Posted on 11/02/2005 3:35:41 AM PST by PatrickHenry
A school board member who was questioned by a federal judge about discrepancies in his testimony on the purchase of "intelligent design" textbooks was expected to return to the witness stand Wednesday.
Dover Area School Board member Alan Bonsell was to undergo redirect questioning by an attorney representing the board in a landmark trial over whether intelligent design can be introduced in high school science classes.
Bonsell testified Monday that he had received an $850 check from fellow board member William Buckingham. The check was made out to Bonsell's father, who volunteered to donate copies of "Of Pandas and People" to the district.
U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III asked Bonsell why he never shared that information in a January deposition when he was repeatedly asked under oath about who was involved in making the donation. Bonsell, who served as the board's president in 2004, said he misspoke. [Note to school board lawyers: When the judge asks your client why he's lying, it's usually not a good sign.]
Buckingham testified Thursday he collected $850 in donations to help purchase the books during a Sunday service at his church.
The board is defending its October 2004 decision to require students to hear a statement about intelligent design before ninth-grade biology lessons on evolution. The statement says Charles Darwin's theory is "not a fact," has inexplicable "gaps," and refers students to the textbook for more information.
Eight families are suing to have intelligent design removed from the biology curriculum because they believe the policy essentially promotes the Bible's view of creation, and therefore violates the constitutional separation of church and state.
Intelligent design supporters argue that natural selection, an element of evolutionary theory, cannot fully explain the origin of life or the emergence of highly complex life forms.
The trial began Sept. 26 and is expected to conclude on Friday.
American moslems' birth rates account for only a small fraction of their population growth. Furthermore, after the 1st generation, their birth rates tend to fall.
This would include Genesis Literalists, Old Earth Special Creationists, and what I would call "Beheists," those who believe that God was constantly tinkering with life.
You are partially correct, you just have everything backwards.
Pardon me. In that case, it would appear you think that hurling "commie" and "atheist" epithets like so many mud-balls actually constitutes some sort of persuasive argument. That's sad.
The wording of the First Amendment was composed by Fisher Ames and then slightly modified before being adopted by the house.
Both men were deeply religious.
that's an angle I hadn't considered - that it favors one brand of judeochristian belief over others and is thus unconstitutional. I like it. thanks.
I spent a year in a war defending that nation and that Constitution, and I'm willing to die to stop you or anyone else from implementing a theocracy.
Sorry, not dealing with drama queens these days, especially drama queens who have lost touch with reality.
I'd say you're undernourished.
I think the case for incorporation is quite strong, however. It becomes obvious if you read the congressional debates surrounding the ratification of the 14th Amendment, as I have done. The man who actually wrote the thing, Bingham, explicitly stated, on several occaisions, that the Amendment would apply the Bill of Rights to the states.
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