Blue Lines and Gradients
Church in the Classroom
The Anti-intellectualismBy: Jeff Washington
Introduction
Public schools must appeal to children from all walks of
life.
Public schools are obligated to teach current facts and
theories.
The voucher system is faulty.
Definitions
Fact of Evolution (EV): Organisms changing generation to
generation. This happens.
Theory of EV.: All organisms today can be explained through the
fact of evolution.
Theory of Intelligent Design (ID): Certain features of the
universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent
cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection.
Voucher program: A student in a poor preforming public school
would be allowed to use his tuition (tax money) at a private
institution.
Theory of Evolution
Is just a theory
Is backed up by over one hundred years of studies and
observations.
Has gone through dozens of revisions, resulting in a more
defined and accurate truth.
Intelligent Design
Not even a hypothesis.
Is not backed up by any amount of studies or observations.
Is simply not science because it is not testable but the methods
of science.
Government
The First Amendment (1791):Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof
Government
Lemon Test (court ruling on religion): 1. The government's
action must have a secular legislative purpose; 2. The government's
action must not have the primary effect of either advancing or
inhibiting religion; 3. The government's action must not result in
an "excessive government entanglement" with religion.
ID is a religious movement
"This isn't really, and never has been, a debate about science,"
said the [Biola] conference's prime mover, law professor Phillip
Johnson of the University of California at Berkeley. "It's about
religion."[Jay Grelen, "Witnesses for the Prosecution, World,
11-30-96, (11)26]
Even if. . .
There is virtually no published research supporting ID.
ID is rejected by nearly all experts in the relevant areas of
science.
In no other area of science do the schools teach something with
so little support among scientists.
Warning: Caution
1995 - Alabama - "This textbook discusses evolution, a
controversial theoryNo one was present when life first appeared on
earth. Therefore, any statement about life's origins should be
considered as theory, not fact."
1997 - Texas - BOE proposed replacing all biology textbooks with
new ones that did not mention evolution.
2000 - Oklahoma disclaimer- similar to Alabama's
2001 - Mattoon, IL - school board rejects textbooks because of
evolutionary content (later reversed)
2001 Cobb County, GA: disclaimers in HS biology and middle
school science texts (later deemed unconstitutional)
Short Comings
No concise definition of what is meant by "design.
No consensus on who the "designer is.
No position on when, or how many times, the designer acted.
No position on the age of the Earth
No position on common ancestry. Did evolution occur, with the
designer just inserting complex structures and pathways?
The Voucher System
Students in poor preforming schools would be allowed to take
their tuition to a private school, including religiously active
schools.
Paying for indoctrination.
FIX IT!
Educate yourself and others.
Join a pro-separation group.
Contribute to the pro-separation movement.
Attend School Board meetings.
Write to legislators, everywhere!
Sources
www.discovery.org/
www.au.org/
www.wikipedia.org
