And he only really scratches the surface here. This effort to undermine the teaching of evolution in public schools has gone much further than just those attacks in various states. At the local level, often outside the view of the press, the situation is far worse. Surveys have shown that a staggering percentage of teachers are so fed up with the constant badgering they get from people in their communities about teaching "godless" evolution that they just avoid talking about it altogether.

I was at a science teacher's convention a few months ago and had many teachers speak to me about the problems they encounter because they teach evolution. They are accused by folks in their churches and evey by some of their fellow teachers of teaching something that will destroy the faith of their students. So widespread is the notion that evolution is equivalent to atheism (when in fact evolution is atheistic in precisely the same manner that the germ theory of disease or the theory of gravity are) that some have been literally hounded out of their churches by the ill-informed and the ignorant.

Advocates of intelligent design and other forms of creationism, of course, have done all they could to make that equivocation even stronger in the minds of their followers, often portraying evolution as inculcating "godless materialism" and causing everything from the Holocaust to Stalin's purges to the Khmer Rouge. They've also made a concerted effort to get parents and children to challenge the teaching of evolution at every opportunity in their local schools. For instance, they've put out "icons of evolution" bookmarks and encouraged kids to repeat a list of questions (all highly contrived) to their teachers when they teach about evolution.

So the battles being waged to do anything possible to undermine the teaching of evolution are far broader than one could possibly imagine unless they deal with it all levels as I do. And as Hanle argues, these attacks have real life consequences:

This war could decimate the development of U.S. scientific talent and erode whatever competitive advantage the United States enjoys in the technology-based global economy. Already, U.S. high school students lag near the bottom in math skills compared with students in other developed nations, and high school seniors are performing worse in science than they were 10 years ago.

These trends can only worsen if students come to regard evolution as questionable or controversial. Thirty-seven percent of the high school Advanced Placement biology examination tests knowledge of evolution, evolutionary biology and heredity, according to the College Board. Students who do not thoroughly understand evolution cannot hope to succeed on this exam; they will be handicapped in competitive science courses in college and the careers that may follow.

By teaching intelligent design or other variants of creationism in science classes at public schools -- or by undercutting the credibility of evolution -- we are greatly diminishing our chances for future scientific breakthroughs and technological innovations, and are endangering our health, safety and economic well-being as individuals and as a nation.

No one knows this better than Kansas, which has seen its reputation take serious blows as a result of 7 years of ongoing controversies over the teaching of evolution. In 1999, the state school board there voted to take evolution and the big bang out of the science standards completely, causing an international uproar. That board was voted out in 2000, but then more creationists were voted back on and the battles began all over again. They've now been voted back out, but the damage is real. The Kansas reported a few months ago:

Rob Weaver, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, whose discipline is molecular biology, also said the reputation of Kansas had been tarnished.

Weaver said that tarnished image had affected the University in two ways.

First, he said that professor recruitment suffered. He said the University needed the best possible professors, but if the best were reluctant to apply because of the social controversy, then students would suffer.

"If I was in my 30s and looking for a job, I wouldn't apply," he said. "But KU is a hotbed for evolution study."

Secondly, he said incoming college students were missing a piece of their science education if they weren't taught that evolution was a valid theory.

Liza Holeski, Rio Grande, Ohio, ecology and evolutionary biology graduate student, teaches entry-level biology classes at the University. She has found that many of her undergraduate students never discussed evolution in high school.

"You can just tell that they probably have never had evolution in science class," she said. "The word itself has a stigma because of the debate that's been going on for so long."

They aren't the only ones to make note of this damage. The Kansas City Star reported in October 2005 that it's also damaging the ability to attract high tech companies to locate in Kansas:

"They want to bring things like intelligent design into classes and downplay the fact of evolution," said Holt, a postdoctoral researcher specializing in plant genetics at the University of North Carolina. "I find it incredibly troubling."

Holt's reluctance to include Kansas on his prospect list may be a worrisome sign for a region hoping to spur its economy by attracting more science-oriented workers and new high-tech companies.

Some business leaders and economic development recruiters in the region say they are encountering more candidates with questions like Holt's. Those leaders say the region has acquired an "anti-science" label in some key professions, fueled by the evolution debate in Kansas and efforts in Kansas and Missouri to impose restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research...

"I have no doubt that it has a negative impact," said James L. Spigarelli, president and chief executive officer of the Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City. "When I go to national meetings, people start to buzz about Kansas and 'intelligent design.' When people begin to laugh at you, that is worse than if they disagree with you, and that is what is beginning to happen."

The region already is working to overcome the allure of other areas offering more opportunities in biotechnology.

Stellar public school systems traditionally have been among Kansas' most effective responses to a lack of mountains, beaches or big-city sizzle. Increasingly in recent years, economic developers also are pushing centrality for call centers, cheaper housing than along the coasts and tax incentives as selling points.

That's all well and good, say some civic leaders. But they contend that the evolution flap is an increasingly troublesome turn-off for scientists recruited by area biotech firms and universities.

Thomas Giarla, former president of JRH Biosciences Inc., now known as SAFC Biosciences, has become a fan of the Kansas City area since moving here from the East Coast. He values the quality of life and intends to stay here.

"But I travel all over the world, and it's tiresome for people to keep asking me what's going on in Kansas," Giarla said. "It's a perception thing. People can't believe we'd go backward and lose our standing in the scientific world."

Keep in mind, Giarla said, that "scientists like to be around other scientists. If the feeling they get is that in this community they can't explore, they can't be curious, maybe they won't come here."

The ability to attract and retain highly skilled and well-educated workers is one key to defining the future shape and dynamism of a regional economy that has lagged behind its neighbors in recent years...

Illinois' governor is hoping to capitalize on the uncertainty over embryonic stem cell research in Missouri by possibly poaching a few top-notch scientists for his state. Gov. Rod Blagojevich recently sent letters to 30 Missouri doctors and scientists, encouraging them to consider opportunities in Illinois, where lawmakers committed public funds to stem cell research at a time lawmakers in Missouri were considering restrictions.

All this has left this region's civic and business leaders a bit skittish and defensive.

"We have some evidence that people are reacting to the state board's evolution debates," said Robert Hemenway, chancellor at the University of Kansas. "People are raising questions whether certain kinds of science can be done successfully in Kansas."...

Compiling convincing economic data to prove that the region is suffering because of state school board decisions or proposed stem cell legislation is hard, at least at this point. But the idea is not far-fetched, said Sheldon Stahl, an economist in Kansas City.

Intense competition to become the next high-tech hot spot shows widespread recognition that future prosperity is brightest for the places attracting the best-educated mathematicians, scientists and engineers, Stahl said.

"If you have a state that mandates the teaching of intelligent design, it could well be that the best educated among them would be turned off by that and choose to live elsewhere," Stahl said.

This is something that other states should keep in mind when flirting with policies that would attempt to weaken science education by bringing in religious alternatives. They are doing a disservice to students and failing to prepare them for a world that demands a solid base of scientific understanding and they're damaging their state's ability to attract the kinds of high tech companies that are vital to our economy at every level. I'll let Hanle have the last word:

Non-scientific viewpoints deserve respect. But to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS, bio-warfare and pandemic diseases, to discover lifesaving cures and life-improving breakthroughs, tomorrow's biologists must be equipped with scientifically based knowledge today.

Nations that value open inquiry and use scientific criteria in education, research and industry will outperform those that do not. If we are to continue to be leaders in the global economy, we must teach science, not religion, in the science classroom.