Plaintiffs show religious bias by board in Dover case

The York (PA) Daily Record is covering the Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District case where a school board is being sued for adding Intelligent Design (ID) to the district’s science curriculum.

Last week the plaintiffs provided some testimony that should interest anyone who might still be on the fence about the science vs ID issue.

In testimony on Thursday September 20th, former Dover school board member Carol “Casey” Brown explained that a mural painted by a recent grad of Dover High showing elements of Evolution including the classic assent of man from ape-like ancestors, that the student had donated to the science department in 1998 , had been burned by the high school janitor in 2003.

Former school board member Carol “Casey” Brown said Reeser destroyed the work because he thought it was full of lies, it offended his faith and he didn’t want his granddaughter exposed to the graphic nature of the painting, something he considered to be “an obscenity.”

Brown said Buckingham later told her that what Reeser did was right and the district should not be accepting such donations of artwork.

Mural at issue

The janitor never received any punishment for the incident.

Mrs. Brown resigned from the board when the majority voted to include ID in the science curriculum.

After Casey Brown submitted her resignation, she testified that both Bonsell and Buckingham questioned her belief in God. She said Buckingham called her an atheist that night and accused her and her husband of destroying the school board.

Months later, board member Alan Bonsell also questioned her faith, Casey Brown testified. “He told me I would be going to hell,” Brown said.

So much for fairness, huh. That is how these conservative religious zealots operate. The whine and cry about fairness then try to smear anyone who disagrees with them – or burn their works. Real tolerant, huh?

Former student Max Pell, who had attended a public meeting concerning the curriculum and decided to speak since his major at Penn State is science, was told by a board member that he had been brainwashed after Pell sided with those wanting to keep out ID.

Science is separate from religion, which he feels includes intelligent design, and should be taught separately, he said. Pell tried to explain the importance of evolution to the board and referenced his freshman biology book where it was a central theme, he said.

“In any higher level learning center, they’re not going to intertwine the two, so why do it all?” Pell said Friday. “It would just be shortchanging the students.”

Pell recalled that Buckingham made a comment about higher education but couldn’t remember the exact wording.

Earlier this week, Callahan testified that Buckingham said: “You’re a perfectly good example of what happens to students when they go to college. They get brainwashed.”

Pell also remembers the conversation moved to letting children know about other ideas and that Darwinism is a just theory.

Offering a view from outside

The Federal trial is expected to continue through early November. Watch here for more updates or visit the links in the posts.

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