Posted on 10/27/2005 1:41:22 PM PDT by Right Wing Professor
HARRISBURG, Pa. - A former school board member who denied advocating that creationism be taught alongside evolution in high-school biology classes changed his story Thursday after lawyers in a federal courtroom played a TV news clip that recorded him making such a comment.
William Buckingham explained the discrepancy by saying that he "misspoke."
Buckingham's testimony came in the fifth week of testimony in a lawsuit filed by eight families who are challenging the Dover Area School District's policy that students hear a statement about intelligent design in biology classes. Critics say intelligent design is a repackaging of the biblical view of creation and thus violates the constitutional separation of church and state.
Buckingham, who led the board's curriculum committee when it approved the policy a year ago, confirmed Thursday that he said during a June 2004 board meeting that the biology textbook is "laced with Darwinism." The clip that was shown later in the day came from an interview that he gave to a news crew from WPMT-TV in York later in the month.
"It's OK to teach Darwin," he said in the interview, "but you have to balance it with something else, such as creationism."
Asked to explain by a lawyer for the plaintiffs, Buckingham said he felt "ambushed" by the camera crew as he walked across a parking lot to his car and that he had been consciously trying to avoid mentioning creationism.
"I had it in my mind to make sure not to talk about creationism. I had it on my mind. I was like a deer in the headlights. I misspoke," he told U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III, who is presiding over the non-jury trial.
Earlier in Thursday's court session, Buckingham claimed that he had been misquoted in stories from two newspapers that reported his advocating the teaching of creationism to counterbalance the material on evolution.
"It's just another instance when we would say intelligent design and they would print creationism," he said.
When Stephen Harvey, the plaintiffs' lawyer, noted the similarity of the newspaper reports to what he told the TV crew, Buckingham replied, "That doesn't mean it's accurate."
Buckingham moved to North Carolina in July and resigned from the board, citing health problems.
The statement that the Dover teachers are required to read before ninth-grade biology lessons on evolution says Darwin's theory is not a fact and has inexplicable gaps. It refers students to a textbook, "Of Pandas and People," for more information.
Intelligent design supporters argue that natural selection, an element of evolutionary theory, cannot fully explain the origin of life or the emergence of highly complex life forms.
The trial began Sept. 26 and could last through early November.
The plaintiffs are represented by a team put together by the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The school district is being represented by the Thomas More Law Center, a public-interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich., that says its mission is to defend the religious freedom of Christians.
I would strongly discourage her if I were you.
I don't think intentionally tried to mislead anyone about the current statements or recent actions the school board took in order to eliminate biases in favor of ID.
Whatever position one might take on the evolution v. ID debate, I think the dover school boarde has made an honest effort to be very fair to the evolution side while also pointing out that there are some who take an ID position.
In fact, I think the school board has gone much farther than required.
Because of the changes made in the policy, the statement of the school board, and the additions to the library, no one should be surprised if the defendants prevail in this case.
I can't think of any real issue raised by the plaintiffs that the school board has not fairly addressed the plaintiffs concerns.
The school board did not take the action of revising the statement and has not approved it. The school board is responsible for the introduction of ID in the first place.
And frankly, as far as the statement being amended to say "other resources" implying some donated anti-ID books as well as Pandas and People, the kids had better hurry up and read those anti-ID books before the janitor gets offended and burns THEM.
No, but the Government Schools have become enormously political and the NEA which generally runs the Goverment Schools is a leftwing organization that uses the Government Schools to promote their liberal viewpoints.
Using the Government Schools to undermine parents and to indoctrinate progressive social agendas has led many people who have the strength to stand upon their convictions to send their children elsewhere or to choose homeschooling.
Those who understand this use of the Government Schools for below average education and for liberal indoctrination do remove their children from it, but they are still having to subsidize it.
I went to private schools and I came out the better for it.
Private schools are superior (everyone knows this) and that is why so many people who have the means to pay for private schooling for their children along with the Government school they are forced to pay for, choose Private schools.
Government schools are very similar to Hillary Clinton's 'we'll choose for you' health care monstrosity.
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