International Aspects of Creationism/ID

Long time lurker here, not much posting here, but as I'm from Holland I might shed some additional light here.Creationism was to me taught as spontanous generation: an outdated theory. I realize Creationism can be taught differently in other schools, but the textbook I had treated it not seriously, and I never heard an outcry of Christians.Just because it's in the law to teach Creationism doesn't mean it's treated very seriously. That's not to say Creationsim is non-existent in Holland (I've met a few of them personally, fellow students at a Biology University), but I don't consider it a pressure group.The 'debate' the minister wanted seems to have changed to a general debate concerning the place of science in society. While I very well can imagine this debate can turn bad, it might also turn good.

I don't know how or when this legislation came about. All I know is that at my school (Catholic school) it was taught the same way as your gf had experienced: as historical interest, but scientifically bankrupt. There was not much more than a few lines spent on it.I guess that with a legislation like 'Teach Creationism', it's not mentioned in what way it should be taught. Since Holland is not a very fundamentalist country, this meant in most cases 'in a historical context'.I think the legislation is mostly an anachronism indeed, and may be gone soon.

And stop messing with the education system.