Let's Teach Creationism in Schools!

I can't be serious - or can I? Would I really want to see our children exposed to the (literal) biblical story of how the world was created in the course of seven days, some 6000 years ago? This is what I think:

When you look at this chart (which I clipped from Natural History, my apologies!), you'll find that the largest portions of disbelievers in evolution are found in the US and Turkey. Sure, both countries show strong fundamentalistic religious tendencies - but both are (or at least were, at the time of the poll) also among the most secular nations in the world, legally mandating that religious teachings must be kept out of public schools. That should ensure the protection of our kids from overzealous religious indoctrination (which often is synonymous with "anti-science"), shouldn't it? Well, apparently, it doesn't:

Who believes in Creation, and who trusts in Evolution?

But I remember an anecdote from way back, when I was still in elementary school in deeply catholic Bavaria (did I mention that the present Pope is Bavarian?), which had, by concordat with the Vatican, pledged to establish and maintain mandatory religious (= denominational) education in public schools since 1924. The local priest, who held those classes, was educating us the on story of Cain, who - after killing his brother Abel in a fit of jealousy - had the following exchange with God:

13 Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is more than I can bear.

14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

15 But the LORD said to him, “Not so[e]; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.

Here I was, eight years old, and wondering: Who were those people that Cain feared? After all, hadn't he killed one-fourth (strike that - we knew about the Bible, but hadn't learned fractions in third grade, yet) of the world's population, and apart from his parents and himself, no other people had been created yet? Where could those strangers come from? So I asked. And I remember the priest, after being briefly thrown off his catechistic balance, brushed my question aside with the remark that none of this was to be taken literally. Bingo! I have never un-learned this unplanned lesson. It's all just a big metaphor - at best.

But by not teaching the biblical contents in a secularly shaped environment (and thus leaving it to bible classes and parochial schools, which generally prefer to eschew the theory of evolution) might actually protect the dogmatic teachings, the framework of you-must-believe, from the naturally inquisitive minds of the children, whose questions should be as uninhibited as they are inevitable. Questions like: Why did that omniscient, benevolent god put a forbidden tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden, knowing that Adam and Eve would eventually succumb to temptation? Why give them this Paradise, when he already planned to take it away? Why didn't he know of the violent consequences, when he rejected Cains offerings, but accepted Abel's? Did he do that or purpose? How could there be a Day One and Day Two of creation, when Day was only created on the third day?

Sometimes, I think it would be quite interesting to see how such tales would fare in an environment that fosters inquisitiveness and critical thinking (provided, our schools have enough funding to keep doing that.) So, maybe, it wouldn't be that bad an idea to teach creationism and allow it to expose itself, with all its contradictions and unanswered questions.

Lehrt den Kreationismus!