All references to intelligent design and creationism have been eliminated from the science curriculum in 15 schools based in Youngstown, Ohio.
Youngstown City Schools CEO Krish Mohip has declared the local schools will no longer allow any non-scientific religious dogma to be taught. This decision came after creationist Adnan Oktar, 60, showed a video on the creationist theory in the Youngstown classrooms. Also referenced as Harun Yahya, Oktar is a Turkish author as well as an Islamic creationist who also is known for his televangelism. World Religion News reports that the Ohio school curriculum has required that teachers show a creationist video as part of the tenth grade education program. The video, "Cambrian Fossils and The Creation of Species," depicts the creationist theory of the origin of life.
Creationism is the belief the universe was created by a divine entity.
However, Mohip said the Youngstown group of schools will follow a curriculum that will be completely in-line with the guidelines as outlined by the Education Department of Ohio. Ohio has directed schools and institutions to base their education completely on a scientific approach and to avoid religious and pseudo-scientific beliefs and theories altogether.
A new memorandum issued by the CEO states that starting from the new academic year 2016-17, all references to religious, paranormal, supernatural and other such non-scientific data will be removed completely. He decided to remove the video and all materials related to creationism from the curriculum after district lawyers researched the issue.
In addition to the removal of religious elements from the academic curriculum, Youngstown staffs were directed to eliminate religious elements in co-curricular activities, such as activities, discussions, video-viewing and games.
The Ohio State-based education is more centered on the scientific discoveries, such as the Big Bang theory, which states the whole universe was once just a miniscule, highly compressed mass that eventually exploded. This explosion led to a gradual expansion in the elements of the "primordial atom," which later on went to form the solar system as now known. Darwin's evolutionary theory, along with the latest developments also are part of the state.
Dario Hunter, Youngstown school board member, said he notified the American Civil Liberties Union in Cleveland about creationism in the curriculum after his multiple attempts to get a resolution to remove the materials added to the school board meeting agenda.
More than three months ago, the Jerusalem Post and The Daily Beast published articles about the video included in the district's science curriculum, reports The Vindicator.
