You'd think they'd be honest enough about religion to just speak directly of their intent
Quote of note:
"It doesn't say anything about faith," Linwood Gunn, a lawyer for the suburban Atlanta school system, testified in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. "It doesn't say anything about religion."
What a weasel-worded avoidance of obvious intent.
Georgia School Board in Court Over Evolution Flap
Mon Nov 8, 2004 05:34 PM ET
By Paul Simao
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Lawyers for a Georgia school district and a group of parents clashed on Monday over the constitutionality of placing stickers that challenge the theory of evolution on textbooks.
Cobb County's school board, which placed the disclaimers on biology books in 2002 at the behest of hundreds of parents, many of them religious conservatives, rejected suggestions it had promoted religion in its classrooms in violation of the constitutional principle of separation of church and state.
The stickers read: "This textbook contains material on evolution. 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."
"It doesn't say anything about faith," Linwood Gunn, a lawyer for the suburban Atlanta school system, testified in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. "It doesn't say anything about religion."
Noting that one of the biology books contained more than 100 pages about evolution, Linwood said the stickers only advised that students keep an open mind on the subject.
The school board is being sued by a group of parents who believe the disclaimers push the teaching of creationism and discriminate against non-Christians and followers of a number of other religions.
