Reply #18: Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul

[Viva_La_Revolution]

On Sunday, March 11 at 8:30 am
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Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul
Edward Humes
Watch now - http://www.booktv.org/ram/feature/0307/btv030307_4b.ram

In "Monkey Girl," Edward Hughes tells the story of the 2005 court case Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District, in which teachers and parents sued the Dover, Pennsylvania school district and school board for mandating the teaching of intelligent design, the theory that the existence of life on earth can only be explained by the participation of a designer. They argued that intelligent design is thinly-disguised creationism and that teaching it violates the constitutional separation of church and state. The school board argued that intelligent design is a scientific theory and should be taught alongside evolution. On Dec. 20, 2005, Judge John Jones ruled the school board had violated the constitution and also that "intelligent design was a religious proposition, and not science."

Edward Hughes is the author of eight nonfiction books, including "Mississippi Mud," "School of Dreams," and "Over Here." He is writer at large for Los Angeles Magazine. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for his reporting on the military in Southern California.