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A Small Victory in the U.K.

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While sometimes the struggle against the pseudoscientific tripe that is creationism seems never-ending, those of us on the side of science and reason occasionally get a win. This we have done in the past week; in yet another slap against creationism, the British government announced that "free schools", (local schools, often religious in nature but funded by the government and usually exempt from the educational curriculum of Britain), often called "faith schools" will lose funding if they attempt to teach creationism as science. Make no mistake, this is a victory for science. While Great Britain has traditionally ranked very high in public acceptance of evolution, the spread of these "faith schools" has led to a growing fear that this will be used to spread the religious doctrine of creationism. I am very grateful to Richard Dawkins and David Attenborough for spearheading this effort, making sure that Britain doesn't slide back from knowing and understanding what evolution is and why it is important. Now, at the very least, if British children are to be indoctrinated into the delusion of young-earth creationism, it won't be done on the public dime.

On the flip side of this good news, Answers in Genesis continues its missions to Great Britain, including one recent event in which a Ph.D level "scientist" spoke with a group of skeptics--though it wasn't made exactly clear as to whether or not it was a Creation-evangelism, Christian mission or a mixture of both that seems to be the forte of that organization. This isn't the first effort by Answers in Genesis in Britain; a few years ago Ken Ham himself spread his message of discord and confusion there.

As always, the good news comes with the bad. An important victory has been won, but not in this country. The fight for good science continues.
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