Nov 10
29
High Level American Government Leaders Support Creationism
September 15, 2010
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/aid/v5/n1/american-government-leaders-support-creationism
High Level American Government Leaders Support Creationism
By Jerry Bergman
Introduction
A large number of recent American presidents and high government officials have openly supported creationism/Intelligent Design, or at least have expressed the view that students and teachers have the right to question Darwinism. In the last century alone, presidents who spoke openly of their doubts about Darwinism include Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. A few of the many “on the record” statements of presidential support of their belief in creationism are reviewed below. Other statements by high level government officials were also noted.
President Harry Truman
President Truman was raised in a devout Baptist family in Independence, Missouri. As a child he attended the Presbyterian Church and Sunday school because it was nearer to his home than the Baptist church. At age 18, Truman formally joined the Baptist church. When President, he worshipped at the First Baptist Church in Washington, DC. An “avid student of the Bible all of his life, he singled out the Sermon on the Mount” as the Bible’s greatest passage. He also firmly “believed in the power of prayer” (DeGregorio, 2005, p. 510). Gustafson wrote that Truman “maintained an almost fundamentalist reverence for the Bible and liked to read and quote it” (1968, p. 380). From his school days until he became President, Truman “regularly recited the following prayer” in which he stressed God as the creator: “Almighty and Everlasting God, Creator of Heaven, Earth and the Universe—Help me to be, think, to act what is right … Give me the ability to be charitable, forgiving and patient with my fellowmen—help me to understand their motives and their shortcomings—even as Thou understandest mine” (quoted in McCullough 1992, p. 55., emphasis mine)!
Truman believed that humans did not evolve, but rather were “the creation of a merciful God” (Spalding 2009, p. 222). He often spoke of God as the “father and creator of mankind” (Spalding 2009, p. 246). He wrote that human beings have not “changed much from the beginning” (quoted in Gustafson 1968, p. 386). Truman once wrote that “Divine Providence has played a great part in our history … God has created us and brought us to our present position of power and strength for some great purpose” (Gustafson 1968, p. 389). Many other examples could be given, but these few examples illustrate his beliefs as represented in his writings.
After being sworn in as President, Truman asked members of the press to pray for him. His devotion was to the degree that he proclaimed July 4, 1952, the first annual day of prayer. Furthermore, many of the most familiar of Truman’s life guidelines and those of his society “came directly from the Bible” (McCullough 1992, p. 54). He often stressed that religion is to live by, and is much more than just talking about one’s beliefs (Spalding 2009, p. 220; McCullough 1992, p. 83).
Truman’s Christian “values influenced his decisions during the years he exercised leadership in the United States [and] in the Western world” (Gustafson 1968, p. 387). He added that foundational to his political philosophy was his religious philosophy (Gustafson 1968, p. 379). Furthermore, his “biblical Christianity was vital to his foreign policy” (Spalding 2009, p. 220). When Truman became aware of the power of the atomic bomb, he wrote that we “have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesied in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark” (Spalding 2009, p. 223).
President Dwight Eisenhower
Dwight Eisenhower’s upbringing was “Steeped in Religion” by two devoutly religious parents (Bergman 1998). Eisenhower stated that he was reared with “a deep Bible-centered faith” that has “colored my life since childhood. Devout parents, who loved the Bible as dearly as life itself, made sure of that. Indeed, before I was eighteen, I had read through the entire Bible and discussed it, chapter by chapter, with my mother” (quoted in Gammon 1969, pp. 3–4). …
President James Earl Carter
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President Ronald Reagan
During Reagan’s 1967-1975 California governorship, Reagan’s “state board of education had pushed to weaken the teaching of evolution and endorsed creationism” (Mooney 2005, p. 36). A Science magazine editorial opined that “Reagan’s sympathy with the creationists was common knowledge when he was governor. Reagan supported an unsuccessful 1972 suit brought by the state school board—whose superintendent was a friend of the governor—to bring the teaching of creationism to public schools” (Science 1980, p. 1214). … Asked if he personally accepted the theory of evolution, Reagan replied: “I have a great many questions about it. I think that recent discoveries down through the years have pointed [out] … great flaws in it” (Science 1980, p. 1214). …
Dr. C. Everett Koop
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President George H.W. Bush
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President George W. Bush
When campaigning for President in 1999, Bush openly “supported the teaching of creationism alongside evolution in public schools” (Mooney 2005, p. 9). President Bush has also openly given support to creationism while in public office. In a Roundtable interview he gave on August 1, 2005, Bush was asked about his personal views on the “growing debate over evolution versus intelligent design” and if he thought “both should be taught in public schools.” Bush answered that “harking back to my days as governor . . . I said that, first of all, that decision should be . . . [up] to local school districts, but I felt like both sides ought to be properly taught . . . so people can understand what the debate is about” (2005, p. 4). During his 2000 election campaign President Bush was quoted as saying that “on the issue of evolution, the verdict is still out on how God created the earth” (Dowd 2005). …
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
Senator Bill Frist, a doctor and graduate of Harvard Medical School, supports teaching ID. One report noted he echoed President Bush when he stated that “‘intelligent design’ should be taught in public schools alongside evolution. Frist … told reporters … that students need to be exposed to different ideas, including intelligent design. ‘I think today a pluralistic society should have access to a broad range of fact, of science, including faith,’ Frist … said exposing children to both evolution and intelligent design ‘doesn’t force any particular theory on anyone. I think in a pluralistic society that is the fairest way to go about education and training people for the future’” (MSNBC report 2006, p. 1).
Senator Rick Santorum
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References
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Updated and expanded from ICR’s Impact #400, October 2006.
Read the complete article here.