Now that it is clear that creationism, as well as scientific creationism, does not fit into the guidelines on which science operates, therefore making them unsuitable for teaching in science classrooms in public schools, in what part of the public school curriculum in the United States should they be taught? The story provided in the Book of Genesis could conceivably fit into the literary genre of mythology. It could not be considered as nonfiction, due to the many contradictions it makes within itself, as well as in the world of empirical knowledge. These contradictions are numerous and would create a paper within themselves, therefore it should be addressed elsewhere. The controversy here, despite the factual and logical inadequacies of the Book of Genesis, is whether or not creationism should be taught in public schools. Therefore, the story of creation in the Bible is best suited to be taught as literature and not scientific theory. Due to these facts, it is conceivable that it can be taught in English courses in public schools in America. If creationism is to be taught, this would be the proper realm of the curriculum in which to discuss it.Now that it can be agreed that it is suitable for creationism to be taught in the English and literature classes of public schools, we are faced with another controversy. The teaching of the creation story in literature courses, while valid in itself, still faces the problem of whether or not the government would violate any constitutional rights by including this in any curriculum in public schools. The First Amendment prohibits Congress from passing any laws that show favor to any particular religion which, in effect, is a fairly total separation of church and state. If Congress were to pass a law demanding that the Christian version of creationism be taught, even in literature classes in public schools which are supported by the taxes of all Americans, it would directly violate the constitut...
