Reasons we need a Beagle (n)

because the Church of England's head of education Rev. Jan Ainsworth has suggested that intelligent design should be taught in schools:

Ms Ainsworth told the Times Educational Supplement: "While it is not something I would subscribe to, it is a recognition that there are different ways of looking at the evidence. You would get howls of protest from the scientific community, which would say there is absolutely no place for it in the curriculum. But you could do it in history of science," she added, pointing out that religious education lessons in CofE schools include discussions of different beliefs.

Rev Ainsworth is responsible for 4,600 schools. The CofE's spokesman was reported to be playing down the significance of the comments:

A spokesman for the Church of England said Ms Ainsworth was "simply representing the fact that some schools currently discuss intelligent design within the context of lessons exploring how our understanding of science has developed historically". He continued: "Ms Ainsworth was not suggesting that intelligent design should be taught as a scientifically-based theory, but merely stating that some schools do include the topic on their history of science curriculum, and that she does not propose to prevent them from doing so. "She believes that schools should take a lead from the national curriculum, and use discretion in enhancing this with discussions about the theory of intelligent design where appropriate," he added.

Sigh.
Write down 100 times: Intelligent design is not a theory, it is an opinion with no supporting evidence and is based on an argument from ignorance and incredulity.

Hat-tip Pharyngula for ruining an otherwise lovely Saturday morning with this. And to MissPrism who made the Darwin puppet and supported us through a blog and buysale. MissP is a good oeuf and currently spending time being put right by the NHS following a torn calf muscle. Click on over and help her recuperation with some nice comments. The Darwin puppet found a new home in Canada thanks to a generous donation from an Humblewoodcutter. I only hope Chas did his share of the lifting in the recent house move.