Posted on 11/07/2004 3:16:34 PM PST by Ahriman
School officials in suburban Cobb County go to court Monday to defend themselves against a lawsuit accusing the district of promoting religion by requiring that science textbooks warn students evolution is "a theory, not a fact."
The trial in U.S. District Court is expected to last four days.
The lawsuit argues that the disclaimer restricts the teaching of evolution, promotes the teaching of creationism and discriminates against particular religions.
County school officials said their warning, in the form of stickers inserted in science books, simply encourages students to keep an open mind.
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."
The lawsuit was filed by six parents and the Georgia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
"I'm a strong advocate for the separation of church and state," said one of the parents, Jeffrey Selman. "I have no problem with anybody's religious beliefs. I just want an adequate educational system."
Quagmire!
E-word brings out the e-mail [Evolution in Georgia schools].
Georgia may shun 'evolution' in schools.
Evolution Challenged in Georgia School Debate.
Georgia Takes on 'Evolution'.
Is it a foregone conclusion in the "scientific community" that life has an origin?
Which religion promulgates the theory of evolution? This is news to me.
HUMANISM
"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."
Oh heavens no....we can't have a text book tell students to have an open mind, study carefully and consider things critically....what do they think this is....a school where people are supposed to be educated instead of indoctrinated?
How dare they tell students to think....sheesh.
There's nothing "Christian" about the textbook requirements, just a refusal to admit the hard scientific fact of natural selection.
None of the world's major religions promulagates the theory of evolution, unless someone has formed a new Christian sect based on the teachings of Teilhard de Chardin.
Science has done a far better job at explaining the origins of life than any religious scriptures. I'm always shaking my head in befuddlement when people who refuse to believe the hard evidence provided by science so unquestionly accept the account of creation in a 3000 year old book for which there is no supporting evidence.
So you will also agree that students should be taught to be equally critical and skeptical of the Biblical account of creation as well, correct?
These things are currently supernatural in that there is no scientific theory that can describe how inanimate chemicals and minerals became alive, or how once alive they increased in complexity to creat new species.
You may choose not to believe that the Bible's God was the creator of us, but you cannot say that evolution did. It requires a different answer not yet known.
I think the students should be given all sides of the issues and let them make up their own mind.
Do you have a problem with that?
There is no right and left in science-only right and wrong.
I keep hearing liberals on the lecture circuit claim that conservatism is based on faith rather than fact. In reality, liberalism is based on faith rather than fact. The atheism of liberals takes far more faith to than Christianity does because the former requires the rejection of a self-evident truth: that the universe, like anything else that has a beginning, cannot be self-caused.
"I have a problem when schools start teaching half-truths instead of truths, and promote fallacies instead of facts."
So do I, that's why I am against them teaching evolution as a fact and not a theory.
Glad to see we are in agreement.
I hear the sound of clicking heels.
Evolution is a fact and a theory supported by the facts.
Agreed, but is it a foregone conclusion that there is an origin to life?
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