Darwin vs SC

There is a lot in the local and state newspapers about the current argument in the State government about what to teach in the science classroom. As you can guess, this is predominantly centred around evolution - or rather, around it's more en vogue opposite number - intelligent design, a more up to date version of creationism - essentially stating that certain naturally occurring things are so intricate in design that it is impossible for them to have evolved by chance - and so must be the work of a higher power. Essentially, the politicians here are trying to decide if the scientists are going to teach the children to criticize evolution - even though the theory itself is widely accepted in the scientific community. Those speaking up in defence of intelligent design say evolution is 'just another theory' and say that the whole point of science is to make theories and then test them, modifying them as appropriate. What is needling to a lot of those opposed to the measures is that such opposition to the teaching of evolution was pretty non-vocal until the Intelligent Design theory came into being - and that a lot of people pushing for this are jumping on a bandwagon.

Now I am a firm believer in Evolution - i guess as a scientist, you might expect that - and, although not parituclarly religious, i also respect other people's beliefs. What is most irritating to me about the whole intelligent design argument being put forward here is that whilst supporters of the teaching of this theory are eager to foist it into the scientific curriculum, the theory itself doesn't BELONG in the scientific classroom. The main point of any scientific theory is that it must be able to be tested and verified experimentally yet i personally can't see any way in which the I.D theory can be - so essentially it is reliant on faith - a very unscientific principle indeed. Thus, in teaching students an unverifiable theory that has something of a creationist ring to it, it sounds rather like those avid supporters are trying to foist a religious perspective into science - something that should not be done. Science is about making tests, and drawing conclusions from what you learn; about trying to understand more about the world around us. It's not about trying to debunk religion and the sooner people realise it, the better - then perhaps these ridiculous arguments can stop.