A few weeks ago, a federal judge rejected a Dallas-based institute’s lawsuit against the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The lawsuit was meant to force the board to allow the institute to teach young earth creationism. Had they won, they would have been able to offer students master’s degrees in the subject.

I can understand why the board would not allow this to be taught as a master’s degree program. It is not a science.

But people do believe in it. For people to truly understand each other, I believe we need to understand one another’s beliefs. If schools do not teach why people believe in young earth creationism, their students are not getting the whole story.

The only place I know of that teaches young earth creationism with the possibility of getting a degree is Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. This is Jerry Falwell’s Baptist university. Falwell was the man that accused the ACLU, among others, of being responsible for the terrorist attacks of September 11, citing their sin as the root cause.

I am not sure if this is true. In fact, I know it is not true. If he knew anything, he is just as sinful as any of these people he was accusing. But I believe he had every right to say what he said. It may not have been true, but he had the right.

He also had the right to have his school teach young earth creationism. He took a long time to get his school fully accredited so it could be taught, and I admire him for teaching what he believes.

Personally, I do not know for sure whether the earth was created in six days. I know in Genesis the Hebrew word used for day meant a literal 24-hour day, but the fact is I was not there. I do not know whether the earth was created in that time.

I do believe the language used in Genesis has a very poetic base to it, and I know poetry is not always to be taken literally, so I really do not know how literal the book was supposed to be.

However, I do believe above all else that God created the world. I do not know how he did it, or how long it took, but I cannot see the order of this world being possible without a creator.

That being said, young earth creationism is not a science. I believe it may be backed up by science, I really do not know because I have not studied it myself, but creationism is based solely on faith.

But schools teach classes on religion every day. When I was in high school I learned a general history of all the major religions, and the key figures of each.

Some of the biggest leaders of the Christian church were the leaders of the Protestant Reformation. Schools put the reformation into the history books that are used in their curriculum. They clearly teach why these men were so upset with the way the church was being run at the time. These men all had their core beliefs, one of which being the notion that God created the world. I could say with confidence as well that they believed he did it in six days.

I really believe this should be researched. Why did these men believe this? What made them so positive about their faith? They were some of the most articulate men of their time. All you have to do is read their writing.

If these men believed in their God so strongly, there must have been some sort of merit to their faith.

I believe all sides of history should be taught. I think that the theory of evolution should be taught in schools. I also believe the teachers need to emphasize that it is a theory and not a law.

The fact is, all over the world people believe in some sort of deity. Whether they believe the god of the Jews, Muslims and Christians is the same god, or that they are all separate from each other, people still worship the god of creation.

If people all over the world believe something, then all sides of that story should be taught. If that means a school starts preaching young earth creationism alongside evolution, then so be it. History is one big story, and it does not make a whole lot of sense if you skip a few chapters.