Reply #42: No, because we don't want talking snakes replacing Isaac Newton [View All]

We don't want "intelligent design" being pimped as if Michael Behe was somehow comparable to or worthy of consideration and class time right up there alongside Darwin,

And in a world where the US in 2004 produced about 500 geology degrees from all universities (according to the National Science Foundation) while China currently has about 50,000 geology students enrolled, and where 15-year olds ranked 15th in science out of 30 OECD countries, and 24th in math in the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment, we don't have time in the school day for Bronze Age creation myths bumping what kids need out of the schedule.

Maybe you think we do. Maybe you think we'd all be better off if kids spent time in class speaking in tongues, or handling snakes, or hurling accusations of witchcraft or (even worse!) atheism at teachers whom they didn't like.

Maybe you think it's a good idea for them to learn to divide their worlds - friends, family, classmates, neighbors - into "saved" and "unsaved" and then following through on what they've "learned".

If so, then you have my condolences.