COMMENTARY:

Evolution or Intelligent Design? It's none of the Government’s Business.

When asked recently if the concept of “intelligent design” should be taught alongside Darwinian evolution, President Bush remarked that he “felt like both sides ought to be properly taught. I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought. You’re asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, and the answer is yes.”

This is not an abstract question about the open marketplace of ideas. It is a concrete query concerning the science curriculum in the government’s schools. If Bush can’t see this vital distinction, perhaps he ought not to meddle in the issue.

Those of us who think that the government should not be involved in these issues have long warned that such a role would take it where it ought not to go. There is no such thing as value-free education, so any governmental control of schools is tantamount to its imparting values to children. Look at the politicians and bureaucrats with whom you are familiar. Do you want them imparting values to your kids? Neither do I.

Behold what government control of education has wrought. Science is based on the idea that evolutionary processes account for the origin of species. There is debate at the margins, but the core theory is well supported. A number of people, however, believe that certain phenomena are too complex to be explained by evolution and can only be understood through the study of intelligent design.

I am tempted to state my reasons for casting my lot with the evolutionists, but this tangent would distract me from my main point, which is that this realm is none of the government’s business. Because the nation's public school system is sustained by tax dollars, the debate between science and religion inevitably becomes a political war. It's ironic that government schooling was originally touted as the path to social harmony!

In a free, depoliticized educational environment, there would be no need to fight over the origin of species at school board meetings. In the current system, if your side doesn’t control the curriculum, the other side will; Darwin's theories are not lost here: it is a fight for survival of the fittest. Since the stakes are so high, people invest a lot of effort to gain and keep curriculum control.

In a free educational environment, no one is threatened. Parents send their children to the schools that best reflect the world views they themselves hold. There is no need to fight for power and control, as both are irrelevant. Thus education proceeds peacefully.

We often distrust simple solutions, but in this case, simplicity is best. Take government out of schooling and return responsibility and financial control to parents. Once we learn to value freedom and social cooperation, we will realize that there is no way to intelligently design a government school system.

1. Evolution vs. Intelligent Design: A False Debate
2. Public Schools Are Vitally Important
3. ''The False Premise is from the Darwinists''