my two cents...i think creationism SHOULD be taught in schools, but only presented as christian mythology and as a widely accepted possibility that has very little evidence to support it and is therefore less likely to have occurred than, say, natural selection.

it would be retarded for us to not explain to our youth what creationism is...and, since no theory can be proven yet (hence the term 'theory'), none of the theories about the origins of the planet should be taught as either fact or fiction.

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Creationism has no place in a science class, perhaps a mythology class or some such. Science should be presented in science class. Creationism isn't science. It's not even close. Parts of it almost could be a hypothesis--what the masses think a theory is--except that it invokes the supernatural, and that automatically takes it out of the realm of science. Therefore, it shouldn't be in a science class. It the responsibility of the parents to explain what creationism is.

Theories aren't facts, and aren't taught as such. A fact is a piece of information about something (temperature, mass, velocity, etc). Theories are explanations based on observation, evidence, testing, and retesting. A theory can never be "proven" in the sense that it is irrevocably and undeniably right, as you seem to be implying. Evidence can be found to support it, and the more support there is, the better the theory. A theory can be proven wrong quite easily by finding good evidence that contradicts it. This is taught in any decent science class, so I don't think it's necessary to include superstition just to make sure they get it.

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it was a science class in which i learned that people once thought the world was flat, why, and how they later thought that it could be round. and eventually proved it. theories CAN be proven. they generally become laws after they are. and again...when the overwhelming majority of the world believes in some form of creationism/intelligent design...doesn't it sound ridiculous to not teach the fundamentals of it in schools? much like sex? and safe sex? should parents be taking care of it? probably. but we must deal with the reality while we're hoping for change, right?

superstition or not...it's still what every major world religion believes. and, last time i checked, an estimated 99.34% of the worlds population believes in a higher power. we spent a single day on the origins debate when i was in 10th grade biology (this was 1998) and that was it. it was enough. we spent a week on darwin. it doesn't have to dominate...i just think it ought to be mentioned.

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I believe evolution should be taught in school and creation/*insert your religion's creation account here* should be taught at home/ in church.

That said, if I were teaching science, I'd encourage my students to write an essay or something detailing their religion's creation account and how it fits with the theory of evolution. If they had no religious preference, I'd encourage them to pick one and research it, or just write something about how they feel about the "Intelligent design/Evolution" battle.

They don't have to be mutually exclusive, I believe in creation via evolution.. ie that evolution is the process by which "creation" occurred. It irks me to hear uneducated people reduce evolution to "We came from monkeys" because it is SO much more than that.. its a molecular process that we see happening all the time. Its a real disservice to children for teachers who don't fully understand the theory to fill it with imaginary holes for the sake of religion. I'm an evolutionary molecular biologist and a Christian, and I've no issues with evolution at all. I 100% believe in it.

I think teaching creation crosses a "church/state" boundary in schools. That and it forces the judeo-christian creation account, when really, if one is going to embark on a study of religion vs science, you need to be more inclusive. And that would be a class in itself.

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Damn.. that was me, I forgot to log in.

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i love that idea. crosspolinate with their english class and it could became a great teaching tool for organizational research writing. i think that religion (christianity in particular) is so relevant to widespread western culture that it SHOULD be mentioned in schools.

example. i took a humanities class when i was a junior/senior in high school. there were four people in that class who didn't know why christmas was so widely celebrated. they'd heard the name jesus christ and had no idea who he was or what he represents to people. they knew more about winston churchill, and even that wasn't much. why was this relevant? because 90% of the art, literature and invention of the time was judeo-christian in nature. we had to read books from the apocrypha in order to understand the ceiling of the sistine chapel. da vinci's st. jerome means nothing without backstory. even the politics between the artists of the time and the papacy were important to understand how the renaissance came about. those four people had to do an absurd amount of side research to catch up to what everyone else already knew about the bible. if we had to take the time to teach that we would have wasted our already limited time in that class.

religion, and the way it drives our culture today and the cultures of the past, are more than relevant and should be taught. i honestly don't know how history CAN be taught without introducing religion into it.

should teachers keep their personal religious beliefs out of the classroom? absofuckingloutely. my humanities professor was a fifty five year old gay man who was so devoutly catholic that he never had a romantic relationship and went into the seminary to become a pastoral counselor in his retirement. and none of his students had a clue until he'd been out of the classroom for five years. that's the way public schools SHOULD be.

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I know a guy who didn't know who Julius Caesar was until I told him. Not just who or what he did, but his name or that he existed at all. Not that that has anything to do with anything. I thought it was funny/sad.

> i honestly don't know how history CAN be taught without introducing religion into it.

I agree. Of course there is a difference between "they fought in the name of Allah" and "Allah told them to do it."

Homosexuality isn't something that should be required to be hidden from students, any more than heterosexuality. If Mr. Straight McMillan has a picture of his wife and kids on his desk and wears a wedding ring to school, then Mr. Gay Coopertonsteinson can do the same thing. I realize "gay" wasn't the only adjective you used in that paragraph, but it's the one I replied to.

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lol...the funny thing about 'alan' is that my public school system DOESN'T have rules about hiding homosexuality from students. it's still common for them to discuss something they did with their partner (not friend...partner) over the weekend just like every other teacher does. alan didn't feel as though it was anyone's business what religion, sexuality, or political party he subscribed to.

i appreciated the fact that he could separate himself from his position so clearly and completely. but i was really fond of him anyway. he taught me how to waltz.... :P

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The term "law" isn't really used much anymore, and when it is, it's reserved for such fundamental things as the Laws of Thermodynamics. "Theory" is as good as it's going to get. And yes, theories can be proven, if you use the proper definition of prove. They can be tested, and tested and tested and tested. Every time one passes a test, it gets to remain a theory. Otherwise it must be revised or abandoned. There is never a final point at which it suddenly becomes infallible.

And you may be right. It may deserve a mention along with other beliefs, as a belief.

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Oh man, my state education board is SO MUCH FUN. One of the members called obama a terrorist the other day.

Luckily we have some good groups here working against their stupidity, like Texas Freedom Network, who I should probably donate something to again soon.

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