Note to Alberta: Evolution is real. Move on.

Conservatives strike again!

The government of Alberta isn't necessarily backwards, so why would they insist on making the province appear to be?

In this day and age, and in this country even, I'm hard-pressed to find examples of successful evolution-deniers; by and large, Canadians accept that evolution is the most logical, most realistic explanation for how things on Earth and in the Universe have developed. Many Canadians will attribute responsibility for evolution to a god/dess or some deity, so be it. I can't argue that, though I personally disagree.

But we are talking about students in PUBLIC schools, where the curriculum is guided by conventional wisdom. My concern with parents being allowed to pull their kids from classes talking about evolution or homosexuality is that the move will have detrimental impacts both on the children's social development, as well as the dialogue about differences among people in an open and free society. Ultimately, the kids pulled out of these classes will find themselves in opposition to the majority of their peers...something teenagers do not abide well.

I feel quite strongly that youth need to be taught to think about all sides of a problem, issue or question; I belong to the school of thought that it is wiser to know your opponents and their arguments so that you can be prepared to counter each point. You may not like, agree or tolerate their position, but awareness breeds strength of your position. So it bothers me that parents want to take away their kids' chance to develop a particularly valuable skill. To me, that's the value of public school: it's a place that exposes youths to the variety they will inevitably encounter in Canada's quite heterogeneous society.

But there's a far more insidious plot at work here, and it's the more worrisome part of the story if you ask me(this is my personal bias at work now, not the policy wonk in me); if you skimmed, or missed it, I will explain...or rather, I suppose the second paragraph of the article will...

The new rules, which would require schools to notify parents in advance of "subject-matter that deals explicitly with religion, sexuality or sexual orientation," is buried in a bill that extends human rights to homosexuals. Parents can ask for their child to be excluded from the discussion.

This is the kind of move that is designed to breed backdoor opposition to homosexuality. Hiding the(un)education policy in a bill meant as an extension of human rights to homosexuals allows for the breeding on intolerance to difference that is at the root of so many of our social problems. It's literally an example of one hand giving, with the other hand taking, hoping no one's watching. It's duplicitous in my mind; it's saying "here are the rights you asked for, but watch out, because we're passively promoting opposition to you and your rights."

Furthermore, it's just plain underhanded. Progressive people will not say no to a bill extending human rights to a group that has felt the wrath of ignorant society. But sneaking this bit of regressive policy in there, the government of Alberta is behaving in a manner that is downright shifty and untrustworthy...I will go so far to say Cowardly, even.