I found this article today and it made me both sad and incredibly upset to see that this is once again an issue in the American educational system.  

  http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/science/story/0,12996,1407424,00.html

Why can we just not accept that there is a place for scientific theory and a place for religious theory.  Sure maybe not everyone believes in both, either or neither but we cannot discount the theory of evolution because it cannot be proven.  Most scientific theory does not have concrete proof but it is still put into practice because there is ample evidence to support it (as is the case with Evolution).  Stating that "there is no way this planet could have evolved b/c it is far too complicated therefore there must be a creator" (a paraphrase just so everyone is clear) is not science and should not be treated as such.  Religious classes are there for the teaching of religious theory and science classes are for the teaching of scientific theory.  Let's keep them separate and allow our children to make up their own minds about which theory they wish to put their stock into.

If asked I guess I am probably an evolutionist (well I guess there are no probablys about it; I firmly believe in evolutionary theory and feel that creationism is not something that should be taught alongside it); however, in general I have an open mind.  I am open to hearing the teaching of religious theory as long as it remains in its own place, and the science classroom is not that place.  If these "activists" wanted to rally for a class that teaches strictly theories of evolution which deals with ALL religious theories of evolution (meaning not just Christian theory) as well as the scientific theory of evolution and any other evolutionary theory you might find I would be fine with them being taught in the same class, hey it would make for a well rounded educational experience no?  However, I have said it once and I will say it again THAT PLACE IS NOT THE SCIENCE CLASSROOM.  Not only would teaching religious theory of evolution side-by-side with the scientific theory in the SCIENCE classroom undermine that theory it would undermine all scientific theories and the study of science.  We cannot produce well rounded individuals if we attempt to censor or undermine everything that we disagree with.  

What irritates me most about this creationist movement is the apparent lack of information that its advocators have.  The article mentions a gentleman posing the following questions:

"I have a question: if man comes from monkeys, why are there still monkeys? Why do you waste time teaching something in science class that is not scientific?"  

Clearly this man is a supporter of the creationist movement.  If this gentleman had done any research into the theory of evolution before opening his mouth he would have a variety of answers to his questions that circle around the same concept (i.e. environmental adaptation and survival).  The fact that the proponents of this creationist resurgence are ignorant about the theory they are trying to undermine leaves me with both a bad taste in my mouth and a desire to treat them as fools and laugh this off.  Unfortunately given the locale of this issue laughing it off is not something that we can do.  I hope that good sense will rule and we will find that science and religion remain in separate classrooms; however, I have this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach that this will not be the case.  Maybe someone should write a manifesto outlining the rippling effect that their decision will have across America and probably Canada, post it as a petition and then submit it to the Kansas state educators... well, it's just a thought.