Attempts at overthrowing the teaching of evolution gathering steam

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Robert J. Berger" <rberger () ibd com>
Date: November 8, 2004 2:32:35 PM EST
To: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>, Dave Farber 
<dave () farber net>
Subject: Attempts at overthrowing the teaching of evolution gathering 
steam

The Christian Fundamentalists are hard at work at making the US on par 
with
Islamic fundamentalist states. First step, have their religion taught in
schools. Cases in Georgia and Wisconsin are the first points of legal
attack. All they need is get Bush to appoint some more fundamentalist 
judges
and there will may be no stopping them.

-----------

Evolution case opens in Georgia court

By Kristen Wyatt
http://www.salon.com/mwt/wire/2004/11/08/evolution/print.html

Nov. 8, 2004  |  ATLANTA (AP) -- A warning sticker in suburban
Atlanta science textbooks that says evolution is "a theory, not
a fact" was challenged in court Monday as an unlawful promotion
of religion.

The disclaimer was adopted by Cobb County school officials in
2002 after hundreds of parents signed a petition criticizing the
textbooks for treating evolution as fact without discussing
alternate theories, including creationism.

"The religious views of some that contradict science cannot
dictate curriculum," American Civil Liberties Union attorney
Maggie Garrett argued Monday before U.S. District Judge Clarence
Cooper. The trial is expected to last several days.

But a lawyer for Cobb County schools, Linwood Gunn, held up a
copy of a textbook's table of contents Monday that showed dozens
of pages about evolution.

"The sticker doesn't exist independently of the 101 pages about
evolution," Gunn said. "This case is not about a sticker which
has 33 words on it. ... It's about textbooks that say a lot more
than that."

The stickers read: "This textbook contains material on
evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the
origin of living things. This material should be approached with
an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."

One of the parents who filed the lawsuit, Jeffrey Selman, said
the stickers discredit the science of evolution.

"It's like saying everything that follows this sticker isn't
true," he said.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1987 that creationism was a
religious belief that could not be taught in public schools
along with evolution.

Gunn said he expects the warning will hold up in court, saying
it "provides a unique opportunity for critical thinking."

"It doesn't say anything about faith," Gunn said. "It doesn't
say anything about religion."


And:

Wisconsin district to teach more than evolution

http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/11/06/evolution.schools.ap/


GRANTSBURG, Wisconsin (AP) -- School officials have revised the
science curriculum to allow the teaching of creationism,
prompting an outcry from more than 300 educators who urged that
the decision be reversed.

Members of Grantsburg's school board believed that a state law
governing the teaching of evolution was too restrictive. The
science curriculum "should not be totally inclusive of just one
scientific theory," said Joni Burgin, superintendent of the
district of 1,000 students in northwest Wisconsin.

Last month, when the board examined its science curriculum,
language was added calling for "various models/theories" of
origin to be incorporated.

The decision provoked more than 300 biology and religious
studies faculty members to write a letter last week urging the
Grantsburg board to reverse the policy. It follows a letter sent
previously by 43 deans at Wisconsin public universities.

"Insisting that teachers teach alternative theories of origin in
biology classes takes time away from real learning, confuses
some students and is a misuse of limited class time and public
funds," said Don Waller, a botanist at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison.

Wisconsin law mandates that evolution be taught, but school
districts are free to create their own curricular standards,
said Joe Donovan, a spokesman for the state Department of Public
Instruction.

There have been scattered efforts around the nation for other
school boards to adopt similar measures. Last month the Dover
Area School Board in Pennsylvania voted to require the teaching
of alternative theories to evolution, including "intelligent
design" -- the idea that life is too complex to have developed
without a creator.

The state education board in Kansas was heavily criticized in
1999 when it deleted most references to evolution. The decision
was reversed in 2001.

In March, the Ohio Board of Education narrowly approved a lesson
plan that some critics contended opens the door to teaching
creationism.

--
Robert J. Berger - Internet Bandwidth Development, LLC.
Voice: 408-882-4755 eFax: +1-408-490-2868
http://www.ibd.com


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