Posted on 01/13/2005 12:09:01 PM PST by Brilliant
ATLANTA (AP) -- A federal judge Thursday ordered a suburban Atlanta school system to remove stickers from its high school biology textbooks that call evolution ``a theory, not a fact,'' saying the disclaimers are an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.
``By denigrating evolution, the school board appears to be endorsing the well-known prevailing alternative theory, creationism or variations thereof, even though the sticker does not specifically reference any alternative theories,'' U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper said.
The stickers were put inside the books' front covers by public school officials in Cobb County in 2002. They 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.''
``This is a great day for Cobb County students,'' said Michael Manely, an attorney for the parents who sued over the stickers. ``They're going to be permitted to learn science unadulterated by religious dogma.''
Doug Goodwin, a spokesman for Cobb County schools, had no immediate comment.
The stickers were added after more than 2,000 parents complained that the textbooks presented evolution as fact, without mentioning rival ideas about the beginnings of life, such as the biblical story of creation.
Six parents and the American Civil Liberties Union then sued, contending the disclaimers violated the separation of church and state and unfairly singled out evolution from thousands of other scientific theories as suspect.
At a trial in federal court in November, the school system defended the stickers as a show of tolerance, not religious activism.
``Science and religion are related and they're not mutually exclusive,'' school district attorney Linwood Gunn said. ``This sticker was an effort to get past that conflict and to teach good science.''
But the judge disagreed: ``While evolution is subject to criticism, particularly with respect to the mechanism by which it occurred, the sticker misleads students regarding the significance and value of evolution in the scientific community.''
The case is one of several battles waged around the country in recent years over what role evolution should play in the teaching of science.
Last year, Georgia's education chief proposed a science curriculum that dropped the word ``evolution'' in favor of ``changes over time.'' The idea was dropped amid protests from teachers.
A school district in Dover, Pa., has been locked in a dispute over a requirement that science students be told about ``intelligent design'' -- the concept that the universe is so complex it must have been created by some higher power.
Just goes to show you need only the ability to read, not to think...
I was taught the 'theory of evolution' back in my skool days... are they now saying it is no longer a theory, but an established fact?
Homeschool BUMP!
Separation of School and State BUMP!
This is what the government fears most.....
``They're going to be permitted to learn science unadulterated by religious dogma.''
And learn science adulterated by secular humanistic socialist dogma instead
Manely an ACLU member?....
imo
Yes, the founders absolutely endoresed Darwinism and wrote it into the Constitution. They were psychics you see, since Darwin wasn't born until Feb. 12, 1809.
This is insane, everything that isn't their way can't be used, read or taught. Approached open minded my foot....what about them being open minded for a change. I'm getting madder by the day of this garbage
It's been proven scientifically that Darwin's theory of evolution is not factually based. Unbelievable at the hubris displayed by this judge!
No.
I expect toilet paper restrictions on the number of "squares" to be "used" as a future Supreme Court case.
What a twit. That's like saying that just because you say a theory is not provably true, you are endorsing other theories and that is not allowed. If anything is unconstitutional here, it's the judge's order.
Not to mention that 2,000 parents wanted the truth and 6 parents sued to prevent the truth and the 6 win...Judges have way too much power and need to be reined in.
This really is shocking. There must be more to the decision than the quotations. Even if you accept the concept of separation of church and state, that doesn't mean you are required to endorse absolute hostility of state to anything that might ever have anything to do with church. How come tolerance is always a one-way street? If that sticker can't pass muster, something is really whacky.
Minority win again - 2000 parents vs. 6 parents
Cordially,
Hey I don't want to be the contrarion here, but are we getting stupid? If you teach evolution in school, you'll get scholars. If you teach creationism in school you get religious people. Hey, China is creating millions of scholars a years. Pretty soon they will be able to surpass us in technology. Maybe I'm an Idiot, but I'd rather have the USA stay number one than being a pious nation. To hell with God if it means we lose our number one status.
Am I alone in this thinking? that Country supercedes believe?
Yes. We all know you can get something out of nothing. You can get life from non-life. You can get reason from non-reason and consiousness from non-consciousness. Of course you can because something easily comes from nothing. We further know that the absence of transitional fossils is no reason to disbelieve the transitional theory, and that natural selection can have huge and istant bursts of complexity as we see in the details of the cell and DNA. And the fact that many of the icons of evolution that have long been published in our kids texbooks have been proven false is no reason to change the textbooks now. Let's not be rash. Like Rather says, the story is right if not the facts. We should never question the scientists you know. They are never wrong and have never been wrong throughout history. Oh, except for the scientists who question Darwinism. They're nothing but religious fanatics and should be fired.
Let's not let the facts get in the way of public education - indoctrination.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.