It's easy to counter the arguments of the anti-evolution crowd to disprove their position. My target today is the idea of 'teaching the debate'. This is when creationists want teachers to 'teach' Intelligent Design (ID) as a theory whose scientific validity is on par with that of the theory of evolution. The problem is this wouldn't be teaching.
A major goal of teaching is for students to develop and hone their critical thinking skills. Presented with the evidence supporting ID or evolution, any critical thinker (critical thinking requires that all evidence be considered objectively and without bias) would have to reject ID in light of the mounds of evidence supporting evolution. Should a teacher equate the quantity and quality of evidence to 'teach the controversy', they are not teaching. They do not teach their students to critically evaluate the quality of the evidence in front of them or how it fits together to support a theory of how all life came to be. They not only shortchange the science education their students deserve, they shortchange the education and reasoning skills their students need to make good decisions as adults.
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