The Politik of Tork

Intelligent Design?

Huh? Does that mean aliens made us? Oh wait! That's right it refers to some kind of "higher" power. I guess that means god then. Sounds like Creationism to me, and luckily a federal judge agreed. You can find the full article on MSNBC. Here is a brief snippet from the article.

U.S. District Judge John E. Jones delivered a stinging attack on the Dover Area School Board, saying its first-in-the-nation decision in October 2004 to insert intelligent design into the science curriculum violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

Don't get me wrong, I believe religion has it's place if that's your thing. A public school funded by the government is not one of those places.

Here's a little something that irritates me. The original school board that put forth this new curriculum had said that it was for secular reasons and not religious. They wanted to students to realize that the Theory of Evolution has holes in it. Obviously that was a blatant lie given this:

Former school board member William Buckingham, who advanced the policy, said from his new home in Mount Airy, N.C., that he still feels the board did the right thing.

"I'm still waiting for a judge or anyone to show me anywhere in the Constitution where there's a separation of church and state, he said. We didn't lose; we were robbed."

First off Mr. Buckingham, I need to tell you I am really glad you weren't on any schoolboard associated with any school where I live. I really prefer people who have even a small amount of intelligence deciding what kids should be taught. As I am sure anyone who has had any kind of high school social studies class can tell you, what follows is where exactly in the Constitutiseparationeration of church and state is laid out.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

If you still can't figure it out, it's the first amendmant to the Constitution. It's part of the Bill of Rights.

Some of the earliest colonists and therefore some of the founders of the United States were themselves targets of religious prosecution in the countries they were originally from because they worshipped and believed differently than the dominant religion. That's why the amendmant is there. By the government embracing no religion, it embraces all religions and beliefs by allowing us to freely practice what we want.

Mr. Buckingham, this is a democracy, not a theocracy. If you want a theocracy, why don you try moving to Iran. I even gave you a link to help you on your way out of the country.

One thing of note! Judge Jones is a Republican and a church goer. Just had to put that out there. Every once and a while you find a good one.

posted by Matt @ 3:09 PM