Bush Changes Education Stance...No, Not Really

At Sloppy Dawg, Danny reports on President Bush's endorsement of "intelligent design", the theory that gives credit to a creator rather than an evolutionary process, in addition to evolution in science classrooms across the country. The president cites a need for a diverse and open minded curriculum.

It's not an unreasonable idea for a science department to examine the possibilities of a force greater than the ones we understand every day. However, how would the curriculum be directed? It's easy to endorse a policy that will allow children to understand the possibility of a creator's existence, but how is it to be taught? Who determines the theory which is presented as "the scientific truth"? I'd be interested to understand the specifics of Intelligent Design.

Nonetheless, the most interesting part of Sloppy's post comes in his question at the end. He asks if the president, in stating support for multi-cultural education, now endorses other forms of sex-education besides the "abstinence only" school of thought he has previously held true to.

Now that the election is over, it will be interesting to see if Bush moderates his stances on several social issues, namely this one. Although it's easy to dismiss this as a fringe issue for groups like NARAL and the Family Research Council, an effective contraception campaign could contribute greatly to reducing poverty and disease, especially in areas that are already afflicted by these problems, specifically the inner cities.