because a Creator is ignored, then it is taught (or inferred) that everything somehow came from nothing in a big explosive event. That is an overtly religious position, because one must have a substantial measure of faith to believe that something can come from nothing.

Furthermore, evolutionists teach that organic life naturalistically came from inorganic non-life. But in this 21^st century, all origin-of-life experiments are dead in the water—no experiment has ever demonstrated that life can arise from non-life. For example, “The early steps in the evolution of living organisms from simple organic building blocks, a process known as biosynthesis, are still speculative.”²

In a revealing quote, evolutionary biologist Antonio Carlos Marques of the University of São Paulo’s Institute of Biosciences said, “It is completely illogical to place someone [Benedito Aguiar] who has promoted actions contrary to scientific consensus in a position to manage programs that are essentially of scientific training.”¹

Consensus? Marques is evidently saying that evolution is somehow true due to a majority show of hands. But as evolutionist Alan Feduccia said, “There is no such thing as consensus science. If it’s consensus, it isn’t science. If it’s science, it isn’t consensus. Period.”³

A key facet in science education including origins is teaching both sides—not just one. As Charles Darwin himself once said, “A fair result can be obtained only by fully stating and balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each question.”

References
1. Escobar, H. Brazil’s pick of a creationist to lead its higher education agency rattles scientists. Science. Posted on sciencemag.org January 26, 2020, accessed January 29, 2020.
2. Garrison, T. and R. Ellis. 2016. Oceanography: An Invitation to Marine Science. Independence, KY: Thomas Brooks Cole, Cengage Learning, 15.
3. Feduccia, A. 2012. Riddle of the Feathered Dragons: Hidden Birds of China. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 5.

Stage image: Benedito Aguiar
Stage image credit: Copyright © 2019 CCS/CAPES. Used in accordance with federal copyright (fair use doctrine) law. Usage by ICR does not imply endorsement of copyright holder.

*Frank Sherwin is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his M.A. from the University of Northern Colorado.