by TChris

Almost 80 years have passed since Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan litigated the legality of teaching evolution in the Scopes trial, but those who want public schools to substitute religious dogma for science continue to exert their influence. The latest version of the Scopes trial is ongoing in Cobb County, Georgia, where the school board responded to a petition drive by placing "warning stickers" on science textbooks proclaiming that evolution is "a theory, not a fact." Apparently no warning stickers are required for relativity, although those who object to "moral relativism" may be printing up the stickers as you read this post.

Parents sued the school board, arguing that religious beliefs should not influence public education.

Two questions expected to be raised in the trial are:

• Is "intelligent design" a religious idea? A concept espoused by many opponents of evolution, intelligent design holds that the variety of life on Earth results from purposeful design rather than random mutation and that a higher intelligence guides the process.

• If the concept of intelligent design is found to be religious, do Cobb County's book disclaimers violate the separation between church and state?

The trial is expected to conclude this week.