Whhhhoa wait a minute here.

I've been silently reading this thread, squirming, but feeling it is generally pointless to try to add anything here because I would be told --

That evolution is a myth, is not scientific, etc
That anything I claimed to be a fact would be denied as such and probably called a hoax or junk science
That anything I said was self-evident or logical would be shot down as fantasy
That because we don't understand how some aspects of evolution work the whole thing is wrong

There are no open minds here, at least not among the creationists.

However . . . this comment about schooling, where did that come from? I am a teacher and a parent, so I think I have some valid opinions here.

If you tell people they have to pay to send their children to school, inevitably some won't, and will evade the system. What are you going to do about all the people who can't read or do simple maths then, send them to clean people's toilets, or wait until they commit crimes and stick them in jail where they can provide slave labour?

This would be similar to the US not funding health care. Some people genuinely can't pay, and you get an underclass of people who are not provided with the basics they need if they break a leg or have a heart attack.

Also, these schools that would be set up, out of the government's remit. (And I certainly know that British and American public schools need improving, there's a lot to be done in that respect.) What sort of regulations would they have? Would they be allowed to teach whatever they wanted as long as the majority of parents approved? Aha. We would then have, at least in places like the south where a lot of fundamentalists live, a very fundamentalist curriculum where creationism is taught as fact, and Darwin is depicted as a madman. Right, that's just great. Do you realise what the rest of the world would think of that? While they carry on discovering, and creating new technology, they will be laughing as you guys teach your religious beliefs as fact no matter what actual reality is. You will be left behind as the world progresses. But never mind, at least you will be secure in your righteousness.

Am I way off the mark here? Someone please tell me I didn't understand that statement correctly.