Theory is testable. From Wikipedia: "A theory has to be something which is in some way testable; for example, one can theorize that an apple will fall when dropped, and then drop an apple, to see what happens. Many scientists, but not all, argue that religious beliefs are not testable, and thus not theories, because they are matters of faith" [1].

mipadi is correct; a theory is only a theory if it can be tested.

and; the theory of evolution has been tested. and it has been proven

how: well, it happens over lots of generations; so it's hard to obserb.

now; what you must understand is there isn't really a theory of evolution. there is a theory of speciation through natural selection. natural selection is obserbed and proven.

now; to prove speciation through natrual selection in a lab, they first started with viruses, with thier short generations. then bacteria experiments finalized, with 90 minute generations. and then; it fruit flys. in on experiment, the two species of fruit flys were so differentiated that they could not reproduce together anymore.

now; there are expirements that have been finished the have run some 12 years with lab mice. these have gone through some 80 generations and also proved evolution.

theory doesn't mean it can be false. something it's just a theory. anything that's just a theory is as close to fact as we have.

gravity is still a theory. that shows you how true theories are.

if it's not yet proven, we call it a hypothesis.



believe what you want about who created all the species of the world. but how they did it- it is undenyably evolution.

still not convinced? look at dogs. they aren't separate species, but they're damn close. breeders have, for thousands of years, used the principles of speciation through natural selection to create different dog breeds with the traits the breeders want.

evolution is how we have alaskan huskies and yorkshire terriers. the only difference is the selection wasn't natural- it was by people. yet people merely sped along the proces a little.

mr. baller, how old are you? just wondering since you stated that you've studied evolution and creation very in-depth throughout your life.

maybe they have; just entirely at a christian private school.

some christian private schools teach evolution; and twist it so that it looks like crap.

well i'm just wondering cause if he's like 11, i don't think he could have gone very in-depth.

i support prayer in school, not as like you must say these prayers or any cap like that, however i believe, that they should tell the kids what exactly tht moment of silence is suppoed to before, to ask each kid to please spend a moment in prayer, in whatever prayer and to whomever, they believe.... no forcing..... however i do believe it is wrong that at the public elementry school my little brother goes to, the board will allow the jewish people to put decorative meorahs in the hallway, and refuse to let anyone put up a christmas tree or wreath...... if they are gonna be against prayer and religion, do it to everyone......

Oh and I go to a private catholic school where they do teach evolution in depth and not twisted, however afterwords they went through and showed us how severall of the principals in evolution lead back to one thin that started it all, also known as an Ultimte Designer, My school supports theistic evolution, baiscally meaning evolution happened, but God had a hand in sarting it all, that big bang had to come from somewhere. The catholic church also said it was ok for one to believe in theistic evolution, showing that it isn't always twisted

on another note, evolution is a type of opinion, it is a guess at the unknown, we do know that animals and the human body have changed over time, however there is no hard scientific fact or test to prove that the world started with a big bang, it requires you to believe in something without hard scientific evidence, just like any religion.... i do agree that there is evidence however that things have evolved through the ages, which is why i believe in theistic evolution

^ a moment of silence is one thing. a moment of prayer is another. however, you go to a religious school so i think moments of prayer should be allowed there..however, not in public schools. having prayer in public schools isn't right. you may not want to pray to anyone (such as me, i'm atheist) and cutting out a moment for prayer isn't fair..

it sounds as if your brother's school are more leaning towards jews, which i think isn't right but it is exciting to see for me since it's not seen often. most schools i've seen lean VERY towards the christian side. in elementary school, before winter break, we were forced to make christmas trees and when i asked if i could make a menorah (since i was born jewish) they said no. my high school puts up a gigantic christmas tree near the auditorium. we run a drive to help give christmas presents to underprivileged children (which i think is great) however, i think it shouldn't only be christmas presents..hannukah is around the same time and the families recieving them might not be christian..at the choir concert recently, more than half of the songs were songs sung in church, praising jesus. if i was in concert choir, i would be forced to sing those songs or have my grade lowered. i really don't think that's fair.

i mean, there's a difference between showing your joy and forcing it upon others..i do celebrate christmas since one side of my family is christian, however, i do think my school is very biased.

there is a logical though process to the big bang.

it requires you know these facts:

