Penna. School drops creationist program after AU complaint. (People & Events).A rural school district in western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania consists of the western third of the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. Pittsburgh is the largest city in the region, with a metropolitan area of about 2.4 million people, and is the cultural center for Western Pennsylvania. has cancelled a planned presentation by a creationist after a warning from Americans United for Separation of Church and State Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Americans United or AU for short) is a religious freedom advocacy group in the United States which promotes the separation of church and state, a legal doctrine seen by the AU as being enshrined in the Establishment . The West Greene School Board in Greene County Greene County is the name of fourteen counties in the United States of America, each named in honor of American Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene:
"Courts have consistently held that creation science cannot be taught in public schools," wrote Ayesha Khan, AU legal director, in a Feb. 1 letter to the board. Khan's letter cited case law and noted that the proposed presentation was clearly unconstitutional unconstitutional adj. referring to a statute, governmental conduct, court decision or private contract (such as a covenant which purports to limit transfer of real property only to Caucasians) which violate one or more provisions of the U. S. Constitution. . The board deliberated the matter for more than hour before voting 6-3 to cancel the program. A large crowd of local residents turned out for the meeting, and the Washington, Pa., Observer-Reporter noted that sentiment seemed "decidedly mixed." "I've been to [Grohman's] website," resident Glenn Ruse told the board. "He's a little too radical for me. I think this guy has his own itinerary, which is to build up a congregation for the Baptist church." The board's attorney, Barbara Rizzo, told members that a lawsuit would delay the seminar and could be costly. Board members concluded that it would be irresponsible for the district, which is in the red financially, to spend money on a lawsuit. "This has been a tough night and tough decision," said board member Debbie Crouse. "Sometimes we have to set aside our personal views, I guess. And it's with a heavy heart that I make this decision, but I don't want to put the school district in the position to fight a lawsuit." The board left open the possibility that Grohman could speak to students after hours Adv. 1. after hours - not during regular hours; "he often worked after hours" or at some other venue. In other news about creationism: * The Ohio State School Board held a special session March 11 to hear presentations about integrating "intelligent design" into state science standards. The event drew over 1,000 observers and took place at a large auditorium in Columbus. The board made no decisions but held the hearing to gather information. During the two-hour session, they listened to both advocates and opponents of intelligent design. Intelligent design is a modified form of creationism that some Religious Right groups are aggressively promoting. Unlike traditional creationism, advocates of intelligent design acknowledge that the Earth is ancient and concede that some forms of evolution have occurred. But they insist that humans are so complex that a designer (presumably pre·sum·a·ble adj. That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. God) must have had a hand in creation. Critics say advocates of intelligent design are trying to water down the teaching of evolution in public schools because it offends their religious beliefs and assert there is no scientific evidence backing the idea. "They're not part of science," Dr. Lawrence Krauss, chairman of the Physics Department at Case Western Reserve University, told the board. "What they're attacking is not Darwinism but science." |
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