Europe’s human rights body is considering declaring the teaching of creationism as science a potential threat to human rights (Reuters). The parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, responsible for the European Convention on Human Rights, will next week vote on a resolution entitled The dangers of creationism in education. This calls on member states to “oppose firmly any attempts at teaching creationism as a scientific discipline”.

“The aim of this report is not to question or to fight a belief. It is not a matter of opposing belief and science, but it is necessary to prevent belief from opposing science,” assembly member Anne Brasseur told Reuters.

The resolution, which if accepted would not be binding on council members, states

If we are not careful, creationism could become a threat to human rights which are a key concern of the Council of Europe. … The war on the theory of evolution and on its proponents most often originates in forms of religious extremism which are closely allied to extreme right-wing political movements. The creationist movements possess real political power. The fact of the matter, and this has been exposed on several occasions, is that some advocates of strict creationism are out to replace democracy by theocracy.

Although creationism and intelligent design are not as prevalent in Europe as they are in the United States there have been controversial cases (eg The Guardian). A previous version of the report drew some criticism from ID proponents but the usual suspects on both sides seem strangely silent this time. Tune in next week for the fireworks…