(I'm new to the diary buisness, so i'm sorry if I'm sucking)
[Sorry about the password, subsriber only buisness, I'm including excerpts in extended]
There's been alot of discussion on the DKos main blog, but I didn't see any mention of
this. The Board of Education in Rio Rancho voted to adopt a policy of teaching the so-called theory of "Intelligent Design."
This was despite the vocal disagreement of a large contingency of their Science Department and (my personal favorite) an ordained minister who is a former professor of theology at, that's right, Yale.
The ACLU of NM has
vowed to oppose it.
Check out
http://www.angelfire.com/ok5/pearly/htmls/gop-evolution.html Rio Rancho Public Schools board member Don Schlichte, who proposed the policy, said the issue is not a religious one and that he does not propose the teaching of intelligent design in science classes. He said he only wants teachers to consider that evolution has "gaps."
The daughter of Rio Rancho resident James Gustafson, a former professor of theology and ethics at Yale University and the University of Chicago and an ordained minister of The United Church of Christ, read her father's statement opposing the policy. Gustafson was in the audience but was having throat problems. He accused Schlichte of being disingenuous by claiming the issue is not religious.
"(The issue) is whether a special religious interest should be introduced into public education surreptitiously, by disguising it as an objective, disinterested intellectual inquiry," his statement said. "Lack of candor about intentions borders on deception. Policies that serve the special religious interests of a particular group of Christians have no place in public education."
New Mexico American Civil Liberties Union executive director Peter Simonson sent a letter to Cour on Friday urging the board to reject the policy. The letter states that the policy's primary purpose is to teach intelligent design.
"Make no mistake," Simonson said in the letter. " 'Intelligent Design' is a Trojan Horse for introducing creationism into the public schools."
He went on to say the U.S. Supreme Court has held views that belief in a supernatural creator have no place in public-school science classes.
"The ACLU hopes that the board will see through this subtle attempt to introduce religion into the classroom and instead choose to limit the teaching of science to just that: science," Simonson said.
New Mexico American Civil Liberties Union executive director Peter Simonson said Tuesday his group is willing to go court if the policy leads to the teaching of intelligent design. He called passage of the policy an extremely poor decision.
"In passing this policy, (the board) gave a nod and wink to the teaching of intelligent design in the classroom," he said. "The minute that takes place the ACLU will sue."