I was struck
by the incongruity of a news item that recently appeared in The
New York Times. Under the headline “California School
Drops Intelligent Design Course," the article read: "Under
legal pressure, a rural school district north of Los Angeles agreed
to stop offering high school students an elective philosophy course
on intelligent design. A group of parents sued the district in
federal court last week, saying it violated the constitutional
separation of church and state by offering Philosophy of Design,
a course at Frazier Mountain High School in Lebec taught by a
minister’s wife that advanced the notion that life is so
complex it must have been created by some kind of higher intelligence.
In the federal court
settlement, the district agreed to halt the course next week and
said it would never again offer a ‘course that promotes
or endorses creationism, creation science or intelligent design.’
All five of the district’s trustees voted to settle the
potentially expensive case, said Pete Carton, the district’s
lawyer.”
Last year, another
public school system sought to require biology courses to consider
the alternative theory that evolution alone does not account for
the development of such complex organisms as animals and human
beings. However the courts decided that such a discussion belonged
not in a science class, but in a philosophy course. Courts have
now said such a course may not be given in either biology or philosophy
classes.
Large numbers of
Americans who believe in evolution also believe intelligent design
-- the idea that God created life. They ask the still unanswered
question -- what was here before the big bang?
The first amendment
was not intended to ban mention of God in a public school setting.
The intent was to protect us from the government imposing on the
nation a preference for one religion over another. The Founding
Fathers clearly believed in intelligent design, as evidenced by
their statements referring to the Creator in the Declaration of
Independence.
Serendipitously,
The New York Times reported this week that “Democrats
in Georgia and Alabama, borrowing an idea usually advanced by
conservative Republicans, are promoting Bible classes in the public
schools…In an interview, Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic
National Committee, promised that Democrats would do a better
job talking about values to religious voters. ‘We have done
it in a secular way, and we don’t have to,’ he said,
adding, ‘I think teaching the Bible as literature is a good
thing.’”
What do you have
in mind, Dr. Dean? Boards of Education should receive assistance
from the private sector -- money and legal expertise -- where
they wish to provide children with information on alternative
or supplemental theories on the creation of life.
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Many, if not all,
states already require by law that students in public schools
be asked to recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. That pledge
was amended by Congress in 1953 to include the phrase “under
God.” I suggest that the students be asked to also recite
the Declaration of Independence or parts of it, in particular
the phrase, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: That
all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.”
Perhaps each morning
a student could be asked to explain what those words mean. A teacher
might explain that many of those now engaged in a war of civilizations
against us are taught in their schools that the killing of infidels
is a first priority. Infidels are the vast majority of the people
of the world -- Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and others
who are not willing to, in the words of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi,
second in command to Osama bin Laden in Iraq, “convert to
Islam or pay us tribute.”
There will be those
who, as surely as God made little green apples, as the lyric goes,
will denounce such discussions as jingoism. These ostriches refuse
to acknowledge that we are at war with millions of terrorists
and their supporters worldwide who openly acknowledge that they
want to kill us all. The first and overriding right of every society
and individual is to defend themselves against assault. Self-defense
includes educating our children by providing them with reasons
why our values -- life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness --
are worth defending.
Recently, the Islamic
world demonstrated by word and violence its anger against a Danish
newspaper that published 14 cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet
Mohammed in a way they felt was derogatory. To the Islamic world,
that is blasphemy, punishable by death. Even drawing a likeness
of the prophet is blasphemy. A number of governments, ours included,
quite correctly deplored the publication as in poor taste, while
making clear the media has the right to publish the material and
a responsibility as well for their actions. We haven’t heard
a word on this subject from Cindy Sheehan or Harry Belafonte,
who regularly denounce President Bush and the policies of the
U.S.
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Every public official
is asked and indeed socially required to take pictures with people
who ask for them and are unknown to them. That happened to First
Lady Rosalynn Carter who ended up taking a photo with John Wayne
Gacy who, unbeknownst to her, had murdered 33 young men and buried
most of them under his house.
When I was mayor,
I recall walking down West Broadway in Soho on a summer day and
being approached by a beautiful blonde young woman who asked to
take a picture with me. I said, “Sure,” and then added,
“raise your right hand and swear to me that you are not
part of organized crime.” She replied, “Oh, Mayor,
I’m not part of organized crime. I’m from California.”
I responded, “Good, then swear to me you are not part of
a sex cult.” She said, “Mayor, I swear I’m not.”
We took the picture.
What Washington politicos
should now consider saying to a picture seeker is, “Swear
to me you are not a lobbyist.” Otherwise, they may find
themselves in President George W. Bush’s situation where
he had his picture taken with Jack Abramoff at a White House party.
The President says that, so far as he recalls, he doesn’t
know Abramoff, and that certainly may be the case. Today, the
only truly safe picture to keep on your wall is one where you
are shaking hands with Pope John Paul II. I have such a picture.
#################################
President Bush has
joined the ranks of those who believe alternative sources of energy
must be found. His phrase, “America is addicted to oil,”
and his call to overcome that addiction should become a rallying
cry for all of us. We cannot cut our oil habit simply by talking
about it. Vast research is required to make feasible alternative
energy sources including ethanol, electric power and hydrogen
conversion. Mobilizing our resources and those of our allies necessitates
an international Manhattan project, like the one that invented
the nuclear bomb to defeat the Nazis who were developing their
own bomb.
Our bomb was tested
in July 1945, two months after Germany surrendered. It was later
used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to compel the surrender of Japan.
The project cost $2 billion, which in today’s dollars would
be $20 billion. Let’s create another Manhattan Project,
but this time, one open to our allies and their talents. We must
do it now.
Ed
Koch is the former Mayor of New York City.
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