P56; 6:98-100 (Eveland).In partnership with family and community to educate students, we emphasize sound, basic skills and nurture the diverse needs of our students as they strive to become lifelong learners and contributing members of our global society. What a slap in the face to many of the parents and taxpayers of the Dover area. How sad that a member of our own school board would be so closed-minded and not want to carry on the mission of Dover schools. His ignorance will not only hold back children attending Dover area schools, but also reinforce other communities' views that Dover is a backwards, close-minded community. If it was simply a matter of selecting a text that gives two contradicting scientific theories equal time, that would be an entirely different matter, but it's not. Creationism is religion, plain and simple. Mr. Buckingham's comments offend me, not because they are religious in nature, but because it is my duty to teach my children about religion as I see fit, not the Dover Area School District during a biology class.
6:104-105 (Eveland).This letter is in regard to the comments made by Beth Eveland from York Township in the June 20 York Sunday News. I assure you that the Dover Area School Board is not going against its mission statement. In fact, if you read the statement, it says to educate our students so that they can be contributing members of society. I do not believe in teaching revisionist history. Our country was founded on Christian beliefs and principles. We are not looking for a book that is teaching students that this is a wrong thing or a right thing. It is just a fact. All we are trying to accomplish with this task is to choose a biology book that teaches the most prevalent theories.
The definition of `theory' is merely a speculative or an ideal circumstance. To present only one theory or to give one option would be directly contradicting our mission statement. You can teach creationism without it being Christianity. It can be presented as a higher power. That is where another part of Dover's mission statement comes into play. That part would be in partnership with family and community. You as a parent can teach your child your family's ideology.
P70 (emphasis added).Today, I talked to Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel for the Thomas More Law Center. . . . They refer to the creationism issue as "intelligent design". . . . They have background knowledge and have talked to school boards in West Virginia and Michigan about possible litigation. However, nothing has come about in either state. This suggests to me that no one is adopting the textbook because, if they were, one can safely assume there would have been a legal challenge by someone somewhere. . . . I know that we have given an opinion on this matter on more than one occasion. I guess my main concern at the moment, is that even if use of the text is purely voluntary, this may still make it very difficult to win a case. I say this because one of the common themes in some of the US Supreme Court decision, especially dealing with silent meditation, is that even though something is voluntary, it still causes a problem because the practice, whatever it may be, was initiated for religious reasons. One of the best examples comes out of the silent meditation cases in Alabama which the court struck down because the record showed that the statute in question was enacted for religious reasons. My concern for Dover is that in the last several years there has been a lot of discussion, news print, etc. for putting religion back in the schools. In my mind this would add weight to a lawsuit seeking to enjoin whatever the practice might be.
The board resolution also called for this subject to be covered in lecture format with Of Pandas and People as a reference book. 7:89-90 (C. Brown); P88; P209 at 1646; P84C.Students will be made aware of gaps/problems in Darwin's theory and of other theories of evolution including, but not limited to, intelligent design. Note: Origins of Life is not taught.
P680; 7:92-93 (C. Brown).There has been a slow but steady marginalization of some board members. Our opinions are no longer valued or listened to. Our contributions have been minimized or not acknowledged at all. A measure of that is the fact that I myself have been twice asked within the past year if I was `born again.' No one has, nor should have the right, to ask that of a fellow board member. An individual's religious beliefs should have no impact on his or her ability to serve as a school board director, nor should a person's beliefs be used as a yardstick to measure the value of that service. However, it has become increasingly evident that is the direction the board has now chosen to go, holding a certain religious belief is of paramount importance.
P810; 30:126-30 (Bernhard-Bubb); 4:11-12 (B. Callahan).I was referred to as unpatriotic, and my religious beliefs were questioned. I served in the U.S. Army for 11 years and six years on this board. Seventeen years of my life have been devoted to public service, and my religion is personal. It's between me, God, and my pastor.
