Deseret Morning News, Saturday, March 19, 2005
Utah's non-war over evolution
It's taught — but probably not believed
By Elaine
Jarvik
Deseret
Morning News
[Note: The following is not the complete article.]
Anxious e-mails have been filling Karlene
Bauer's inbox this school year — messages about Cobb County, Ga., and Dover,
Pa., and all the other places where people are up in arms over the teaching of
evolution.
Photo illustration by Jessica Noel Berry, Deseret Morning News |
One might suppose, given that Utahns tend to be both conservative and
religious, that evolution would be a contentious topic in Utah's schools; but
yet another legislative session has passed with no mention of Charles Darwin.
And Brett Moulding can count on his fingers the number of anti-evolution phone
calls he's gotten in the past 10 years, first as science education specialist
and then as curriculum director for the Utah State Office of Education.
As Murray high biology teacher Steve Scheidell says, "It's not a thing to
panic about here."
That may be because not all biology teachers in Utah tackle the touchiest
part of evolutionary theory: how humans came to be. And Utah students often
don't believe what they've been taught anyway, because they've learned something
different from teachers in LDS Church seminary classes.
As a whole, Utahns tend to be conflicted about the intersection of evolution and public education. A Dan Jones Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll conducted last week found that 64 percent of Utahns think evolution should be taught in biology classes — and 70 percent think creationism, "Intelligent Design" and other belief systems should be taught there too. ...