I always appreciate it when newspaper writers put a piece of egregious stupidity in their first paragraph as a signal that I don't need to watse my time reading the rest of the piece. Nice of them.
When you look at the stated goals of the Discovery Institute, the Seattle based organization promoting ID, a Saudi style theocracy is indeed their goal. Granted, it is a Christian theology, which generally I support. Except not in schools, and not mandated by government. We ended that in the Americas sometime after they chased my ancestors out of Hampton NH in the 1630's because they were Quaker.
The Discovery Institute published on their web site (and has since removed) a strategy they call the "Wedge". It is to promote a non-God "Intellegent Design" to get science to accept the idea that some kind of supernatural exists, despite no evidence for it.
Then the plan is to replace that belief in a generic supernatural with a Christian faith. I don't doubt that since this is specifically directed at government schools, that they fully intend on carrying this over into government mandates as well.
Who knows what would happen after decades of such government sponsord religion? Perhaps a return to government mandated tithes as existed in New England well after the First Amendment (since the First only prevented Congress from establishing a religion, a strict interpretation allows States to do so, and they once did).
Perhaps the Taliban example is a bit strong, because Christianity was never that violent in the Americas. But in England, it certianly was.
For a member of FR to post liberal dogma from a liberal rag, with nothing that is 'news' or not already posted hundreds of times, except for their theory of America's evolution into a Saudi-like regime, says more about the agenda of a small group of posters here who continually fly in the face of basic conservative principles.
20 or 30 of the same people posting their same arguements on each side over and over and over (ad nauseum) will not change a thing, a mind, the facts, or the faith. It's ALL unprovable. These posts get a relatively low # of views on FR and don't do a thing to advance conservative principles, except to bring out the extremists on both sides.
If you believe in God, you must believe He is sovereign over everything. Everything else is secondary. It's like arguing about whether it's better to earn a million dollars in stocks or bonds, on Nasdaq or NYSE. What's the difference?
God has a purpose for all of us. The end goal is to be with Him in heaven. Only then might we understand. If you are not of this belief, that's fine, but trying to impact people of faith on this issue without belief in God and His sovereignty is a total waste of time and bandwidth. If you are an atheist, then your credibility is no better than the 'creationist' web sites that are automatically dismissed as uncredible.
This issue seems so easily solved. Allow the teaching of evolution to be an optional class in government schools, allow The Bible to be an optional class in government schools. Let parents and students decide what to choose, what to study, what to believe, including both.
That would be the conservative approach to such a minor 'speed bump' of an issue.