P124.The state standards require students to learn about Darwin's Theory of Evolution and to eventually take a standardized test of which evolution is a part. Because Darwin's Theory is a theory, it is still being tested as new evidence is discovered. The Theory is not a fact. Gaps in the Theory exist for which there is no evidence. A theory is defined as a well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations. Intelligent design is an explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin's view. The reference book, Of Pandas and People, is available for students to see if they would like to explore this view in an effort to gain an understanding of what intelligent design actually involves. As is true with any theory, students are encouraged to keep an open mind. The school leaves the discussion of the Origins of Life up to individual students and their families. As a standards-driven district, class instruction focuses on the standards and preparing students to be successful on standards-based assessments.
15:100-101.Well, you know, as a parent, you want to be proactive in your child's education. I mean, obviously I'm not an educator. I have no big degrees. I want to be proactive, but I depend on the school district to provide the fundamentals. And I consider evolution to be a fundamental of science. And I'm quite concerned about a cautionary statement. I am quite concerned about this intelligent design idea. I do think it's confusing. I don't think it adds to his education. And at the end of the day, I mean, in my mind, intelligent designer, I mean, the word `designer' is a synonym for Creator, and, you know, that takes a leap of faith for me, you know. And I think it's my privilege to guide them in matters of faith, not a science teacher, not an administrator, and not the Dover Area School Board.
6:38-39.Late in `04 my daughter came home from school, and I was discussing kind of what was going on in the district with her. And she looked at me and said, Well, Mom, evolution is a lie, what kind of Christian are you, anyway, which I found to be very upsetting. I asked her why she said that, and she said in school what they had been talking about or amongst her friends and what's going on. She seemed to be under the impression that as a Christian, she could not believe that evolution was a science that, you know, was true. Well, it goes against my beliefs. I have no problems with my faith and evolution. They're not mutually exclusive."
17:146-147."Well, it's driven a wedge where there hasn't been a wedge before. People are afraid to talk to people for fear, and that's happened to me. They're afraid to talk to me because I'm on the wrong side of the fence."
8:115-116.We've been called atheists, which we're not. I don't think that matters to the Court, but we're not. We're said to be intolerant of other views. Well, what am I supposed to tolerate? A small encroachment on my First Amendment rights? Well, I'm not going to. I think this is clear what these people have done. And it outrages me.
Respectfully submitted, /s/ Eric Rothschild Eric Rothschild (PA 71746) Stephen G. Harvey (PA 58233) Alfred H. Wilcox (PA 12661) Christopher J. Lowe (PA 90190) Stacey I. Gregory (PA 90290) Pepper Hamilton LLP 3000 Two Logan Square 18th & Arch Streets Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 981-[removed] rothschilde@[removed] harveys@[removed] wilcoxa@[removed] lowec@[removed] gregorys@[removed] Thomas B. Schmidt, III (PA 19196) Pepper Hamilton LLP 200 One Keystone Plaza North Front and Market Streets P.O. Box 1181 Harrisburg, PA 17108 (717) 255-[removed] schmidtt@[removed] Witold J. Walczak (PA 62976) ACLU of Pennsylvania 313 Atwood Street Pittsburgh, PA 15213 412-681-[removed] vwalczak@[removed] Paula K. Knudsen (PA 87607) ACLU of Pennsylvania 105 N. Front St., Suite 225 Harrisburg, PA 17101 (717) 236-[removed] pknudsen@[removed] Ayesha Khan (adm. phv) Richard B. Katskee (adm. phv) Alex J. Luchenitser (adm. phv) Americans United for Separation of Church and State 518 C St., NE Washington, DC 20002 (202) 466-[removed] akhan@[removed] katskee@[removed] luchenitser@[removed] Attorneys for plaintiffs: TAMMY KITZMILLER; BRYAN AND CHRISTY REHM; DEBORAH FENIMORE AND JOEL LIEB; STEVEN STOUGH; BETH EVELAND; CYNTHIA SNEATH; JULIE SMITH, AND ARALENE ("BARRIE") D. AND FREDERICK B. CALLAHAN Dated: November 23, 2005
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