Actually, now there is quite a bit of preaching of religions going on. There are a lot of people who don't think that the Islamic faith is ok because of extremism. The same can be said about Christianity as well. I think the reason that it appears to be taboo is that, whether we like it or not, we are a Christian nation that tries to make many contradictory laws/ideals. For example, the Declaration of Independence says that "All men are created equal" and that there are "three inalienable rights: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." Then we go and keep homosexuals from being able to legally commit to one singular person because "the bible says it's wrong."
As far as the science and creationism debates in the classroom, as a fellow educator, I'm not sure creationism falls under the category of science. If we had a definable way to show that there IS a higher being (I believe there is, but belief and scientific fact aren't the same), then it will hit the science curriculum, as it should at that point. As it stands today, most people just want to keep religious studies, which as it is today in my eyes, and the creationism theory out of scientific fact. As for saying that by not teaching it in the science department, then we get into the argument that if we let untestable theories into science classrooms, how far is too far? For example, say we let creationism into the science classroom, then you have a Scientologist family move into the neighborhood. Their belief that an alien named Xagnu put alien souls on earth is also an untestable theory. There's no definite way to prove that their theory is either correct or incorrect. But would that theory be any less welcome in the science classroom than creationism in your eyes? I know the "slippery slope" argument; that's what this is saying, but should untestable theories such as these two be more fitting in a theology classroom, or science classroom?