1. there are stars in the sky
2. light from these stars travel at the speed of light

ok: there are stars in the sky. the light from these stars travel at the speed of light. if the universe were static, then we'd have an infinite amount of light comming from every direction. therefore, we know that the universe is not static. most areas, meaning those not near us, have to be moving away from us at the speed of light.

therefore; the universe is expanding at the speed of light.

now; this expansion isn't adding to the corners. it's adding everywhere. to demonstrate this in 2d, blow up a balloon part way; draw two dots, and blow it up all the way. the two dots didn't move, but the distance between them is larger now.

alright; since the universe is constantly expanding, it must have been smaller in the begining. if it wasn't always constantly expanding, something must hvae caused it to start expanding at the speed of light.

surmise what you will. the effects of the big bang theory have also been obserbed in the stars. look into the sky, and you're looking into the past.

i believe in creationism and natural selection at the same time. i believe that God created the world, and also that organisms have adapted to the changing environment. both views can be accepted without contradicting each other.

on the part saying which views should be presented, it is my personal belief that all views widely accepted should be presented. it does not make a difference whether it is a theory or not. students should have a large variety of possibilities for them to decide for themselves which one they decide to accept.

as for prayer in school, a moment -max two minutes- of silence is fine. at my old school we were supposed to reflect upon some saying daily, but any sort of prayer during school should not be instigated by a staff member. as many other people have said, not everyone worships the same God.

Before 8th grade, I studied in an all girls private Catholic schools. Of course we had prayers and all that because it's a Catholic school.. but it's just wrong that you have to pray everyday on particular times because praying isn't supposed to be a routine, praying is supposed to be sacred.

NO. I don't need some religious freak teacher telling me that god exists, I need him to teach my the subject he is getting paid to teach me.

were required to have 'chapel' every other day for my school.
stupid missionaries had to come to hawaii, damn them!

I will be if I am forced to. If I were to get in trouble for not doing it then I'd speak otherwise.
If I would have to do this though, I'd rather get in trouble for it

That's not really what religion is about though. People believe what they want because it makes them feel better. When you read a fantasy novel or watch a beautiful, supernatural, fantastic movie, you feel good. Not because it could really happen or that it's happened to you, but you get a sense of satisfaction, like the mysteries are solved.
Sure, disbelieve religion because there's no scientific proof. That's what I've done, and it's served me well. I'm not an insane Atheist activist or whatever, but religion just doesn't suit me well. Whatever floats your boat.
But I strongly strongly strongly disagree with prayer being held at school. In Catholic schools, sure, but it's not necessary in a public school where religions may be mixed. Just distributing religious cards has stirred up controversy in my school.

Absolutely not. If you want to pray in school, go to a Christian/Catholic/Jewish day school or whatever to do that. If not, do it at church/temple/whatever. I find it quite disrespectful to those who do not believe in the god in the prayer.


And I find "separation of church and state" and "freedom of religion" to be quite blunt if you ask me.

you want prayer?
go to a bloody church.
it's rediculous how the catholic board gets ALL of the money, for air condition and whatnot, yet our private schools are shitholes.

That's kinda closed-minded. I mean I think prayer should be aloud cause afterall were suppose to be a FREE country. If someone doesn't believe in prayer, then dont pray but I think it should be aloud for those that wish to pray.

Of Course! Everyone should be saved!

No one is saying you can't pray in school on your own time. We're saying that the schools can not reside over a prayer session to an entire class or student body. That's clearly against our constitution.

I know what your saying and I'm for it. But I think those that don't pray or don't believe in God shouldn't have to participate.

A public school can't oversee something like that. Even if students had the option not to pray and not to participate, a public school shouldn't have the option to say a prayer each morning over the intercom: a teacher shouldn't have the option to speak a prayer over his or her class. It's unconstitutional and imposing either way. My tax dollars are not going to schools so they can proselytize. They're going to schools so they promote education.

NO, they shouldn't have to. That is enshrined in the Constitution.

Therefore, as Nate says, teachers or other leaders within the school CANNOT oversee a mass prayer, whether attendence is required for all students or not. Because a STATE school is STATE run, and the state is secular.

When America first started out, public schools were run by the church. They didnt only promote education but christianity as well.

I'll type more later. Im too tired to think.

^ When America first started out, black people were bought and sold like cattle.

Cute argument, but not well thought through.

Not a memorized prayer that everyone has to say. That would be stupid.

Just like a moment of silence, thats what we have at my school.
Even though everyone just talks during that minute. XD