Evolution should be taught in public schools

"Many question whether evolution is appropriate to teach in public schools." Many more do not. In fact, the people who have problems with evolution are few, but very outspoken and politically powerful. That's why it *seems* as if though there is a controversy. In reality, teachers, college professors, scientists, and members of academia are quite against the intentions of the religious-minded to oust evolutionary theory from schools purely because it threatens their religion. "I believe it not to be. Evolution may be a well-tested theory, but thats all it is." That's all it needs to be. Gravity is also a well-tested theory and nothing but. If something has to be more than a well tested theory before it can be taught in public schools, we should, according to you, ban the Theory of Gravity from our public schools. "When the theory of evolution is taught in schools, it causes kids to question what they believe in, and know is true(their religion). " Knowing is the combination of believing something, and the fact that something is valid. Setting aside the fact that evolution and religion CAN go hand in hand, if a person's unfounded beliefs are challenged by scientific concepts that are readily visible and supported by scientific evidence, should we then abandon that in favor of the belief? "If evolution is okay to be taught, shouldn't religion be appropriate to be taught as well?" That's assuming that one is equal to the other. I'm all for religion being taught in public school, and religion is taught in public school. Both subjects are where they belong. We learn about Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. in history class, where we examine global culture. We learn about evolution in Biology class because mounds of scientific evidence point towards evolution as one of the most key concepts in life on earth. "As well, many kids sit out(or don't sing) when singing a Christmas song at Christmas because they don't believe in what is sung in that particular song, so shouldn't kids who believe in other religions get a chance to choose if they'd like to learn about evolution?" First, Christmas is part of the Christian religion and people who choose not to sing Christmas songs tend to be of a different religion, most likely Judaism. Few educated atheists would have problems singing Christmas songs. In addition, Christmas songs are not quite key to becoming a professional singer, but Evolution is key to becoming a successful biologist. Name anyone with a doctorate or teaching position who argues against evolution, and I, being an undergraduate student, can probably point out objective reasons why he is unfit to teach. "Evolution is a theory and a belief by many, but not all. Why should kids get a belief forced upon them to learn as if it is truth?" Evolution is a theory, and that's really enough. As is typical, laypersons in terms of evolutionary theory, biology, and science in general confuse the terms "hypothesis" and "theory". A hypothesis is an educated guess as to the explanation of observed phenomena. After experimentation, testing, and collection of evidence, a hypothesis is validated, disproved, or modified and a theory is formed. Religion is neither a hypothesis nor a theory. On the ladder of scientific truth, it ranks even below "hypothesis" because it is a guess that has little to no scientific basis, is not tested, and is automatically presumed to be true. Furthermore, evolution is a concept that arose without bias, whereas those contesting it are extremely biased. Darwin did not develop his theory of natural selection in order to explain how mankind got here. He observed trends in animal life and formed the concept. The scientific community as a whole began exploring evolution and eventually put 2 and 2 together after a lot of research and time. Religious fanatics who live their lives based on faith find it difficult to reconcile their beliefs with evolutionary theory because of how strongly they assume what they believe to be fact. The more open minded learn to combine the two whereas the more narrow minded are willing to sacrifice intellectual and academic growth for their unfounded personal needs. Science and religion need not be at odds, actually. And few scientists really care about what the religious think. It's just the religious intolerants who keep ramming their heads into the giant stone wall of evolution, and the scientists just speak out for fear that the religious nuts will injure themselves.