---

Russian Orthodox Church Demands End to Communist Practice of Exclusive Darwinism in Schools

By John-Henry Westen

MOSCOW, February 6, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Speaking at an education conference in the Kremlin Monday, the spiritual leader of Russian Orthodox Christians demanded that the communist practice of mandating the exclusive teaching of Darwinian evolution in schools be brought to an end.  With government officials in attendance, Patriarch Alexy II advocated teaching biblical creation.

"Teaching the biblical theory of the world's creation will not harm students," he said. "If people choose to believe that they descended from apes, let them, but without imposing their opinions on others."

While Russia is moving away from dogmatic Darwinian instruction, in Canada the province of Quebec is mandating it.  LifeSiteNews.com reported in October that the province's Ministry of Education has ordered that private Christian schools must teach sex education and Darwin's theory of evolution or face closure. (see coverage: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/oct/06102404.html )

As the battle in schools over the competing theories of creation and evolution heated in the United States, proponents of evolution falsely maintained that virtually all scientists believe evolution to be true.  In reaction, the Discovery Institute launched a public statement by scientists opposed to Darwinian evolution.  Last year over 500 doctoral scientists signed the statement publicly expressing their scepticism about the contemporary theory of Darwinian evolution.

The statement reads: "We are sceptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged." (see coverage: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/feb/06022204.html)

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
To Criticize Darwinism is to Preserve the Faith says Toronto Priest and Seminary Prof. http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06061408.html

 Back to Top

---

MORE NEWS: LifeSiteNews.com Home Page  Last 10 Days   Archives   Special Reports

Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.