The moderator instructed panelists and audience members to remember there would be no winning sides at Saturday afternoon's public forum on the "Origins of Humanity".

"This is a public discussion, not a debate," said Susan Burk, news director for KTWO. "It's about the right to speak your mind."

About 100 people came to Stage III Community Theater to hear a panel of six experts speak their mind about how humanity started and how it should be taught in schools. The audience also had the opportunity to write questions on index cards and have them answered.

The forum was spawned out of the theater's current production of "Inherit the Wind," The play is a fictionalized version of the 1920s Scopes Monkey trial, where the state of Tennessee challenged a biology teacher who successfully fought for the teaching of evolution in classroom.

The tides have turned, said Robert Wallace, a German teacher at Natrona County High School. He said biology teachers at the high school told him they are not allowed to mention creationism in their lectures. They can only teach evolution - the same theme John T. Scopes got in trouble for teaching.

Wallace believes in creationism, and he brought his Bible to the forum for reference. But he was glad both sides were presented equally at the panel and said he would have brought a book on evolution theory if he had one.

"I am very pleased with the openness of the evolution panelists and their willingness to discuss other ideas," Wallace said. "In the play 'Inherit the Wind,' the creationists are looked at as ignorant…but not here."

One panelist said evolutionism is philosophical while another panelist said creationism is science. Another said there is no way creationism should be taught alongside science and one panelist said all views on the origins of humanity should be taught in public schools.

Kefyn Catley, a professor of science education at Vanderbilt University, said he has been wondering about the origins of earth since before he can remember.

He talked to the audience about how he came to his perspective and why he thinks it is important for people to understand evolution.

He has traveled the world studying spiders and other aspects of the earth and now works in the classroom setting.

Evolution is rooted in empirical data, he said, but he still sees the value of teaching creationism and other views on the origin of life in other parts of the classroom besides science.

"I don't believe there is tension at all," Catley said about the creationism vs. evolutionism debate. "Most major religions have accommodated evolution."

According to psychologist Mark Holland, creationism is theological in nature and not based on something we can touch, taste or smell.

But he also said evolutionism is philosophical because no one was alive to observe the "big explosion" that happened and no one has been able to create matter out of nothing in the laboratory.

Evolution, just like creationism, cannot be proven or disproven, he said.

Holland is most concerned about evolution being the only theory about humanity taught in today's schools.

There are about two dozen people running for next year's presidential election, Holland said. He asked the audience, if you knew about only one candidate, would you be able to choose the best candidate for president.

"I believe people have this right to be informed consumers," Holland said. "They need to see all the evidence, all the options, all the ideas."

Pat Greiner, co-director of 'Inherit the Wind,' said the theater chose the play because it knew it would be controversial and spark a lot of discussion within the community.

The play has people talking, Greiner said, and proof can bee seen in the turnout at the forum.

"It's about the right to think for yourself and express what you want," Greiner said. "Evolution is just one issue you can apply this to."

Contact health reporter Allison Rupp at (307) 266-0534 or allison.rupp@casperstartribune.net.