November 09, 2004
Sticker Shock (as seen from across the pond)
The Guardian weighs in on the battle over whether Bible-based creation theory belongs in secular science classes in Atlanta, Georgia:
A suburban American school board found itself in court yesterday after it tried to placate Christian fundamentalist parents by placing a sticker on its science textbooks saying evolution was "a theory, not a fact".Atlanta's Cobb County school board, the second largest board in Georgia, added the sticker two years ago after a 2,300 strong petition attacked the presentation of "Darwinism unchallenged". Some parents wanted creationism - the theory that God created humans according to the Bible version - to be taught alongside evolution.
[...]
The controversy began when the school board's textbook selection committee ordered $8m (£4.3m) worth of the science books in March 2002. Marjorie Rogers, a parent who does not believe in evolution, protested and petitioned the board to add a sticker and an insert setting out other explanations for the origins of life.
"It is unconstitutional to teach only evolution," she said. "The school board must allow the teaching of both theories of origin."
Her efforts galvanised the fundamentalist community.
"God created earth and man in his image," another parent, Patricia Fuller, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Leave this garbage out of the textbooks. I don't want anybody taking care of me in a nursing home some day to think I came from a monkey."
Wendi Hill, one of the parents who signed the petition, said: "We believe the Bible is correct in that God created man. I don't expect the public school system to teach only creationism, but I think it should be given its fair share."
[Emphasis added to, alternately, give us reality-based monkeykin something to snicker over, or send us into a fugue state of depression. Also, make a mental note to avoid discussing science in nursing homes in Georgia.]
posted by sangwyn at November 9, 2004 12:12 PM
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