As China prepares to take the innovation crown from the US the Religious Right seems devoted to handing it to them on a silver platter. I think it may be simplistic to blame the lack of interest in science on that alone however. As someone who spent 30 years in science and engineering I didn't recomend it to either of my sons. For most of the 30 years employment was something that happened between layoffs. At 55 I found I would probably never get a job in my field again. To corporate America scientists and engineers, who sacrificed and studied long and hard for their credentials, were not respected and considered disposable. Of course a return to the 16th century will only hasten the decline but I think the decline was inevitable.

I hate to say it, but the real problem is not evolution vs. creationism... the real problem is totally inadequate teachers in school. Most people teaching science and math at any level... aren't at all prepared to teach it. We have elementary school teachers who go into teaching young children because science and math are "hard" and teaching is "easy" (I know plenty of this type - from friends to teachers my kids had). How can they teach kids BASIC science and math when they don't understand it. And if kids miss the basics... how can they do the advanced work when they get to it???

How can we expect ANY type of enthusiasm or enjoyment when those doing the teaching are so very bad at it. (NOT all teachers are bad - but the good ones are so few and far between that we almost need to have an encompassing umbrella)

I may be getting old, but I still remember back to my high school days - evolution vs. creationism would never have made me blink. I pretty much knew what I needed to learn in order to get into the major I wanted in college... anything else was extraneous arguments that I didn't care enough to fight over. I have a feeling that the reports of kids being intimidated by this are a bit overblown and there aren't as many as the article makes it out to be. (most kids just don't care enough)

No - be very worried about the people doing the teaching rather than this ridiculous side-show. The side-show really will blow over - the bad teachers will still be there.

Jack,
as I am sure you are aware by now, I am fairly liberal relative to personal values. What I can not stomach is the dogma of one thing, condition, philosophy or practice being the only way - which, it seems to me, is the direction this country it moving toward. It scares me and frankly, I can not believe more people aren't protesting against the incidence of religious doctrine in legislating and running our governments, and courts for that matter.

Additionally, your statement makes it appear as if not believing in a Christian God makes people with other beliefs or no belief automatically far-left-extremists because they want religion out of the government, where it should be, since that is one of the basic tenets of our Constitution. Maybe I am reading more into your statements than is there, yet I feel an overtone that gives me these impressions.
Yet, much of your other statements indicate tolerance. So, its a conundrum.

Actually, in reference to the far-left-extremists I'm referring to two tendencies I have observed:

1) Their automatic dismissal as serious anyone who does profess a religious faith

2) Their intolerance that views other than the ones they hold may have merit as well

I am not saying anyone who does not believe in a Christian God automatically makes them a far-left-extremist, especially given that I question everything, *including* the existence of a God, Christian or otherwise.