Kosh

Unfortunately, we can laugh about here all we
want and know the facts.

But that creationist managed to get published
all those links to trueorigins, etc, and now
laymen will go there, read the bad [science],
and probably be swayed by it...

Oolon, I fear you may have just infected Britain
with N. Americanus Fundamentalism

Oolon Colluphid

Fortunately, as he himself said: "I don't think the Telegraph is going to publish my response to your letter which I attach below." And as far as I can see, they didn't. Mind you, they also edited out my link to Talk Origins, so maybe they just don't let you link from their online letters, rather than it being a spot of sanity among the Telegraph editors.

But with Vardy funding schools and Ham holding seminars at university students' unions, I fear that the britannicus subspecies of Fundamentalis americanus is, rather than an endangered species, spreading like Rattus rattus in the C14th. And we have no constitutional protection for our curriculum.

Oolon

Jubal

What did you expect? It's religious lunacy, which has long been respected over legitimate science.

Kosh

Ah, my bad. I thought that reply had been printed
in the paper.

Jack the Bodiless

Looks like Emmanuel College will get checked out again, albeit in a rather half-hearted fashion:

<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4381812,00.html" target="_blank">Ofsted checks creation college</a>
NOT sufficient. The school can simply present what it teaches on evolution and fail to mention what it teaches on creationism, or whatever cretinist bullshit it might be using to discredit what it's teaching on evolution.
It will be interesting to see what happens when the Scientologists and Moonies move in. According to Blair's argument, if the kids get good grades, that's all that matters. Maybe regular non-creationist schools should also teach that Blair is an (evolved) evil shapeshifting reptoid from the planet Tharg. This seems to be permitted.

I suppose the good news about all this is that it's a huge stick for Blair's opponents to beat him with over "faith-based schools". And that's one of the issues that was making him unpopular in his own party even before this flared up. Blair is now backpedalling furiously, claiming he wants "inclusive" faith-based schools, required to take a large quota of students with no specific religious affiliation. A certain percentage of students in religious schools will have the right to say "stuff your religion, I'm not interested". The other pupils will learn more about multiculturalism than the school intended them to learn.