Once again the fight over evolution being taught in schools is in the news. This time it's because somebody had the audacity to suggest two things. 1) That the theory of evolution is exactly that, a theory and not an established fact. 2) That there might possibly be an alternative explanation that involves an intelligent designer. I believe that it's really pretty obvious that the main reason for the lawsuit is that those who sued do not want to allow any possible acknowledgement that God is the intelligent designer who is responsible for the origin of life.
All in all, it's just another step in the concerted effort to remove God from as many aspects of life as possible. How long before these people or others like them start bringing lawsuits demanding that neighborhood churches be closed down because there is regular mention of God and His teachings???
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Ga. Evolution Stickers Ordered Removed
Jan 13, 2:16 PM (ET)
By DOUG GROSS
ATLANTA (AP) - A federal judge Thursday ordered a suburban Atlanta school system to remove stickers from its high school biology textbooks that call evolution "a theory, not a fact," saying the disclaimers are an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.
"By denigrating evolution, the school board appears to be endorsing the well-known prevailing alternative theory, creationism or variations thereof, even though the sticker does not specifically reference any alternative theories," U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper said.
The stickers were put inside the books' front covers by public school officials in Cobb County in 2002. They 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."
"This is a great day for Cobb County students," said Michael Manely, an attorney for the parents who sued over the stickers. "They're going to be permitted to learn science unadulterated by religious dogma."
Doug Goodwin, a spokesman for Cobb County schools, had no immediate comment.
The stickers were added after more than 2,000 parents complained that the textbooks presented evolution as fact, without mentioning rival ideas about the beginnings of life, such as the biblical story of creation.
Full Article:
http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20050113/D87JCI3G0.html?PG=home&SEC=news
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Something occurred to me after writing that intro and re-reading the article in question. Freedom of religion is something that is supposed to be really important to us Americans, but more and more it seems that it only applies if you are a Sunday Christian (those who are God fearing Christians on Sunday when they make an obligatory trip to church and are just like everyone else the rest of the week.), People who consider themselves Christian because they were born into a Christian family, People that say they're Christian because they don't believe in "those other" religions, and of course, people who say that they are Christians simply because they're "basically honest" and try to be good to others.
These people, along with Islam, Buddism, Taoism, Voodoo, Shinto, Etc (the list is nearly endless.) are accorded the right to enforced 'fair treatment' and 'the right to worship as they see fit and practice their religious beliefs'.
If however you are an actual "Born again", "The Bible is God's word", "Jesus is coming back soon", type of Christian. Then things are different. THEN if you take time to pray you could find yourself in court fighting for the right to do so. If you attempt to obey the teachings and orders of Jesus by spreading the Gospel and telling people about Jesus you may again find yourself in court fighting for the right to do what these others get handed to them on a platter.
In short. "Freedom of Religion" applies less and less to genuine Christians. This means that if Christians don't stand up and fight for their rights, those rights will dissappear fast.
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Once again we've an example of 'Big Brother' watching our every move. This trend is growing in everything from assorted government agencies keeping tabs on people in the name of security and 'the fight against terrorism', to spyware infecting our computers and relaying information about what web sites we visit, who we send email to, who we get email from, the content of those emails and a whole lot more besides.
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FBI Keeping Records on Pre-9/11 Travelers
Jan 14, 7:45 PM (ET)
By LESLIE MILLER
WASHINGTON (AP) - If you're among the millions of Americans who took airline flights in the months before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the FBI probably knows about it - and possibly where you stayed, whom you traveled with, what credit card you used and even whether you ordered a kosher meal.
The bureau is keeping 257.5 million records on people who flew on commercial airlines from June through September 2001 in its permanent investigative database, according to information obtained by a privacy group and made available to The Associated Press.
Full Article:
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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050115/D87K6FAG3.html
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If the last item made you wonder, then this one should get you very interested in learning exactly what the insides of and connections to your computer are *supposed* to look like. Maybe then you might be able to spot something that doesn't belong.
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* Can the FBI Monitor Your Web Browsing Without a Warrant?
EFF Demands Answers from DOJ about PATRIOT Act Surveillance
Washington, DC - Today the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the FBI and other offices of the US Department of Justice, seeking the release of documents that would reveal whether the government has been using the USA PATRIOT Act to spy on Internet users' reading habits without a search warrant.
At issue is PATRIOT Section 216, which expanded the government's authority to conduct surveillance in criminal investigations using pen registers or trap and trace devices ("pen-traps"). Pen-traps collect information about the numbers dialed on a telephone but do not record the actual content of phone conversations. Because of this limitation, court orders authorizing pen-trap surveillance are easy to get - instead of having to show probable cause, the government need only certify relevance to its investigation. Also, the government never has to inform people that they are or were the subjects of pen-trap surveillance.
Full Article:
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_01.php#002213
Relevant Freedom of Information Act Request:
http://www.eff.org/cgi/tiny?urlID=378
