Again, I don't see why evolution should be singled out for special treatment. It is normal to teach students the difference between a law and a theory, to review the known laws and the prevailing theories. Should we take time out for each theory to explain that it remains incompletely understood, and provide an alternative reading list for each? Or only for evolution?
I don't worry about any thinking person reading the books you cited. I wouldn't pay any more attention to a law professor's writings on biology than I would to a biology professor's writings on law, and I don't imagine too many others would either. And the argument from design has been refuted so many times in so many guises that another packaging for it is hardly to be worried about. Expect many more to follow in their footsteps. If credible studies with serious evidence in either direction emerge, they will appear first in peer-reviewed scientific journals, not in efforts to cash in on the debate by flogging tracts.
My own guess is that most of those who read the books have made up their minds already.
they shouldn't be major elements. But for some bizarre reason many
atheists who fear the parenting techniques of other adults force them into our schools.
You make it sound as if they are the primary goals of the curriculum. I wonder how many hours of actual teaching are devoted to these subjects?
there is quite a bit of anecdotal evidence to support the notion that teaching them has lead to an increase in teenage pregnancy, abortion, AIDS as well as many other destructive social problems.
Produce some, by all means.
Why not teach abstinence?
Because the kids stopped listening.
I think you may be confusing causes and effects here.
Why is it ok in your mind for parents to pay for schools which have God removed from the element of teaching.
Because teaching about God is not the business of the State. Teaching them about the immediate risks and realities of the society around them is somewhat different.
but not ok for them to decide to send their child to a christian school?
It's perfectly ok for parents to send their children to Christian schools, as long as they don't expect the Government to pay for it.
Why not give parents and students the freedom to make up their own mind?
We have the freedom.
I pay taxes to two different countries. In each case some of the money goes to education. This is not my way of paying for the education of my children. It is an acknowledgment that both countries need free public education, and are entitled to tax me for it. I happen to think the money is being very poorly spent very poorly, but that is another issue: they have the right to ask me to pay my share, whether or not my children take advantage of their services.
My kids go to a private school, run, believe it or not, by the Episcopal Church. They handle religious matters rather well, I think.
This is my choice. I don't expect anybody else to help me pay for it.
I think giving vouchers to let kids bail out of the public schools is a lot less important than serious efforts to improve the public schools. |
