Do you want to impose evolution on the kids? Do you want to impose your personal beliefs on evolution biology and geology? does that already happen? Who should really be worried here?
They are not my personal beliefs; the great age of the Earth and the evolution of living things are well-established science. More than 99% of biologists, of all religions, accept the truth of evolution; that is why it should be taught in schools.
No one is going to give those kids the right of choice, we are going to choose it for them. Have you even considered that you might be actually condemning those kids to Hell, if on the even outside chance you are wrong, do any of you consider that? Is you being right so important that you are willing to take even the slightest chance that could happen?
There are Christians who think that the Bible says that the Earth is flat, or that it is spherical and stationary at the centre of the universe, and therefore that anybody who teaches that the Earth is spherical and in orbit around the Sun is condemning their pupils to Hell. Do you think that the story of the confusion of languages at the tower of Babel is historically true? If so, what do you think should be taught about the origin and history of languages?
More generally, we have to take some risks. The risk that people will go to Hell because they have believed the science that they were taught at school, science that is supported by all the evidence, is inconsiderable. And what am I supposed to think of a God who condemns people to eternal punishment in Hell only because they accept a well-established scientific theory?
Are you anywhere near that sure of yourselves?
Yes, I am. I have lived as an atheist for the past 34 years. I never pray, and I never attend church. When I die, an event that cannot be long delayed, that will be the end; my body will rot, and my life will eventually be forgotten. No doubt you think that I shall go to Hell; I think that the risk is small enough for me to take against the benefit of being able to search out truth for myself rather than having to believe the teachings of some ancient book.
Would you at least agree to a fighting chance for the kids "just in case" and allow both to be taught or better yet, let the kids and/or their parents choose for them?
No. I know enough about the history of Christianity to guess what the consequences of such a step would be. The Christian church has consistently opposed any sort of education, and has lent its name to the crudest superstitions; it has led crusades and wars of religion; it has killed 'heretics' and 'witches' by the tens or hundreds of thousands; it has opposed democracy, and has given its support to the most monstrous tyrants. I do not want to see it regain its power to do such things.
BTW, what is being taught now...today?
Again, they don't get to choose that I know of in a public school, and what we are discussing here could be one of the major decisions of your lives, just like teaching your child there is no God
I don't know what is being taught today in schools, either in Britain or America. It's a long time since I was at school, and I haven't got any children. I think that a majority of young adults under 30 in Britain do not believe in any god, and I am inclined to applaud their decision; they will probably live happier and better lives, and will have nothing to regret or fear when they die. What they teach their children is their affair.