Is intelligent design taught in UK schools?
There were accusations that creationism and intelligent design were being taught in academies funded by the Christian philanthropist Sir Peter Vardy, although the schools denied this. Earlier this year the government – prompted by revelations in the Guardian – stepped in to forbid the use of teaching materials advocating intelligent design circulated by a group called Truth in Science. However intelligent design and creationism can be discussed in religious education lessons or under the heading of history of science. This is what the Church of England’s head of education, the Rev Jan Ainsworth, is apparently advocating. What does flying spaghetti have to do with any of this? A recent development has been the growth of so-called Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, a satirical “religion” created by Bobby Henderson, a physics graduate of Oregon State University. He wrote to the Kansas Board of Education in June 2005 alerting them to the many people who believe that a Flying Spaghetti Monster cr
