Buttars, it's okay! Evolution doesn't mean your religious beliefs aren't true.

In the The Senate Site blog and a recent DesNews article, Chris Buttars announced that he is preparing a "confidential" bill on evolution. Buttars said that the bill will challenge the Utah Board of Education's position, and could include certain disclaimers before evolution lessons. "I believe with the President of the United States that Intelligent Design should have an equal place in evolution lessons." Gayle Ruzicka said, "We are not asking that the State not teach evolution, but one, teach evolution as a theory, and two, include more than one viewpoint." To be fair Buttars said that ID should be taught in philosophies, a point to which I agree with him.

In my opinion, it is very dangerous to force teachers to teach accepted scientific theories with disclaimers. Evolution falls in the realm of science, because it is derived of empirical evidence that can be tested by the scientific method. Intelligent Design cannot fall in the realm of science, because it cannot be proved or disproved by experimentation and observation. The problem is that for some Evolution threatens their deeply held beliefs, just as for atheists Evolution becomes the bedrock proof that their is no God. Here is what the religious right and the atheistic left need to keep in mind, Evolution is the best explanation that science has for the creation and existence of species in this world -- but it doesn't mean there is not God. On the other hand ID is based on a rather vague one and a half page section of the Bible -- it is meant to be believed or disbelieved, proved or disproved by means of prayer, scripture study, and faith.

Buttars -- we can't force a faith based idea that exist in only in literature to be taught as science, and we can't teach a generally accepted scientific theory with disclaimers that it is "just theory". Intelligent Design if it is to be taught in schools must be left to philosophy, and evolution should be taught as the unencumbered as science. I don't think evolution should challenge a belief in God. For example, isn't evolution to an extent one of the main tenants of Mormonism (that we are all trying to evolve to be like God) therefore I see evolution and ID as being (however slight) complimentary.

Here is the link: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635161898,00.html