state vs federal
... The founding fathers, among whom includes the author of the Constitution, James Madison, promoted the separation of state and church. James Madison gives his position on the question. "Congress should not establish a religion and enforce the legal observation of it by law, nor compel men to worship God in any manner contrary to their conscience... " (Annals of Congress, Sat Aug 15th, 1789 pages 730 - 731). Further evidence of the separation of state and church is found in Madison's private letters, one of which included the following words: Every new and successful example, therefore, of a perfect separation between the ecclesiastical and civil matters, is of importance; and I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion and Government will both exist in greater purity the less they are mixed together. Proponents of "intelligent design" argue that nature is so complex that it could not have occurred by chance as supported by Charles Darwin's 1859 theory of evolution. They argued that Nature must have been created by some all-powerful force. Not all devoted christians support the addition of creationism to the list of science courses offered at public schools. Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, urged the Dover school board to reconsider its decision. Lynn said: Public schools are not Sunday schools and we must resist any effort to make them so. There is an evolving attack under way on sound science education and the school board's action in Dover is part of that misguided crusade. Although the Dover Area School district said it will not promote or discourage the acceptance of the creationism theory, many people are still uncomfortable about the addition of intelligent design, including concerned parents of the students of Dover Area School District. The parents of the children in the school district have already sued because of the addition of Intelligent Design, a theory first proposed by Thomas Aquinas, the brilliant proponent of creationism who has sucessfully debated against Martin Luther during the Protestant Reformation. The battle between creationism and evolution in the United States began with the well-known case of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial. John Thomas Scopes, a teacher in Tenessee, was put on trial for knowingly violating a law prohibiting the teaching of evolution in Tenessee school districts. Although Scopes was convicted and fined the minimal one hundred dollars, the verdict was opposed by the state Supreme Court, which ruled that religious dogma should not be taught in replacement of an accepted scientific theory, thus violating the sacred doctrine of separation of church and state. However, the desire to add creationism back into school curriculum has been building up for decades. Christian conservatives, who played a significant role in the re-election of President Bush, have been advocating the return of creationism to classrooms. In Pennsylvania, a state where Republicans and Democrats nearly equal each other in support, Dover is a Republican Red. The Dover Area School District's decision is not that surprising, for in addition to the growing religious movement, it is placed in a very rural, small county, which is traditionally agrarian and Republican. Even with the growing number of people accepting the theory of evolution, Americans' belief in creationism remains strong. A recent Gallup poll found that nearly half of Americans who have taken the survey believed that God created humans in their present form, while only thirteen percent are uncertain of God's existence and unsure about God playing a part in the process of human development. Intelligent design is said to be merely creationism in disguise. One person called it the evolution of creationism: "They're [proponents of intelligent design] are trying to find a strategy that will stand up in court, and they only have a chance if it is some...