Dear Sir/Madam,

Reading the article, “Ohio Strengthens Teaching of Evolution” (December 12, 2002), I wondered how many pupils are ever prompted to ask and are given time enough to ponder upon for themselves the fundamental questions for which the theory of evolution provides the most rational and satisfactory answers.

While those who look to the authority of the Bible do little justice to the large brain that God (or evolution) gave them, most who believe the theory of evolution also do so as a matter of faith rather than because they understand it (I’m buggered if I do completely, and I’ve studied biology at university!) Many do not even know the questions that evolution theory attempts to answer, but believe it because that is what is expected of them, just as in the past everyone was expected to believe literally the story of Adam and Eve.