Creationism means a theory of the creation of the world that follows literally the biblical account (Genesis 1-2) that God created the earth and all living things in seven (24-hour) days. This is a direct religious response to Charles Darwin's scientific evolution theory that asserts that humans were formed over millions of years and that they evolved from lower species rather than being made by God. The creationist Christian view is associated in America with the conservative, fundamentalist protestant churches. Creationism, then is one part of the Religious Right political movement, which regards the atheism of Darwinian evolution as degrading humanity to the level of beasts and contribution to the breakdown of American Christian civilization. Social problems such as depreciation of human life (through abortion and euthanasia), secular individualism (breakdown of family and church), and ethical relativism (loss of Judeo-Christian standards in society) are all linked to the scientific view of human's creation. If humans were not created by God with specific divine purposes and responsibilities, Creationists assert, the social order would be meaningless, and the social and moral fabric will become torn.

Creationism (or creation science) became prominent in the United States in the 1920s with George Price's book The New Geology which challenged the scientific explanation of the origins of the world and humanity and termed Darwin's theory of evolution "a gigantic hoax." U.S. Democrat William Jennings Bryan led a campaign against the teaching of biological evolution in the schools, culminating in the famous Scopes Trial or the "Monkey Trial" that upheld state laws prohibiting the teaching of Darwinism.