Senator Santorum cuts ties to law center after 'intelligent design' defeat

Religions > Atheism > Senator Santorum cuts ties to law center after 'intelligent design' defeat

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Topic:	Religions > Atheism
User:	"stoney"
Date:	22 Dec 2005 07:11:49 PM
Object:	Senator Santorum cuts ties to law center after 'intelligent design' defeat

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051222/UPDATE/512220427
Senator cuts ties to law center after 'intelligent design' defeat
Santorum says Ann Arbor Christian rights group 'made a huge mistake'
in Pennsylvania case
Associated Press /
December 22, 2005
PHILADELPHIA - U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum plans to cut ties with the Ann
Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center, which defended the Dover Area
School District's policy mandating the teaching of intelligent design
in science classes dealing with evolution.
Santorum, R-Pa., earlier praised the district for "attempting to teach
the controversy of evolution."
But Wednesday, a day after a federal judge ruled the district's policy
on intelligent design unconstitutional, he said he was troubled by
testimony indicating religion motivated some board members to adopt
the policy.
"I thought the Thomas More Law Center made a huge mistake in taking
this case and in pushing this case to the extent they did," said
Santorum, a member of the center's advisory board.
The Thomas More Law Center was started by Domino's Pizza founder Tom
Monaghan, a backer of conservative Catholic causes, and says its seeks
to defend the religious rights of Christians.
Messages seeking comment were left by phone and e-mail before business
hours Thursday.
The question quickly became a political issue as the leading
Democratic challenger in Santorum's 2006 re-election battle, state
Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr., accused him of backtracking on
intelligent design.
Casey's spokesman, Larry Smar, said Wednesday that Santorum's
statements were "yet another example of 'Election Year Rick' changing
his positions for political expediency."
U.S. District Judge John E. Jones ruled Tuesday that the district's
policy of requiring students to hear a statement about intelligent
design before ninth-grade evolution lessons was "a pretext ... to
promote religion in the public school classroom."
Intelligent design's proponents hold that living organisms are so
complex they must have been created by a higher force rather than
evolving from more primitive forms.
Santorum said in a 2002 Washington Times op-ed article that
intelligent design "is a legitimate scientific theory that should be
taught in science classes."
But he said he meant that teachers should have freedom to mention
intelligent design as part of the evolution debate _ not be required
to do so _ and said his position hasn't changed.
Santorum said he disagreed with the Dover board's policy of mandating
the teaching of intelligent design, rather than teaching the
controversy surrounding evolution. Because of that, he said the case
provided "a bad set of facts" to test whether theories other than
evolution should be taught in science class.
© 2005 Associated Press
--
Contempt of Congress meter reading-offscale.
Hello, theocracy with a fundamentalist US Supreme
Court who will ensure church and state are joined
at the hip like clergy and altar boys.
America 1776-Jan 2001 RIP
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul
of the people. On some great and glorious day the
plain folks of the land will reach their heart's
desire at last and the White House will be adorned
by a downright moron." --- H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
Religion is the original war crime.
-Michelle Malkin (Feb 26, 2005)
.

User: "Joe Cooper"
Title: Re: Senator Santorum cuts ties to law center after 'intelligent design' defeat	22 Dec 2005 09:21:51 PM