POSTED RESPONSE TO A COLUMN IN THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
Religion has no place in education.
Such matters are the business of churches and synagogues, institutions which already receive special privileges regarding taxation.
Schools are about facts, not superstitions or beliefs. The world is swimming in superstition, dangerous beliefs, and prejudice.
Schools are the one place where young people may escape their pervasive and dangerous influence.
If we teach them all, there will be little time left for real science, and from the point of view of members of each religious group, the kind of teaching given in schools would only be a source of dissatisfaction.
How is one even to decide which superstitious belief to teach? How do we decide between the stuff of Christianity or Judaism or Islam or Zoroastrianism or even Scientology?
"Creationism" is superstitious, fearful rubbish.
Evolution is one of the most enduring and well supported theories of science.
Indeed, most good scientists now say evolution is now beyond question. Every year the fossil record is enriched, and we see evidence in DNA at the micro level.
We actually see evolution at a small scale before our eyes, as with the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
