EVOLUTION/ When the law decides whether a theory is scientific

Now that the holiday season is over, politics has again returned as the leading topic of discussion in the news media. The leading stories deal with the results of the primaries to select the candidate chosen to run for President against Barak Obama in the fall elections, as well as to determine who will control the Senate and the House of Representatives for the next two years. But that is not all. Many individual States will have on their ballots other issues that could also be of national interest and significance.

For example, it seems that we are about to enter into another debate about the teaching of evolution in the public schools.

As reported by Stephanie Pappas for MSNBC, "the new year is bringing new controversy over teaching evolution in public schools, with two bills in New Hampshire seeking to require teachers to teach the theory more as philosophy than science. Meanwhile, an Indiana state senator has introduced a bill that would allow school boards to require the teaching of creationism."

In New Hampshire a bill would "require evolution to be taught in the public schools of this state as a theory, including the theorists' political and ideological viewpoints and their position on the concept of atheism." A second bill does not mention evolution specifically but would "require science teachers to instruct pupils that proper scientific inquire [sic] results from not committing to any one theory or hypothesis, no matter how firmly it appears to be established, and that scientific and technological innovations based on new evidence can challenge accepted scientific theories or modes."

The bill "turns skepticism into bewilderment," said Zen Faulkes, a biology professor at the University of Texas, Pan America. "It would ask teachers to say to students, 'Don't commit to the hypothesis that uranium has more protons than carbon,' or 'Remember, kids, tomorrow we might find out that DNA is not the main molecule that carries genetic information.' Evolution is as much a fact as either of those things, so it should be taught with the same confidence."

The theory of evolution has become a key issue for religious conservatives, many of whom argue that the idea of life evolving over billions of years teaches students that life is nothing but an accident. It's opponents want to introduce children to the idea that they have a purpose for being here. For this reason, many of the religious conservatives would like to see intelligent design, or the idea that a creator sparked life's development, taught in schools.