A controversy recently erupted when a science teacher at a public school in Atlanta showed her students a cartoon by Christian apologist Ken Ham.
While teaching a freshman biology class, the theory of evolution, Anquinette Jones from Henry W Grady High School showed her students a pro-evolution PowerPoint presentation that asserted how evolutionary theories are backed by many scientific fields including embryology, anatomy and biochemistry. However, students were rather shocked to find one slide in the 52-slide presentation that happened to depict evolution in a controversial manner. According to a student newspaper, the controversial slide displayed a cartoon of two dueling castles – one that was labeled Evolution (Satan) and the other that was labeled Creation (Christ).
“I was offended, but more shocked and disturbed that a teacher could get away with putting that in a classroom… Offended is probably the wrong word at this point; it is very troubling to me that a teacher who is in a position of influence over children in a public school can put something up [like the cartoon],” said one student.
Students alleged that the illustration not only linked Creation with good and Evolution with evil but also implied that the latter is connected with various social ills like racism, divorce, euthanasia, abortion and homosexuality, as there were blurbs around the castle that spelt those exact words.
“[I] have gay parents and [the cartoon] said that evolution caused homosexuality and it implied that to be negative, so I was pretty offended by it,” said another student.
A colleague of Jones, Nikolai Curtis, also said the illustration was unacceptable.
“If you start adopting religious doctrine as a form of teaching, you start advocating for a religion. There is no national religion. When you teach religion in a public school setting, you are reinforcing a national religion, and that’s not acceptable,” he said.
The cartoon that Jones used in her presentation happens to be created by Christian apologist Ken Ham, who also serves as the president of Answers in Genesis. He has used the diagram repeatedly over many years to depict the war between both worldviews namely, creationism and evolution.
“These diagrams were first produced around thirty years ago as I endeavored to illustrate, in diagram form, the concept of the foundational nature of the battle between Christianity and secular humanism,” Ham had written of his illustration.
While media reports have refrained from attributing the cartoon to Ham or his organization, evolutionists are still infuriated that Jones showed the slide to her students, an incident that they largely describe as unacceptable.
