Church wants evolution theory out of science classes

VILLA RICA, Ga. — A Carroll County church wants Georgia schools to stop teaching evolution as fact.

Educators across the country are now developing what's called the "next generation of science standards."

A member of the Villa Rica Church of Christ told Channel 2's Diana Davis evolution should not be a part of those standards.

Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution is what almost all of us were taught in science: Billions of years ago, we all evolved from a common ancestor.

"It's bad science, and it's bad for the culture," according to Villa Rica's Church of Christ's Bob Staples.

Staples and his church are fighting for schools to include another view.

"What message are we sending to our children when they come away saying, 'I'm an ape with less hair?'" asks the church pastor, Patrick Gray.

Staples, who is a college math teacher, serves on a state committee that is working to develop science standards for education.

More than 20 other states are part of the same group.

In a letter to the state board science committee Staples said, "Presenting evolution as fact should be a concern to all Georgians. That evolution is not a fact of science and shouldn't be taught."

"To teach it as a fact is lying to people," Staples told Davis.

Staples told Davis he believes in the literal meaning of the Bible: That god created heaven and Earth.

Although, he says, he does not expect public schools to teach the bible's view of creationism.

He said people of faith can't have it both ways.

"You cannot read Genesis 1 and 2 and also agree with evolution. They are contrary to each other. They are contradictory," Staples said.

In his letter to the state science committee, he claims the teaching of evolution since the 1960s has contributed to what he sees as a decline in American morals.

"The crime rate, child abuse, divorce. All of these things rose from a period following the implementation of teaching Darwinian Theory," Staples said.

The public has until Friday to comment on the new science standards. They're due to be finalized by the beginning of next year.

WSBTV