Olivia Judson has a simple but effective op-ed in The New York Times about why evolution must be taught in Biology classes (and not Intelligent Design/Creationism):
In these arguments [of evolution versus ID/Creationism], evolution is treated as an abstract subject that deals with the age of the earth or how fish first flopped onto land. It’s discussed as though it were an optional, quaint and largely irrelevant part of biology. And a common consequence of the arguments is that evolution gets dropped from the curriculum entirely.
This is a travesty.
It is also dangerous.
Evolution should be taught — indeed, it should be central to beginning biology classes — for at least three reasons.
Check out the full piece for her reasons.
It’s amazing we still have arguments over whether or not to teach evolution. Or that teachers question whether they should teach it. Or that teachers don’t know enough about the subject to teach it. It all hurts our students. Teaching them that there is an accepted or debated alternative just makes the problem worse.
It’d be nice to have a school year without worrying about how the Christian Right plans to dumb down education in this country.
