Sometimes misspoke can be a problem.
Small wheel turning by the fire and rod,
Big wheel turning by the grace of God,
Every time that wheel turn round, Bound to cover just a little more ground. Burma Shave
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.
Narrow minds are prone to react like that.
heh heh heh...
hah hah hah...
>a-hem<
BWAAAAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
YUP!
I hardly have a narrow mind...I just find that when people let their guard down, often they say what they are really thinking, rather than what they wish for us to believe they were thinking...so they cover it up, by saying they 'misspoke'....sounds a lot nicer than saying that they lied...its an easy out...
One of his statements is no longer operative, it seems.
So there are several newspaper accounts, quite a few personal memories, and at least one video clip to indicate that this school board member used to openly advocate putting creationism into the curriculum. But that doesn't mean it's true if it's convenient for him to deny it now.
Sometimes misspoke can be a problem.
Small wheel turning by the fire and rod,
Big wheel turning by the grace of God,
Every time that wheel turn round, Bound to cover just a little more ground. Burma Shave
Just so you know I am not intentionally avoiding this thread, I would like to add a comment.
This particular board member is obviously not being honest here. I suspect he really does want creation taught in the schools.
Fortunately, while he may want creation taught, this case is simply about whether a statement about potential slternatives to evolution can be mentioned.
What this guy might want would not be acceptable, but the statement of the board is.
Intelligent Design: Creationism repackaged for the Oprah generation!
["Whatever you do, don't mention the war!"]
"I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it all right." <?:^)
Looks like just another creationist liar to me. I thought Christians weren't supposed to bear false witness? It is a sin and all.
So that homeschoolers can teach the next generation bogus mythology like ID? I'd love to jerk the chain of the leftist public school weenies, but evolution is one of the few things they teach where they're right, and many "conservatives" are flat wrong.
Examples:
Just what we need, another misspeaking Creationist troll!
Doesn't the bible tell you you shouldn't misspeak?
If Creationists didn't misspeak, they'd never speak at all.
I'm with it.
Nicely done.
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