Evolution Law Suit

Oh brother. A school district in Georgia is being sued in federal court on the question of whether stickers in science texts that proclaim evolution a theory, not a fact, and that evolution should be "critically considered" is a violation of the separation of church and state. Evolution is a theory? Uh, duh! That's half of what science is all about, building theories! Everything in science is a theory. There are no "facts" in science. Should any scientific theory be critically considered? Uh, duh! The other half of what science is all about is testing those theories! So, this district is being sued for stating the obvious. Give me a break!

Why, one may ask, is separation of church and state invoked? Because the motivation for placing these stickers is not a simple statement of scientific truth, but an attempt to deny the status of evolution as the prevailing scientific theory for the origin of life by evangelical Christians afraid of science who want to make their decidedly unscientific picture known as creationism a "theory" on the same footing as real science. On that, give me another break! These people think calling evolution a theory is to somehow disparage it. Then they turn around and demand their idea be treated in the same way, but presumably without the disparaging element.

As a scientist, the whole debate appalls me. Both sides appall me. Neither gets it. One thinks far too highly of science, thinking its theories should be treated as fact. The other thinks so little of science that calling something a theory is considered insulting. The concern here is about the negative impact on education. I have to conclude science education is a joke in this country if it leaves us with two equally clueless groups making such silly and pathetic arguments. Give me a break!