"Adopted by the school board, funded by the money of taxpayers, and inserted by school personnel, the sticker conveys an impermissible message of endorsement and tells some citizens that they are political outsiders while telling others they are political insiders," U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper said in his 44-page ruling.
The stickers in question said,
The stickers read, "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."
In high school I was far more active in the church than I currently am. I went to high school in Wichita, Kansas when evolution was still taught. In biology class there was still mention of creationism (now called intellectual design) to appease the parents who wanted us to hear that there were alternate views. I remember that it just made most of us who chose to take a higher level science course feel like we were really being sold short intellectually. Everyone knows creationism -- it's a simple idea. That idea takes a few minutes to explain to anyone. Whereas evolution is a fascinating thing. Whether or not everything in it has been determined fact or not, just like the theory of relativity, is part of what learning science, doing experiments, and channeling your understanding and intelligence is about.
I think it is really undercuts religion, it certainly embarrassed me as a Christian, when a science teacher is forced to pretend that evolution and creationism have comparable objectives. Both can exist as theories and beliefs but only one deserves to be in a science class.
