In a typical American high school, Mr. Doe, the science teacher begins his discussion on the theory of evolution. John, a student, opposes the idea that humans came from apes and evolved. John believes that humans came from God and that man was created in 6 days. Jane hears this and argues against John: “How is it possible to create something in 6 days? This type of project would take millions of years!” Using all 45 minutes of class time discussing creationism and evolution, this is a metaphor for the eternal debate over the origin of the human species. The question of how man came to be is one of the great debates of this century. There is not enough evidence to support creationism, but there is even less to support evolution. The controversy over the origins of life is still the subject of heated debate today. The origins of life can be conceived from the theory of evolution or from the theory of creationism. The topic is old earth [evolution] versus young earth [creationism] (Seely 2). An astonishing 95% of Americans believe in God or a universal spirit, compared to 9% who conclude they have no religion (Sheler 2). People have turned to a more eclectic background in their “spiritual journey to meet our personal needs” (Sheler 2). Throughout history, humans have gone through gradual growth rather than one “sporadic event” after another (Tattersal 58). It is only in the United States that this debate is so contentious. Humans have an impulse to look to a superior being rather than to a human leader who has similar flaws to theirs. The superior being [God] should be of pure perfection. What is so intriguing is the development or creation of man, it is the mystery of man. As individuals and as a whole, people tend to feel uneasy between their “religious impulses and our [their] unwavering commitment to secular society” (Sheler 1). As a contradiction in itself, “we [human beings] profess allegiance to traditional morality, but at the same time defend individual freedom and resist religious authoritarianism” (Sheler 1). Our manifestations of how we originated and where we come from, the “chicken or the egg” debate are simply clouded by the ambiguities between creationism and evolution. Was it the egg? If so, where does the egg come from? Eggs come from chickens, but then where does the chicken come from?... middle of paper... pretend we are from something and somewhere, it's just the fact that we are looking for answers. Works Cited “Creationism”. World book encyclopedia. vol. 4, 1994:1123. "Evolution". World book encyclopedia. vol. 6, 1994:436-443.Graham, Charlotte. “The eternal debate”. GENTLEMEN. http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-ar…&type=ART&sound=no&key=CREATIONISM. October 22, 1994:1-3.Gould, Stephan Jay. “Non-overlapping teaching”. GENTLEMEN. http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-ar…&type=ART&sound=no&key=CREATIONISM. March 1997:1-8.Marlantes, Liz. “The evolution of a controversy.” ProQuest. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?TS=…&sid=1&1dx=25&Deli=1&RQT=309&Dtp=1 December 23, 1999:1-2.Onken, Michael. "Physics." Explorer. http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/dec96/835000890.Phr.html. June 18, 1996:1.Sagan, Carl. Dragons of Eden: Ballantine Books, 1997. Sheler, Jeffrey L. “Spiritual America.” GENTLEMEN. http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-ar…&type=ART&sound=no&key=CREATIONISM. April 4, 1994:1-10.Sullivan, Robert. “2000 years of Christianity”. Life. December 1999:50-68.Tattersal, Ian. “Once we were not alone.” American scientist. Gen. 2000:56-62.