Published Wednesday in the OWH
August 3, 2005
Bush vs. Darwin
Teaching of science is cheapened when zealots and politicians dictate curriculum.
President Bush has illustrated why it's a good idea to entrust the education of the nation's kids to someone other than the occupant of the White House.
Knowledge of education, specifically education in scientific matters, isn't ordinarily considered by the voters as a quality to be desired in choosing the nation's chief executive.
Perhaps it should be, but it isn't.
Thus, when Bush on Monday suggested that schools ought to make room for "intelligent design" in teaching the origins of life, he was speaking outside his expertise and authority.
Intelligent design is a contention embraced by critics of the theory of evolution. It holds that life is too complex to have evolved at random. By extension, implicitly or explicitly, it points to a divine hand.
Complete editorial here:
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=608&u_sid=1474324