Can someone explain to me why this is even an issue anymore? Why do some schools still want to teach that the world was created in 7 days about 5,000 years ago? Why do people still dismiss objective/scientific evidence for their own subjective/intuitive evidence?
It's likely it's because people are hooked on a religion which tells them it has all the answers. They think faith is actually a virtue, when they don't realize that faith is only a virtue when it is backed up with inductive example (do you loan strangers money because you have faith in them or do you loan your friend money, when she's paid back before, because you have faith in her?), otherwise it's a vice...and a dangerous one at that.
People think that scientists "have faith" in science. So to them, it's about having faith in science or religion (and even though religion isn't necessary for a Creationist hypothesis, they're invariably linked in the mind of society). One promises eternal life in a heaven, promises of a God coming down and annihilating evil, etc. The other promises cold, hard truth about reality. It's easy to see why they might pick the former.
Now, I'm sure this isn't the only explanation, and it's only a hypothesis, but I have observed many people saying that you just have to "have faith" in science, when this very notion is ludicrous as science itself is based in philosophy, where the answers for justification in science are in constant debate (with some very good answers). Science bases itself in reason at all times, faith is not part of it. If any scientist claimed to have faith in a principle, and that's why he regards it as true, he'd be dismissed right out of hand in the scientific community.
I always love to hear the argument that "most scientists actually believe in God." Well, sorry, but (I can find the study, I don't have it right off hand though) only about 7% of scientists believe in God. Yes, that's right, only 7% of intelligentsia believe in the supernatural. The other 93% are atheist or agnostic. Of the world population, roughly 16% do not adhere to a religion, while 84% do.
To me, this is disturbing...smart people generally don't believe in the supernatural, while the world total is overwhelmingly in favor the other way. I know what I just said isn't exactly what the studies say, but that very conclusion seems to gnaw at me.
There is a big difference between science which forms tentative explanations based on observable phenomena and theology which asserts absolute explanations based on supernatural phenomena.
That difference can be summed up in one word.
Progress!
Virtually everything you own, from the kind of food you eat, to the roof over your head, has been the result of a scientific process of trial and error, experimentation, and the formation of better explanations. Theology has offered the opposite. It has stood in the way of progress time and time again by asserting it already holds all the answers.
The theory of evolution may be imperfect, but it is no way equal (or inferior) to creationism. It is based an objective, data gathering process, not on a subjective, faith based process.
No offense, but arguments like this don't help. This is generally a Red Herring, as it has nothing to do with the validity of Creationism or religion. While it's true that religion has caused a lot of lack of progress, even regression, this does not speak for its validity.
Debate exists because there aren't conclusive answers.
Well, in the specific case of Evolution vs Creationism, there are relatively conclusive answers, and evolution comes out a CLEAR winner. There is no scientific basis for creationism...so it doesn't belong in science class. Debate only exists in this case because a bunch of uneducated people want to make age-old arguments that have over and over proven to be bad ones. It only exists because one side doesn't know that they lost.