*sigh* Alberta to propose "optional" status for evolution classes

[acroyear]

Pharyngula: What are you doing, Alberta?:

It neglects a fundamental property of education: that in order to learn, you have to be exposed to many new and sometimes difficult ideas. We teach about subjects that no one thinks are good, because you need to know about them to have an informed opinion. The Holocaust was horrible and painful — shall we allow children to avoid exposure to it? Fundamentalist parents may gnash their teeth in fury at the very idea of evolution — but how can they disagree with it rationally, if they don't even know what it is?

Somehow we've acquired this bizarre notion that learning is about being eased along, never stressing ourselves, never facing a challenge. We've mistaken education for an exercise in affirmation.