Well, we had nothing better to do with this $180,902

December 23, 2006

Guest Post by Morbo

This week, a federal lawsuit challenging an anti-evolution disclaimer pasted into biology textbooks in Cobb County, Ga., was settled out of court.

The case had been knocking around in the courts for a few years. A federal judge ruled against the sticker, and on appeal the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decided it wanted more information and sent the legal tussle back down to the lower court.

Rather than continue to fight, the Cobb County board decided to fold. The settlement calls for the school district to pay partial attorneys’ fees of $166,659. Add to this the $14,243 the board had to spend to remove the stickers. (What did they paste them in there with — Crazy Glue?)

So, this little stunt cost the taxpayers of Cobb County $180,902. Sweet. I’m sure the public education system there had no better plans for that cash.

Here is what the stickers said:

“This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered.”

This is so stupid there is no need for me to add anything sarcastic.

“This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered.”

If you tried to put that over the door of the school itself — where it belongs — the same people who gleefully had it stuck in the bio books would have your guts for garters.

And if you put the same warning stickers on the textbooks for AP Economics, or Government, you’d be run out of town on a rail.

  • Davis is right – it seems so stupid as to defy comprehension, but allowing it was only the crack in the door that would allow the Bush administration and their cavalcade of crazy conservative religious nutjobs to deny all sorts of things. This administration is the worst I have ever seen for spin and altering reality.

    People should be able to make up their own minds about evolution and creationism. I’ve never totally accepted either, and it doesn’t keep me awake nights.

  • Please tell me why they couldn’t simply put a larger sticker over the first one? I can think of all sorts of cool things they could put on it, but I’m sure you can too. What on earth could have caused it to cost $14K to undo this foolishness? It’s all beyond stupid.

  • “This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered.”

    Here’s a great place for that:

    The Holy Bible

  • Now there’s a dream job: removing anti-evolution stickers from school books.I bet they could get plenty of chortling volunteers to do that.

  • “’This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered.’

    Here’s a great place for that: The Holy Bible” – 2Manchu

    Since practically nothing in the Bible is a “fact”, is that even fair as a comparison.

    Yes, what should be posted over the school does is “What we will teach you here should be approached with an open mind, studies carefully and critically considered.”

  • Please add the original cost of the stickers as well and maybe the time spent putting them on books.

    Crazy glue, yes rege, that is a good call. Captain Insano glue is specifically designed for religious stickers as well.

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