Kansas group files suit claiming evolution is a religion

[doggie]

more persecuted Christians as usual.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-72

First up from the God Machine this week is a look at a curious fight in Kansas, where religio-political conservatives believe science lessons violate the separation of church and state.

A Kansas-based group that “promotes the religious rights of parents, children, and taxpayers†is challenging the state’s science standards because they include the teaching of evolution, which the group claims is a religion and therefore should be excluded from science class.

As the AP reports, Citizens for Objective Public Education (COPE) claims that public schools “promote a ‘non-theistic religious worldview’ by allowing only ‘materialistic’ or ‘atheistic’ explanations to scientific questions.†The group argues that by teaching evolution “the state would be ‘indoctrinating’ impressionable students in violation of the First Amendment.â€

COPE’s challenge [PDF] states that the teaching of evolution “amounts to an excessive government entanglement with religion†and violates the rights of Christian parents.

[docmom]

Gotta love the fundie logic... If you have a baseball game and don't pray before it, it's an atheistic game- even if all the players are themselves religious and free to believe in and pray to whoever they want. If you don't have a prayer before lunch, it's an atheistic lunch (which I will be enjoying in a few hours myself). Because they don't believe the facts of evolution that are around them every day, it is a religion and shouldn't be taught. Poor Kansas school kids.

[AnywhereButHere]

Just the fact that there's a group of people out there who are pretty sure that another group of people will buy this argument means the whole lot of them need to spend more time in school (and not in Kansas, where the curriculum is apparently already lacking...)

But hey, what do I know, having been educated in an evil, secular school and having just enjoyed my atheistic breakfast muffin and all.

[SteampunkLovelace]

Best case scenario, people actually learn something about science while wasting time and money. I doubt this will happen. The learning part, not the wasting time and money part.

[doggie]

It is only a handful of parents. But the sad part is they have already reproduced.

[Marianne]

If evolution is a religion, what can we say about creationisme?!

[Conuly]

Forget evolution, what about math? You put two numbers and they magically become a new number? Can't explain that, can you?

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2011/03/09

[salex]

It is only a handful of parents. But the sad part is they have already reproduced.

Here is there board, with members from Ohio and New mexico. Apparently this line of "reasoning" has been tried in other courts before and not succeeded. I suppose it depends on what kind of nutjob judge they get.

[xReems]

As a Biotechnologist, this causes me to do the following:

:angry-banghead: :pull-hair:

Fundies should stay the fuck out of science. Science doesn't like you assholes anyways.

I plan on filing a suit stating that Creationism is a religion--oh wait, it is.

[Sailing on Europa]

These idiots! How can evolution be a religion if people from many different religions (and those of us with no religion) believe in it?

[1004srs]

I sent my kids to Catholic school when we lived in KS because of this kind of stuff. SO glad we moved.

[Terrie]

Even my fundy-friendly private school insisted we learn the basics of evolution. Though, I suspect part of it is the fundy kids wouldn't sound too stupid when denouncing evolution.

[August]

These idiots! How can evolution be a religion if people from many different religions (and those of us with no religion) believe in it?

Invalid argument - prayer is religious and many different religions believe in it.

The key here is the definition of science, which religion doesn't even come close to vaguely resembling, and which evolution does. If they want some non-scientific science they'd be better off looking in psychology or physics.

(falsifiable, reproducible, that's science).