Alters and Bell attacked education programs which allowed creationism to be taught as having no solid scientific base.
"The scientific consensus around evolution is overwhelming," Alters said. He asked what would happen when high school students, trained in creation science, were released to the rest of the world.
They would find no creationist articles published in scientific journals, no research grants for creation science, and few university-level teaching positions for creationism.
Alters said that according to the National Academy of Science, "Creation science is not science."
Regarding this announcement, Alters questioned, "Should K-12 school boards be deciding what is science?"
Bell said evolutionary theory can both explain patterns in nature and predict future events.
"Evolution is a successful theory, and unsuccessful theories do not last long in science," Bell said.
The debate then turned to more education-centered issues, with the creationists arguing that students benefited from hearing more than one perspective on certain doctrines.
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