The purpose of this essay is to study the public debate on the subject of creationism, the belief that there is a creator of all life on earth. The study is focused on creationism in different forms in schools and the more general discussion of creationism as an alternative to the theory of evolution. The overall question is what should be taught as the origin of life: Evolution or creationism in various shapes and forms? The essay consists of an overview of previous research in both the USA and Sweden, and an analysis of argumentation on the issue in newspapers. A comparison is made between the USA and Sweden.

The analysis of newspapers shows that there are some arguments for different forms of creationism but there are considerably more arguments against creationism. The arguments for creationism are less well-founded and the results point to the conclusion that creationism in any form should not be considered an equal alternative to the theory of evolution. Compared to Sweden creationism is more widespread and more widely debated in the USA. This study shows that it is very unlikely that the situation in Sweden will come to resemble the situation in the USA.