Teaching of Creationism banned in Sweden

For the most part, Creationism (and its offspring, Intelligent Design) has been a headache for US schools. But now Europe is also experiencing the problem. Earlier this month Council of Europe passed a statement against the teaching of Creationism in science classrooms. Taking practical actions, Sweden has now banned the teaching of Creationism or Intelligent Design alongside evolution. However, religious education will remain in the curriculum:

Religious Education will remain on the curriculum and it will still be allowed to start the school day with prayers. But in classes teachers will be expected to stick to the curriculum.

"End-of-term services in school are great," he said, and added that religious education would remain a school subject. But all elements of religious worship would have to be completely separate from class teaching.

I'm assuming that these religious worship elements are optional and the default is not to have any worship.

Will these steps stem the spread of Creationism? It hasn't completely worked out in the US and we may have to devise a different strategy to address the problem. But banning Creationism from schools is a necessary first step.

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