Toto, I've a feeling we're not in the 21st century anymore.

Many of you already know that The Kansas Board of Education has ostensibly approved adding "Intelligent Design" to their science curriculum for public schools. I'm pretty sure you can all guess where I stand on this particular debate. Allow me to use my blog in a way I try not to: a political/religious sounding board. What you may or may not know is that my father, the man who raised me, is on the same type of committee, in the great state of Minnesota. He has been, as a source of extreme pride for me, called a heretic in the State Senate for his views on evolution. I asked him yesterday how he felt about the Kansas decision. He hadn't heard about it yet, but was still amazed at the fact that people accept Creationism and Intelligent Design as valid science. Dad told me that they were trying to change the definition of science to make it easier for the board to include Creationism as a valid scientific fact.

So, what's my beef here? Well, science is not a set of beliefs. It's a set of studied phenomena, things that someone has seen, theorized about, and then proven that theory. Religion is a set of beliefs, asking for faith in those beliefs. I quote the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

The Argument goes something like this: "I refuse to prove that I exist" says God, "For proof denies faith and without faith I am nothing." "BUT," says Man, "The Babel Fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? It proves you exist, so therefore you don't. QED." "Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that." And promptly vanishes in a puff of logic. "Ooh, that was easy." says Man and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets killed on the next zebra crossing.

Maybe it's the fact that I, like my father, have a brain that thinks like a scientist, not a brain that easily accepts religious concepts, but I need proof of something before I'll believe in it. Creationism has no place being taught in a science classroom. Neither does Intelligent Design (the, dare I say it, slightly more evolved version of creationism). Want to hear about a god or gods creating the earth, life, and all of nature? Fine. Go to your local church, mosque, synagogue, or temple. The public school system, run by the government, cannot and should not teach either topic, as per the First Amendment.

In the end, just keep your damn religion away from me. I don't want it, and I definitely wouldn't want my children being taught your beliefs.

Thanks to fark.com user Lord_Baull for Photoshopping that picture.