The political theology of protestant fundamentalists in the evolution-creationism controversy in American public schools

Abstract EN

The ongoing debate over evolution-creationism in American public schools is one of America's major challenges.

While Protestant fundamentalists showed strong resistance against the new cultural trends and changes brought by modernism, the theory of evolution has continued to gain scientific credibility.

The result was a recurring conflict over teaching either evolution or creationism in the American public schools.

This article explores the strategy of Protestant fundamentalists to ban the teaching of Charles Darwin's theory.

By bringing the debate to the political arena where their rejection of evolution is highlighted through major legal decisions, Supreme Court cases, and embedded networks of creationist organizations, we argue that Protestant fundamentalists sought to use the political machinery in order to check the dangerous spread of the evolution theory in the public schools.

Therefore, one may reasonably question: Why do Protestant fundamentalists use the political machinery in order to settle the dispute over evolution-creationism? In this humble work we try to contribute to the debates on the controversy over evolution-creationism in the American public schools by linking its origins to the political theology of Protestant fundamentalists.