Inherit the Wind from a Monkey's Butt

Here's the latest in the war against the vast right wing conspiracy:

The American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a lawsuit yesterday in Federal District Court in Harrisburg, Pa., against the school board of Dover, Pa., saying the board violated the religious rights of several parents and students by requiring the teaching of an alternative theory to evolution in public schools. […]

Initiatives to introduce intelligent design in curriculums are percolating nationally, and this case could test how far opponents of evolution can go in shaping the teaching of science, said advocates and critics of intelligent design. […]

Recent surveys have shown that a majority of Americans favor teaching alternatives in school, and local boards have stepped up efforts to challenge the teaching of evolution. In Cobb County, Ga., the civil liberties group has sued the school district over a disclaimer about evolution inserted into textbooks. In Kansas, conservatives who favor challenging the teaching of evolution recently won a majority on the state school board, and they are generally expected to change the state science curriculum as early as the spring.

Remember all the squawking from republicans about how "those on the far left" were intent upon making America a land of abortion-loving, bible-burning sodomites? They were trying to freak out the moderates. Meanwhile, those on the far right were preparing for their all-out assault human progress. What really puzzles me about this case, however, is why the ACLU & AUSCS are arguing that propagating lies is a violation of religious rights. Suppose a local school board decided to teach that the core of Neptune consists of a molten mixture of pine resin and circus peanuts; what then would be the argument against codifying it in textbooks? It ought not to matter why a school board wants to pour liquefied shit into the ears of our schoolchildren. I suppose it'd be too contentious to amend the constitution to include the following: "Fucktard hillbillies shall not teach". Alas, we fall back again on "religious rights".

[Thanks for the word eponymagain. Steal what works.]