The following Editorial appears in today's Atlanta Journal Constitution.
OUR OPINION
Stick with evolution
Let public school teachers teach, not preach, and return religious training to parents and clergy
Published on: 01/14/05
On Thursday, a federal judge summoned the courage and conviction to uphold the U.S. Constitution and thwart efforts by creationists to insert their religious beliefs into Georgia's public schools. U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper ordered the immediate removal of evolution disclaimers on high school science books in Cobb County, ruling that the controversial stickers ran afoul of the constitutional divide between church and state.
Placed on science texts two years ago after a petition drive by a Cobb mother who described herself in court as a "six-day biblical creationist," the stickers state: "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."
Six Cobb County parents objected to the stickers and filed a federal lawsuit, charging that the disclaimers restrict the teaching of evolution and use taxpayers' money to promote religion-based concepts of creationism and intelligent design.
In agreeing with those objections, Cooper can expect sputtering hate mail that he has kicked God out of public schools and undermined religious freedom.
What Cooper's actually done is safeguard religious freedom by halting the campaign by creationists to convert public school classrooms into indoctrination chambers.
Parents in Cobb County — whether Methodist, Jewish or Hindu — must be assured that their children are protected from zealots determined to use public school classrooms as pulpits to spread their creed.
The judge can also anticipate long, thoughtful e-mails from pseudo scientists explaining that evolution is only one of many theories on the beginnings of life.
Cooper wisely dispatched that spurious argument early in his 44-page ruling, declaring, "Evolution is the dominant scientific theory regarding the origin of the diversity of life and is accepted by the majority of the scientific community."
In affixing the stickers to textbooks, the Cobb County school board wasn't looking to enhance the science education or critical thinking skills of students. Cornered by a petition with 2,300 signatures, board members were just bowing to public pressure.
But in capitulating, the board endorsed a religious point of view, which violates the First Amendment prohibition on tailoring teaching to any religious sect or dogma.
As Cooper noted, "Regardless of the discussions that actually take place in the Cobb County science classrooms, the sticker has already sent a message that the school board agrees with the beliefs of Christian fundamentalists and creationists."
Cooper's decision does not stop creationists from teaching their own children that human life is the work of a cosmic designer rather than an evolutionary process of natural selection. Home and church, synagogue or mosque are the appropriate places for that kind of education, not the public school classroom.