um...
thanks for putting that damnable whining ballad in my head.
Trial transcript: plaintiffs' opening statement. Excerpt:
Eighteen years ago, the United States Supreme Court, in Edwards versus Aguillard, held that public schools could not teach students creation science because that proposition's core concept of a supernatural creator is religious, not scientific, and therefore violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Court recognized that the teaching of creation science was motivated by a religious and cultural agenda, not the improvement of scientific education.What we will prove at this trial is that the Dover board policy has the same characteristics and the same constitutional defects as the creation science policy struck down in Edwards. You will hear testimony from members of the Dover community, these parents, teachers, administrators, and board members, about how this change to the curriculum came to be.
Board members announced their interest in the topic of evolution in starkly religious terms. They looked for a book that could provide a religious alternative to evolution, and they found one in Of Pandas and People.
They changed the science curriculum to advance a specific religious viewpoint, and in doing so, they ignored accepted scientific knowledge, failed to avail themselves of the advice of established scientific organizations, and ignored their own science teachers who opposed the change to the science curriculum.
They did everything you would do if you wanted to incorporate a religious topic in science class and cared nothing about its scientific validity. And we will show that the members of the school board that passed this policy expressed their desire to teach creationism over and over and over again. That's their word, "creationism."
Transcript: Defendants' opening statement. Excerpt:
Now, there's no question, Your Honor, that this final result was worked out through a contentious policy-making process that has led some to liken making legislation to making sausage, a process that involved, at times, heated argument by members of the public, members of the board, false charges and intemperate remarks. But the evidence will show that the consistent goal of the board, as a whole, was to pursue what they believed to be a legitimate educational purpose and to comply with the law.Alan Bonsell is a perfect example. He came to the board without any background in education of the law, just a sincere desire to serve his fellow citizens. By virtue of his personal reading, he was aware of intelligent design theory and that 300 or so scientists had signed a statement indicating that biologists were exaggerating claims for the theory.
He had read about the famous Piltdown man hoax. He had an interest in creationism. He wondered whether it could be discussed in the classroom. Those questions are not evidence of unconstitutional conduct, Your Honor. They were quite legitimate.
It was either an Earworm or a Gravid Earwig.