The first Washington Post editorial today was about the candidates and Darwin.

I am appalled to find that a majority of the people don't believe in evolution. I heard a kid say: "I'm a Catholic, I can't believe in evolution." (Galileo is revolving in his grave: "and yet it moves.") Elizabeth Dole certainly danced around the subject, trying not to offend anyone.

God chose to reveal Himself to His people, who happened to be a nomadic group of sheepherders. Therefore, of course, He told them all about genes, DNA, survival of the fittest, ecological niches, etc. He described the incredible diversity of the world to them, and working from their vast knowledge of organic chemistry and biology, laid out His plan.

Yeah, right. God knew His audience. After all, He had created them. So he told them a story, a true story, about creation. The truth is in the main focus of the story, that God had created people and that we are important to him. The details are the trimmings, the part that makes the truth understandable.

We tell children about the boy who cried wolf. The truth of the story is that one should only cry for help when it's necessary. Did it ever actually happen? Who knows? Aesop told about a fox and sour grapes, but no one thinks there was an actual talking fox. He talked about a dog in the manger and we learn about greed. Was there really a race between a tortoise and a hare?

Do people who believe that creation took 6 days not tell their children stories? Do the children learn about Goldilocks, that it's a Bad Idea to just go into a stranger's house? Do the kids learn about the Three Little Pigs? Were there ever pigs who built houses of different materials? The truth is that brick is a better building material than straw.

They, the literalists, will say, "but it's the Bible, it's the word of God." OK, do they refrain, for instance, from eating shrimp or lobster? Do they follow all the dietary and ritual laws in Leviticus and Deuteronomy? Or is the extent of their Old Testament knowledge the creation stories (which contradict each other in the first two chapters of Genesis) and the Flood?

Jesus told stories, too, to illustrate truths. Apparently the Apostles were smarter than the Kansas Board of Education.

God's existence doesn't depend on keeping our children ignorant. In fact, one of the things Moses was told after the Passover was to make sure the children were informed, that they knew how to read. Kids should learn about evolution, and then they could be really impressed with God's versatility. I cannot believe He is pleased with a Board of Education that's so afraid of open minds that they disallow any opposing information. In Kansas, they are building their kids' houses of straw.