I don’t know, because 55% of the American people believe it? One of the biggest problems we have as a society — as a global society — is that we don’t understand one another. Wouldn’t it be worthwhile for kids in Connecticut and New York to learn that there are millions of people elsewhere in America who understand the world differently than they do? For that matter, for kids in the Deep South to learn that kids in Connecticut and New York understand natural history differently than they do?
I’m not suggesting that we teach evolution as science, or as fact. I’m suggesting that we teach the fact of its existence — the fact of its place in the American belief system. I’m suggesting that we teach kids that there’s a diversity of opinion out there, some of it valid, some of it not. That what matters about people is not what they happen to believe but why they believe it, and how they act as a result of their belief system.
What I’m suggesting is that we respect each other. That we don’t mock each other for believing in creation or evolution. That kids don’t think that other kids who happen to believe in evolution are going to go to hell, or that kids who believe in creationism are stupid. I’m suggesting, in a nutshell, that we stop fucking around and get on with our lives.
I agree with most of what you wrote here but I think there’s a difference between
(1) “Im not opposed to teaching creationism in schools. I don’t see anything wrong with it.” And
(2) “I’m suggesting that we teach the fact of its existence — the fact of its place in the American belief system. I’m suggesting that we teach kids that there’s a diversity of opinion out there, some of it valid, some of it not.”
I can see how “teaching” has both meanings (mostly) and agree that it’s appropriate for creationism to be discussed alongside evolution, especially given its popularity.
