Jewish Values and Creationism

Intelligent Design and the Reform Jewish Movement

Objective scientific processes and theories must never be subverted to serve religious, political, or ideological goals. As people of faith have long known, science and God are complementary. Maimonides, the great Jewish scholar and physician, taught that an individual’s ability to learn was a key element of spirituality. As Reform Jewish Americans we are members of a religious minority. Therefore, we understand, as did the framers of our Constitution, that our government and its institutions must serve Americans of all faiths and no faith.

Evolution deals with how life on earth has changed over millions of years, it does not address theological questions such as how the universe was formed nor does it deal with the issue of personal morality and faith. It is important to note that the Reform Movement is not completely opposed to the teaching of intelligent design in public schools – rather, we believe there is a place for this concept in courses that deal with religion, theology, etc. We simply to do not believe it belongs in science class.

In November 2005, the URJ passed its Resolution on the Politicization of Science in the United States, which addresses the problems associated with teaching intelligent design in public school science classes. The full text of the resolution can be found here.

The CCAR also has a resolution on religion and the public schools that specifically states "be it resolved that we oppose the teaching of creationism as a scientific theory." For the full text of the resolution click here.


Other Resolutions

CCAR
Resolution on Creationism in School Textbooks (1984)