PBS Teaching Guide on Evolution Injects Religion Into Classroom Discussions

From Cybercast News Service:

(CNSNews.com) - A packet for educators issued by the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) in conjunction with the NOVA program "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial" encourages teaching practices that are probably unconstitutional, a conservative organization stated on Tuesday.

"The NOVA/PBS teaching guide encourages the injection of religion into classroom teaching about evolution in a way that likely would violate current Supreme Court precedents about the First Amendment's Establishment Clause," said John West, vice president for public policy and legal affairs at the Discovery Institute, in a news release.

The 22-page document is a companion piece to the two-hour NOVA docudrama, "Judgment Day," airing on most network affiliates Tuesday night. The film is about a trial concerning intelligent design that took place in Dover, Pa., in 2005.

The guide claims to provide teachers with "easily digestible information to guide and support you in facing challenges to evolution."

In the booklet, teachers are instructed to use such discussion questions as: "Can you accept evolution and still believe in religion?" The answer to that query is provided as: "Yes. The common view that evolution is inherently antireligious is simply false."

"This statement is simplistic and not neutral among different religions, and in that sense arguably inconsistent with Supreme Court teachings concerning neutrality," said attorney Casey Luskin, program officer for public policy and legal affairs at the institute.

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My Comments:
I care not one whit about the debate over Intelligent Design vs. Evolution. It just doesn't interest me. But when public school teachers are encouraged to tell their students that "X is compatible with your religious views", then we have a problem.

Today, it's "Evolution is compatible with your religious views." Tomorrow it's likely to be "Same-sex 'marriage' is compatible with your religious views."