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True enough, Marc... but the separation of church and state has always been
what's kept creationism (mostly) out of public schools. 

I don't know if the U.S. courts have the authority to rule that something
can't be done "because it's bad science". There'd be a lot of other
textbooks they'd be striking down if that were the case!

Jonah Cohen
Outreach & Public Programs Manager
Science Center of Connecticut

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has limits."
         -Albert Einstein

-----Original Message-----
From: Marc Taylor [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 2:33 PM
To: Informal Science Education Network
Cc: Jonah Cohen
Subject: RE: Evolution in the news

This is all well and good, but the rationale given - that the stickers are
an endorsement of religion - seems like a path well-trodden, and one which
is is easy to traverse in both directions. Better if the judge had pointed
out that the sticker is confusing the everyday meaning of the word "theory"
with its usage in science.

The judge did state that the sticker is misleading, but only "regarding the
significance and value of evolution in the scientific community." Since half
of the battle is getting past the idea that evolution is "only" a theory,
for him to come out and say this word usage is the core of the problem would
go a long way to short-circuting similar proposals.

Marc Taylor
Coordinator, Andrus Planetarium
Hudson River Museum
511 Warburton Avenue
Yonkers, NY 10701
914 963 4550 x223
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