Intelligent Design Should Stay in Church

President Bush’s recent encouragement of teaching “intelligent design” in the public schools, follows efforts by the Kansas Board of Education to impose intelligent design in the public schools.

These efforts by religious forces have a long string of Supreme Court cases against them, under the concept of separation of church and state.

Any state government’s imposition of creationism in the public schools will have to face the precedent court cases, which would ultimately strike down any attempt to teach creationism in the schools.

The current push by religious conservatives is to require creationism to be taught side by side with evolution.

In 1987, in Edwards V. Aguillard, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the state of Louisiana was in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment (separation of church and state) by requiring schools to teach creationism side by side with evolution. The Supreme Court further stated that that State’s act to require creationism be taught if evolution is taught was promoting religion and was in violation of the First Amendment.

The First Amendment state’s: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” which the Supreme Court has decided in numerous cases means that government, supported by tax payer dollars, cannot espouse religion in government entities, the schools of which are a part of the government.

In 1960, in Epperson v. Arkansas, the Supreme Court for the first time ruled on the evolution issue, in favor of allowing evolution to be taught, saying that to deny it was in support of espousing religion, which was in violation of the constitution.

But the most influential court case dealing with evolution, which set the precedent for future court cases, is the Lemon v. Kurtzman. The Lemon test forces judges, among other criteria, to make sure that laws of states cannot advance religion, which the modern “intelligent design” clearly does.

So, while there is a current resurrection of creationism in “intelligent design” – this wave of religion’s attempt to impose religious belief be taught in public schools will not stand up to the Supreme Court’s final say on the matter.

If Kansas decides to impose intelligent design in its public schools, which I hope it does not for the sake of separation of church and state, then this would be setting a dangerous example.

Let’s hope it doesn’t decide that. But if it does, then hopefully the Supreme Court would interject reason by striking down any imposed creationism in the public schools.