http://www2.townonline.com/marblehead/opinion/view.bg?articleid=316117
Letter: Leave separation of church, state intact
Thursday, September 1, 2005
The column by my fellow attorney, Sean Connolly, brought me up short. In my
humble opinion, "Intelligent Design" is an overly cute concept of an avenue
for teaching Creationism in our public schools, while giving lip service to
the constitutional mandate of "separation of church and state."
I am, proudly, a theist. I do believe that there is a Supreme Being
who created the universe and all that it contains. This does not mean that
I give the Bible strict interpretation. I do not believe that the Lord
created this earth in six days nor in less than 6,000 years. I do not
believe, as does Mr. Connolly, that we must decide whether we are descended
from Adam and Eve or are "just highly sophisticated apes"?
I believe that the Lord created this earth millions of years ago, as
science has proved; that he created all the animals on earth, including
man; and that the method of creation was evolution. How can anyone argue
with the facts as discovered by various scientists, in various fields, such
as paleontology, anthropology, geology and their miscellaneous
subspecialties?
Neither I, nor any one else who accepts evolution as a proven fact,
believes that man descended from apes. What evolution tells us is that, at
some time in the distant past (far more then six thousand years ago) man
and apes had a common ancestor. That is why the DNA of man and that of
chimpanzees is 99 percent identical. It's a proven fact that the DNA of a
male human has more in common with the DNA of a male chimp than with that
of a female human, because of the Y chromosome.
"Intelligent Design" is not a science computing with evolution; it is
not a science at all. It is a "belief" held by many who wish to grant the
Bible strict interpretation. "Belief" is "faith," and as such, it is not
provable by the scientific method or by any other method. Thus it is a
"religion," the teaching of which has no place in our public schools.
No one can give you faith. Either you have it or you do not. I cannot
test my faith in the existence of a Supreme Being; that's why it is called
"faith." But I can test my acceptance of the facts of evolution, and the
age of the earth, by demonstrable evidence. No, Mr. Connolly, not all who
believe in the scientific method are secularists. No, Mr. Connolly, you are
not proposing "healthy skepticism" or "critical analysis." No, Mr.
Connolly, not all ideas are entitled to be discussed in our classrooms. No
one will be lecturing our students that the earth is flat, no matter how
fervently he holds such belief. [continue]
Evolution is scientific fact. It does not rule out the existence of a
Supreme Being, who created evolution just as He created the universe and
its contents. Our public schools are in the science business. It is our
religious institutions that are in the Supreme Being business. The
prohibition against mixing the two was but one of the many really great
ideas of our Founding Fathers. Let's leave it that way.
Andrew C. Shultz
************************************************************
http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn&ie=UTF-8&ncl=http://www2.townonline.com/m
arblehead/opinion/view.bg%3Farticleid%3D316117
Your shorter link is: http://makeashorterlink.com/?R5D0249BB
Schneider: 'ID' not a valid alternative to evolution
Marblehead Reporter, MA - 20 hours ago
By Christopher J. Schneider/ Sitting in. In a recent edition of the
Reporter, Attorney Sean Connolly expressed his opinion that "intelligent
http://www2.townonline.com/marblehead/opinion/view.bg?articleid=316232
Letter: Who designed the designer?
Marblehead Reporter, MA - 20 hours ago
In response to Sean Connolly's column, "Intelligent design has place in
schools" (Reporter, Aug. 25). Intelligence Design ...
http://www2.townonline.com/marblehead/opinion/view.bg?articleid=316119
Letter: Leave science to the scientists
Marblehead Reporter, MA - 20 hours ago
I think attorney Sean Connolly should focus his energy on the law and let
scientists decide what is appropriate for science class. ...
http://www2.townonline.com/marblehead/opinion/view.bg?articleid=316107
Letter: Intelligent Design is ‘anti-science'
Marblehead Reporter, MA - 20 hours ago
On the surface, "Intelligent Design" appears to be nothing more than
creationism re-branded. Indeed, Mr. Connolly's piece ...
http://www2.townonline.com/marblehead/opinion/view.bg?articleid=316118
Letter: Leave separation of church, state intact
Marblehead Reporter, MA - 20 hours ago
The column by my fellow attorney, Sean Connolly, brought me up short. In my
humble opinion, "Intelligent Design" is an overly ...
http://www2.townonline.com/marblehead/opinion/view.bg?articleid=316117
***************************************************************
Posting and reading mostly from alt.politics.usa.constitution and
occasionally from alt.education
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members]
***************************************************************
.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************
.
|
