(also termed the creation versus evolution debate or the origins debate):
This is a recurring theological and cultural-political dispute about the origins of the Earth, humanity, life, and the universe, between the proponents of evolution, backed by scientific consensus, and those who espouse the validity and/or superiority of various literal interpretations of creation myth. The dispute particularly involves the field of evolutionary biology, but also the fields of geology, palaeontology, thermodynamics, nuclear physics and cosmology.
This debate is most prevalent in the United States but also exists in Europe and elsewhere. Today it is mainly over what constitutes good science, with the politics of creationism primarily focusing on the teaching of creation and evolution in public education.
The debate also focuses on issues such as the definition of science (and of what constitutes scientific research and evidence), science education (and whether the teaching of the scientific consensus view should be ‘balanced’ by also teaching fringe theories), free speech, separation of Church and State, and theology (particularly how different Christian denominations interpret the Book of Genesis).
Within the scientific community and academia the level of support for evolution is essentially universal, while support for biblically-literal accounts or other creationist alternatives is very small among scientists, and virtually nonexistent among those in the relevant fields.
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