You are here: Evolution vs Creationism -> TimeLine -> May 7th Letter

Editor:

Kudos to Joshua Bress for his May 4 column, and Kudos to the dispatch for giving a voice to such an intelligent young man.

Mr. Bress is absolutely correct; letters to the Dispatch (mine included) have indeed centered around the 'Evolution vs Creation' debate and haven't dealt with the real issue: the constitutional separation of church and state.

I was shocked and saddened by Mr. Garcia's comments (May 2), and I hope that they do not in fact represent his true feelings on the subject of religious tolerance. Mr. Garcia is entitled to his opinion, but to cite the tolerance of non-Christian religions and the teaching of evolution as a causal factor in the Colorado shootings or the decline of moral values goes beyond the pale.

I would like to assure Mr. Bress that he does not stand alone on this issue.

In fact, the separation of church and state is the central issue in the evolution/creation debate. It is one thing to be tolerant of another person's religious beliefs, but it is quite another to allow those beliefs to dictate what is taught in science class. To paraphrase H. L. Mencken; We should be tolerant of other people's religion in the same way we are tolerant of their opinion that their wife is beautiful and their children smart.

Mr. Garcia dismisses the well-established principle of the separation of church and state with an off-hand remark that it isn't even constitutional, or that it is exaggerated. Well, how would you like to move into an area, and find that the schools promoted Hindu (to pick one at random) prayer to Vishnu, Mr. Garcia? Or to find that every day before class an invocation was read from the Bhagavad Gita? The plaintiffs in the 1981 Arkansas Act 590 trial were primarily community religious leaders who realized that the above scenario could well be played out if the wall between church and state were removed. Mr. Garcia should take note.

Mr. Bress says "[The separation of church and state] has given every student equal protection under the law and the right to choose his/her own religion without having a system of beliefs forced upon him or her."

He is exactly right.