American Sociological Association and Creationism

The American Sociological Association is group of researchers who focus on the sociological reasons that people do what they do, feel how they feel, and think how they think. It combines the whole "nature vs. nurture" argument, while also including such factors as age, gender, education, location, and more. The ASA are adamant supporters of including science in high school curriculum, and even stated that evolution should definitely be taught within the scientific field due to the amount of objective empirical data supporting its validity. With regards to religion being mentioned in classrooms, the ASA stated, "The ASA opposes proposals that promote, support, or advocate religious doctrines or ideologies in science education cirricula. Religious doctrines and ideology include, but are not limited to, the non-scientific notion of "creationism", including "intelligent design". They even go on to say that these beliefs are "cult beliefs". The article goes on to mention that evolution is crucial in the understanding of biological processes by young Americans, and to deny these ideas from being taught in class would lower science literacy rates and academic achievements. The ASA did mention that creationism as a social movement and pseudoscientific cognitive process is a legitimate scientific topic for studying social factors that influence social movements or documenting the social and behavioral correlates of cult belief.