Gary B said:
Maybe they should stop teaching Evolution in classrooms since it's just a theory.
And maybe they should stop teaching gravity or relativity for the same reasons.
A theory in science, is far different from a layman's theory. A theory in science is an explanation of a natural phenomenon based on physical observations.
For example, Newton's theory of gravity explained the orbits of the planets and even went to far as to predict the existence Neptune based on pertebations in the orbit of Uranus. Likewise, evolution explains things like antibiotic resistance in bacteria, or shared genetic similarities among various species.
Of course, scientific theories are subject to change. Newton's gravitational theory was superceded by Einstein's when he came up with relativity. And even Einstein's work is incomplete as physicists still debate over the very nature of gravity.
Yet, I don't see anyone protesting gravity being taught in schools because it is "just a theory".
I could probably find quite a few sites that question evolution, but I won't because you'll just say that it's emotionalism or another fancy word.
And I've probably already seen them. The reason there is such a big fight against evolution is because people are taught it is incompatible with Christianity (specifically those who follow certain Biblical interpretations). Unforunately, many of the people who argue against evolution turn it into a political debate. They feed misinformation to the general populace in an effort to have evolution ousted from the school system, or some times, creationism inserted. But those people are not doing it for reasons of science; they are doing it because they feel that is what their religion requires.
The reality is that creationism was already a prevailing view in science over 200 years ago. Scientists at the time (most of them Christian) who were exploring the Earth were actually looking for evidence to confirm certain Biblical ideas (like the Genesis account as literal history). But they didn't find what they were looking for. In fact, they ended up realizing the evidence in the Earth did not conform to a literal Genesis (namely all the Earth's organisms were not created at roughly the same time or that the global flood of Noah took place).
All comes down to your belief system. If you want to believe in evolution, I say fine but why subject my kids to that teaching without a choice?
Because it's not a belief system the way you describe. It is a scientific theory based on the research, observation and data of countless individuals over the last 150 years. If you want to argue that it is a "belief system", I could argue the same about any other branch of science. No one, for example has ever seen a protons or electrons, yet I don't see people protesting atomic theory being taught in schools.
