On January 20, I received an e-mail request from Ms. Torres asking for my response to her previous day's article in the AJC.  My response is below.

In your opening paragraph you ask, "Can someone reasonably assume the stickers in science textbooks convey a religious message when they don't mention religion at all?"  Well, yes.  We can.  We are not idiots here in Cobb County.  We and our children and grandchildren do understand what the sticker means.  It means, “We are putting this weasel-worded disclaimer in our text books so that we appear impartial to the atheist liberals, but you know (wink, wink) exactly what we intend – that the bible is just as valid as science in explaining origins, if not more so (wink, wink).” 

I have been a resident of Cobb County since 1979.  My three children all graduated from Cobb County Schools and two of my five grandchildren are currently attending Cobb schools.  I have long been proud of our schools and the leadership Cobb has shown in promoting quality education and serving as an example to other school districts in Georgia.  However, the Cobb County School Board has again embarrassed all of us by its vote to appeal the ruling of Federal District Court Judge Cooper, in Selman vs. the Cobb School Board.  This is not the kind of example we should set.

Whether one wants to believe in the literal word of the bible that the earth was created in seven days, the sun stood still for Joshua at Jericho, or that the Red Sea parted to allow Moses and the Israelites to escape slavery in Egypt is irrelevant to the issue.  In a science textbook, one learns about science.  In a Sunday-School class, one learns about religion.  Our founding fathers wanted to make sure that distinction was kept.  The Cobb County School Board first removed all mention of evolution from its science textbooks.  So my own children received a less-than-complete science education when they attended Wheeler High School.  Next, realizing the ridiculousness of their position, when it came time to order new books, they left the pages in, but they again caved to those who would prefer a theocracy rather than a democracy. This time, they inserted those foolish stickers in the new science texts.   

So again, we’ve become the laughing stock of the nation.  Especially, after they decided to actually fight the suit to have the stickers removed.  Cobb County and Georgia has been held up to ridicule by the Penn and Teller Show, media outlets throughout the country, as well as international media outlets.  But why would school board appeal?  To satisfy a vocal minority who want their religious views forced on the rest of us.  It was a political hot potato and members of the Cobb County School board lacked the guts to stand up to these theocrats.  They lacked the political cajones, even though each member of the board took an oath of office to support and defend the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Georgia.  Yet they openly worked to subvert both.  In its closed-session vote on January 17th, Martin Luther King's birthday, they committed another act of betrayal on the citizens of Cobb County by voting to appeal the decision to the 11th Circuit.  Working to subvert the Constitution and violating one's oath are not moral values, they are not family values, and they are not American values. 

As a sop to the community, the board says the appeal will not cost them anything because their attorney will work pro-bono on the appeal.  What they failed to mention is that Judge Cooper awarded attorney fees and nominal damages to the plaintiff.  So any court costs borne by the original plaintiffs when the appeal goes forth to the 11th Circuit will again be borne by the citizens of Cobb County.  Not to mention the costs in staff time needed to remove the offending stickers.   

So far this little venture has cost the good citizens of Cobb County more than $75,000.00 in their own attorney fees, as well as damages, and plaintiff court costs, with more to come.  Just what ways, for example, could the school board have better used the money?  How about paying for two teachers’ annual salaries, or twenty-one children’s’ bus transportation for one year, or 112 Dell Optiplex 170L computers (default configuration plus a 15-inch flat panel monitor,) or 1,233 Scholar Craft 620 Series desks, or 1,574 copies of Saxon Algebra I, 3rd Edition math textbooks.  So how about spending our available funds where they will do the most good — for our students, and not to promote a particular religious belief.  Let’s spend our money on quality textbooks, smaller classes, better equipment, and quality teachers. 

I had an interesting conversation with an attorney today.  He said he was actually pleased with the decision to appeal.  Why?  I asked.  He said that right now, Judge Cooper’s decision is only binding on the Northern District of Georgia.  When the appeal fails, and it will, the ruling will then be binding on the entire 11th Circuit, including not only Georgia, but Florida and Alabama as well.  By the way, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the presence of a Ten Commandments monument in the rotunda of the Alabama State Judicial Building violates the U.S. Constitution.  Wonder how they’re going to decide on this appeal?  This time, the school board may have just shot themselves in the foot.

Contact Sander Bellman

 

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