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The issue of origin [meaning, origin of humans and animals] is important precisely because of the debate between creationists and evolutionists. Creationists are offended by the scientific view because they believe that only God can bring about life, and that Man must have been created directly by God. Evolutionists, on the other hand, believe that life could have come about on its own, and they are searching for evidence of exactly how this might have happened. There seems to be pretty good evidence that all living things originated from the same sources. This doesn’t imply that God is unnecessary! At the beginning some vital spark might have been needed to set the whole process going. Evolutionists are not atheists: they can perfectly well believe in God like anyone.

The most disturbing facet is that Evolution is considered a controversial issue. It is one of the pillars of modern biological science, and its connection to other sciences, such as chemistry, physics, geology, archeology etc etc, means that to leave it out, would leave rather a large gap in the logical sequence of teaching science. It should be taught regardless of religion, because it has mountains of scientific evidence which needs to be presented. No other theory explains the diversity and similarity of all organisms on Earth. It has the support of all the science teacher associations in the US and around the world. Remember, the theory that the Earth orbits the Sun was presented in the face of fierce opposition, but that was where the evidence led. Most religions, including the Catholics, accept evolution, so there should be no conflict there. Students are in high school to learn science, they can attend church or other religious places for religion. If you worry about offending anyone, then nothing would be taught. .