There is absolutely no way that the Bible can be taken as the literal word of God. Forget about the creation of the world and creationism vs the Big Bang theory for a minute. There are so many other events in the Bible that just contradict logic. Not to mention all the contradictions in the Bible about religious topics.
It would be impossible for Noah to have built an ark that could hold every animal in the world. The whole story is met to be taken metaphorically or as a mythological telling of a real event. Most likely the story of the flood is connected with the overflowing of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. This would have been very important to the ancient people of that region because the flooding of the rivers allowed for agriculture to form and as a result, for great civilizations to form. The observation of the rivers flooding probably got exaggerated until it became a great flood and then a world flood. There is also a connection between the flood story of the Bible and the flood story in the Epic of Gilgamesh. There is no way to take this story as literal. The story of the flood defies logic and cannot be taken seriously as literal fact therefore it stands to reason that the whole Bible should be taken as mythology. It is not just this one story either.
So why does creationism still exist? Why is the Bible being taught to children as if it is literally true?
Creationism teaches one religion's point of view of how our world was created. It says that God created everything - the earth, the sun, the stars, everything - and that the earth was created perfectly mature in six days. It must also be noted that most Christians in the world do not believe in creationism and most creationists are found in the USA.
Now, believe that God created the earth does not automatically make one a creationist. Believe that the earth was created in 7 days, is only 6,000 years old (which we know is wrong based on carbon dating alone) and humans were created as humans today right away and not through the process of evolution does make one a creationist. It is possible to believe that God had a hand in creating the world and maybe even used evolution to do so. I personally do not subscribe to this view but at least it is more tolerant and welcoming of science than creationism.
The teaching of creationism in schools is actually very harmful to students and the world. There are many flaws with the school systems in the United States and one of those flaws is creationism. It teaches students to be stupid and to let go of reason instead of questioning anything. By not teaching students to question everything and think critically, we are created a generation of incapable people. It also reinforces the oppression of the ruling class by keeping the middle and poor classes stupid.
Also, if we teach one religious view as fact in schools why do we not teach all religious views? Students should be learning about how Gaea was born from chaos, had children with Uranus and Zeus saved his siblings from his father's belly (all of which symbolizes the world emerging from chaos then becoming less chaotic until it was stabilized by Zeus, by the way).
It is entirely possible to believe in both evolution and God, but, again, you have to read the creation story of the Bible as a metaphor and not literal fact.
Creationism is just a lie about the world we live in.
