Jacksonville.com reports that Fla. State Sen. Stephen Wise has introduced a bill mandating the teaching of intelligent design alongside evolution because we should “teach both sides.”

Simply put, there’s only one scientific side: Evolution is the only theory out there that holds up. Creationism and intelligent design have been conclusively disproven and there is no reason to teach either except for the desire of some Christian groups to sneak their beliefs in schools (as courts have repeatedly ruled).

My favorite comment in the story, from Rep. Alan Hays (who proposed a failed anti-evolution bill in 2008: “The thing we learned last year is that, No. 1, we must keep the discussion scientific. I don’t know of anyone who is in favor of teaching religion in public … We want the students to know that the theory of evolution is only a theory, it has never ever been scientifically proven, and it should be accepted as that.”

ID is not scientific. And yes, if you support teaching ID in schools, that is teaching religion–specifically, the beginning of Genesis–in public schools.
Evolution has been scientifically proven. It’s called a “theory” because someday evidence might turn up that would disprove it—the same way that gravity, general relativity and quantum mechanics are theories—but at this point, it holds up. Creationism/ID don’t.

But I guess for Wise and Hays it’s a good deal: They’ll get lots of votes and support from the religious right, so why should they care that the state will have to shell out money for attorneys and court costs when the new rule (if it passes) is challenged on religious-freedom grounds?

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.