or; science in the time of the "inquisition"
I don't know how many of you are familiar with the state of Utah, but if there's one thing Utah has going for it, it's lots of Mormons. They make up over half the population of the state, after all. Now, that's not a bad thing, don't get me wrong - I do happen to be one myself, so I can't go hating on the population of which I am a part - but it does lend itself to a lot of closed-mindedness. Currently up on "the Hill", where the State Capitol building is, there is a bill that a Sen. Buttars is trying to push that would remove most of the teaching of evolution in the classroom in biology classes, and also discuss "alternative ideas", a.k.a. "intelligent design", a.k.a. "I'm going to shove Creationism down your throat even in school".
Now, I understand that this man has some serious religious beliefs; there's nothing wrong with that. But - to teach intelligent design in the classroom? I was always under the impression that that was more of a sabbath school topic, not one to be discussed in the high school. But there is an awful lot of support for this bill. People are rallying around it, making it a call to arms in the name of "true religion", and simply embarrasing the heck out of me. As I said, I do happen to patronize the Mormon church. But does that mean that I can't also believe in evolution? Who's to say that that isn't what God used to "intelligently design" everything anyway? Needless to say, I'm bothered by it. Evolution - yeah, there's some pretty serious circumstantial evidence supporting it. God? Sorry, that evidence is in my heart. It's all mine. I can't prove the existence of God to anyone - so why confuse the poor high school kids with all these alternate ideas? I say, keep evolution in the classroom, and creationism in the Sunday school.