Two Americas

John Edwards was fond of describing "Two Americas." I think there are at least two Americas, although there are likely many more than two. (In fact, my America is a whole lot different from John Edwards' America.)

One divide is probably between those who believe in evolution and those who don't.


The issue of teaching about evolution in the school curriculum was debated in the trial of John Scopes in Tennessee. Epperson vs. Arkansas took up the matter again, resulting in a ruling by the United States Supreme Court that Arkansas' prohibition against teaching evolution violated the Establishment Clause of the Second Amendment.



In Edwards v. Aguillard, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to require "creation science" to be taught every time evolution was taught.

Kansas decided to hold its version of the monkey trial by holding a series of hearings with the Kansas State Board of Education and its State Board Science Hearing Committee

In 2005, in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, the U.S. District Court ruled against the School Board that required the presentation of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution as an "explanation of the origin of life".

Something tells me there is more to come...

Update: Renee in Ohio points to this site that parodies the stickers that the Cobb County School Board in Georgia required on biology textbooks, until a Federal judge declared them to be unconstitutional (PDF) in May of 2005. There's more on that at Daily Kos and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Free subscription required).

Some bible disclaimer stickers are also enjoying distribution.