####Besides, it's to the advantage of a gov't to keep its citizens ignorant, stupid, non-questioning, and clueless. Since this is the case, I'd expect the gov't to heartily endorse the teaching of the Christian Creation myth, as it serves that purpose nobily.####
Actually, challenges to evolution generally occur from the citizenry. Governments seem obsessed with promoting evolution. The only exception seems to occur when an angry populace finally has had enough and demands balance from their governing officials. So occasionally you'll see a conservative precinct like Kansas or Cobb County, GA supporting a balanced view, in response to popular local opinion. But bigger government usually then steps in via the federal courts and imposes an "evolution then, evolution now, evolution forever" rule.
No wonder more parents are homeschooling or sending their kids to private schools.
"So occasionally you'll see a conservative precinct like Kansas or Cobb County, GA supporting a balanced view, in response to popular local opinion."
Only problem with that is that science itself doesn't conform to public opinion.
The earth was never flat...spontaneous generation was always a farce...the earth has always revolved around the sun...all 3 of these at one time flew in the face of "popular opinion".
Creationism will be seen as ridiculous as the flat earth theory or terra-centrism in time.
Science is not a popularity contest. Just because a notion is widely held does not mean it is the correct one. There was a news article recently that polled a sample of the general public. More than half believed that if you had a gun with a curved barrel, and you fired a bullet down this curved barrel, that the projectile would contine to follow the arc traced by the curvature of the warped barrel once it has left the muzzle.
I'm as ardent of a supporter of homeschooling as you will find. I live in a homeschool friendly state and I intend to homeschool my children if possible. However, I'll teach them evolution when the subject matter is biology. Furthermore, private schools, both secular and parochial, teach evolution in biology class. The teaching of evolution is directly related to scientific relevancy, not government funding. Government is not obsessed with promoting evolution. Government is obsessed with promoting government. Teaching creationism in life sciences class in public schools does little to nothing to actually address the problems of the public school system. It is a *feel good* measure, but little more.
Which knows little or nothing about the actual theory.