Article January 9, 2006 Issue

MONKEYS, INTELLIGENT DESIGN, OR NONE OF THE ABOVE?

Jeremy Carper

WHILE OVERSIMPLIFIED , that title seems to summarize a huge question in education and politics today, with strong lobbies on either side of the debate whether creationism or the theory of intelligent design (ID), should be taught alongside evolution in United States public schools.

What's often missing in the debate is all the shades of nuance. Not all Christians are anti-evolution, and not all people on the pro-evolution side of the debate are atheists. Nor are all political conservatives found pushing for ID, as a recent newspaper column pointed out ("Phony theory, false conflict," Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, Nov. 18, 2005).

Sometimes, however, the subtleties are lost in media coverage, and in the "Bible Belt" where I live, such differences are the stuff of heated verbal exchanges in the pulpits, bookstores, and even our favorite ice cream parlor.

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