By: Dr. Jerry Bergman
Montpelier, Ohio
Atheism, often called the more friendly term “The Nones” includes both atheists and agnostics. The number of Nones have risen dramatically especially in the past decade. White Evangelicals, once the fastest-growing religious group in America, are now shrinking.
The Religious ‘Nones’ are now the largest religious cohort in the U.S. (28%). They are more prevalent among American adults than Catholics (23%) and evangelical Protestants (24%).
One major reason why Evangelicals are shrinking and Nones are growing is due to our educational system.
One example is The New York Times best-selling textbook, used in schools and commonly found in libraries. This textbook has the innocuous-sounding title National Geographic Kids Almanac.
The well-illustrated book explains the origin of everything in the universe began with the Big Bang, writing: “All the things you see in the universe today—all the stars, galaxies, and planets—everything that now exists” came from a “single, incredibly hot, dense state that scientists call a singularity.
Then, suddenly, the basic elements that make up the universe flash into existence. …in the moment we call the Big Bang.”
The book added “Everything we can see or detect around us in the universe began with the big bang. We know the big bang created not only matter but also space itself.” The author also explains the universe and everything in it will end “when the stars run out of fuel.”
No mention was made of the fact that the Big Bang violates the two fundamental laws of the universe. The first one, the law of thermodynamics, says that “matter can neither be created nor destroyed by natural processes, only changed from one form into another.”
It also violates the cause and effect law which says that “everything that happens requires a sufficient cause.”
In other words, everything happens for a reason, not accidentally. We live in an orderly universe governed by law.
Nor were the enormous well-documented problems with the big bang mentioned. The impression is the Big Bang is an undisputed fact equal to gravity.
Even mentioning a few books by well-known scientists would help to balance the presentation. In my library are six books that discuss the major problems with the theory. These include Columbia University graduate Eric Lerner who wrote The Big Bang Never Happened published by the major publisher Random House.
Another book, titled Dismantling the Big Bang, is by University of Adelaide (South Australia) Associate Professor John Hartnett, Ph.D. He has published more than 120 papers in peer-reviewed science journals.
His book notes the only thing the Big Bang can produce, assuming it occurred, is expanding gas clouds, not the universe we see today. Furthermore, the Big Bang lacks a credible origin, cause, and mechanism.
The Kids Almanac then outlines the standard evolution-of-life claims. The spontaneous generation of life somehow evolved into bacteria.
Then, as a result of damage to the genes called mutations, more advanced life evolved until, after billions of years, mankind evolved. The many problems with this picture were ignored and the story was stated as fact.
A companion book added more detail, such as the theory of the origin of the more than 10,000 living bird species living today.
Students are taught that birds evolved from the largest known terrestrial animal, the dinosaur, into the smallest, the hummingbird.
Specifically, birds evolved from maniraptoran dinosaurs that included the Velociraptor and the Oviraptor (p. 112). They fail to provide evidence how a 50-pound dinosaur can evolve into a 0.07 oz. bird. This dinosaur is 11,429 times larger than a hummingbird.
Since dinosaur bones are massive, they preserve comparatively well in the fossil record. So far, over 11,000 fossil dinosaurs have been found, and not one has been uncovered that provided evidence of evolving into a bird.
Evolutionists hypothesize birds evolved from dinosaurs because they have no better theory. None of these problems are mentioned in the text except the debatable evidence that some dinosaurs may have feather-like structures on their hide. In fact, these supposed ‘proto-feathers’ are actually frayed keratin fibers.
Convincing young people that life evolved solely by natural, materialistic means is a major reason why many people reject the main reason people believe in God, i.e., DESIGN.
Before Darwin, virtually every Westerner believed in creation by God, thus God was accepted as the Designer of the heavens, Earth, and life. After Darwin, the vast majority of scientists and many non-scientists in the West no longer believed in God.
Darwin’s stated goal was to, in his words, “murder God.” If Darwin were on Earth today, he would be amazed at how successful he was. This fact is a major reason explaining the rapid growth of the “Nones.”
The fact is, science is clearly on the theists’ side. It just needs to be taught, ideally in the schools, but at least in the churches.
In over 200 cases, the courts have ruled that only evidence in favor of evolution and against creation can be taught.
Evidence against evolution and for creation cannot be taught. Evolution and creation are both worldviews (they tell us where we came from, why we are here, and what happens when we die).
The Christian, Muslim, and Jewish worldviews teach we were created by God, are here to serve God and our fellow humans. When we die we can look forward to the afterlife with God.
The evolutionary worldview teaches we evolved by accumulation of mutations, we exist to survive (“survive of the fittest”) and pass on our genetics. When we die we are no more.
The courts have labeled this latter worldview ‘science’ (evolution) and the former worldview ‘religion’ (creation). This is the main reason only one side is in the textbooks and the other side is censored.
What is being taught in the schools is not education but indoctrination. As the acceptance of evolution grows, belief in God decreases, thus increasing the number of “Nones.”
———————–
Dr. Jerry Bergman has taught biology, genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, anthropology, geology, and microbiology for over 40 years at several colleges and universities including Bowling Green State University, Medical College of Ohio where he was a research associate in experimental pathology, and The University of Toledo. He is a graduate of the Medical College of Ohio, Wayne State University in Detroit, the University of Toledo, and Bowling Green State University. He has over 1,800 publications in 12 languages and 60 books and monographs. His books and textbooks that include chapters that he authored are in over 1,500 college libraries in 27 countries.