sticking to the theory

After a failed attempt at completely removing the word "evolution" from science text books the school superintendent of schools in Cobb county, Georgia had stickers placed on the text books which warned "Evolution is a theory, not a fact" and that it should be "approached with an open mind." Sadly, the motivation of those behind the sticker has nothing to do with an open mind. Admittedly, I am skeptical of current evolutionary explanations and have no problem with people scientifically considering intelligent design hypotheses. And I disagree with claims of the lawsuit against the stickers. Nothing about the wording is necessarily religious. But those filing the lawsuit clearly understand the intentions behind the sticker.

It bothers me that people are using the facade of skepticism to promote their view. There are numerous "theories" in science text books, endless distortion in civics books and sometimes outright deception in history books yet evolution is singled out. Why not the theory of relativity? And what is the value of instructing students to be skeptical of a theory when we fail to equip them with the tools of honest scientific criticism? Highschool students are lectured at and told what to believe. Text books report many conclusions but very little of the reasoning, doubt, struggle and testing preceding them. Were our students properly armed for critical analysis then we wouldn't need to remind them to use it.

Why have so many within the Christian community chosen to dislike the science of life origins? Proponents of the stickers label evolution as "atheistic" despite the fact that many (though certainly not most) Christians believe in evolution. Some Christians lump all of science together and call it a system of faith. They become paranoid and fear science without cause. It reminds me of a Carl Sagan quote that Shane once showed me:

How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed.' Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'