On the birthday of Charles Darwin, and immediately following the confirmation of Betsy DeVos to the US Department of Education, who got a failing grade in her Senate hearings on every subject besides money accumulation, I offer just a word regarding the intended (if you read her history) ‘Christianization’ of schools. I leave the question of her quest for privatization of schools for later.
I believe firmly in the separation of church and state, and that if we insist on teaching ‘religion’ in public schools, we ought to require that we teach, or make available and support, inquiries into all religions.
I have never felt any contradiction between evolution and any of the main religious versions of creation. If one believes in God (or Spirit, or the Great Spirit, or by another name), one understands that God dwells intrinsically and perpetually deep within the infinitesimal layers of everything. Whether or not we feel, know, or discover this pulse or consciously ascribe it to the indwelling of God, is a personal choice, a family and cultural matter, not to be questioned, ever, by the state.
Of course, this is also applicable to the “Muslim Ban”, the irrational, reckless attempt by the 45th President to exclude “all Muslims” from entering the US. Leaving it there for now.