The big picture is not to be escaped here.

The push for creationism among the religious right/religious conservatives isn’t coming from out of nowhere. There are reasons they cling to these beliefs in the face of overwhelming evidence.

For example, recent blog articles from well read religious circles:

Adam and Eve and Pinch Me

The schedule for the Gospel Coalition’s biennial conference this spring is now available. The line-up makes for interesting reading and it is definitely good to see that the question of Adam and Eve’s historicity will be addressed. It is one of the big questions in the evangelical world at this time. [ And only there, btw.]

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On a somewhat related issue, a little while back I found myself on the receiving end of various critical responses when I wondered aloud on Ref21 about why complementarianism is considered to be a matter of gospel fidelity by groups like TGC. Just for clarification: I am a complementarian. In fact, I am fairly sure that I am stricter (ironically) on the matter in both conviction and in church practice than many in those groups to whom I was alluding. And I hold the position simply because I believe the account of the special creation of Adam and Eve in Genesis and its application by Paul in passages such as 1 Tim. 2:12-14.

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To clear up what is at stake here, let’s go to another religious writer who describes what is at stake (and why he’s not big into the whole issue):

The Promised Follow-up Response to Complementarians (Part 2 of 2)

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What you might hear many complementarians argue for is that God established a clear ‘creation order’ from the beginning in regards to the role of men and women. 1 Timothy 2:12-13 clarifies this by stating:

I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.

Adam was formed first, not Eve. And in God’s good creation order, we are exactly why women can never teach or exercise authority over men. She must be silent in such situations. So the argument goes.

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Literally creationists are out to enforce an ancient social paradigm - Patriarchy. It’s part of that old “worldview” about which I keep harping.

The push to instill creationism into the minds of young people is, among other things, to reinforce the idea that men rule over women.