Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
In 2005, when the Ector County schools were in the process of approving a Bible course for their school, they considered both the NCBCPS curriculum and the far more objective and scholarly Bible Literacy Project curriculum. The complaint in the case reveals some interesting things about that process. For instance, it was the NCBCPS that approached the ECSID school board to put a Bible course in the school: Mike Johnson, an NCBCPS board member and ADF attorney, appeared before the board in March 2005 to urge them to do so.
On the day that Johnson appeared, there were interesting statements made by members of the school board. Board member Butch Foreman (who is looking more and more like the Bill Buckingham of this case) told the local paper that the Bible course "would be a great thing. What in the world is it going to hurt? The kids, who are religious and go to church, the added information could help." Board member Doyle Woodall told the same reporter, "This is America, it's a Christian nation."
After receiving authorization from the school board to review the available curricula, the superintendent, Wendell Sollis, formed a committee to examine those available and make a recommendation. That committee looked at two curricula, one by the NCBCPS and one by the Bible Literacy Project. They were instructed to recommend one of them to him and they voted overwhelmingly to recommend the BLP curriculum. Sollis then changed the rules and ordered the committee to present present both curricula to him.
He then overruled the committee and presented only the NCBCPS curriculum to the school board. On December 20, 2005, the school board voted to create the course and use that curriculum by a 4-2 vote. At the hearings, those who advocated the course did not pretend that the point of the whole thing was anything but purely religious. As one of them told the board, "Our country is going to the devil because we don't have God in our schools." Nor did the staff pretend otherwise. Shannon Baker, the ECISD director of curriculum and instruction, sent out an email after the vote with this mature statement:
YES, WE ARE USING NCBCPS :) :) :) ! HA! Take that you dang heathens!
Clearly the process was rigged from the start. The superintendent and the school board wanted the NCBCPS and weren't going to let a silly thing like guidelines and procedure stand in their way. Just as clearly, their intent was not to educate the students but to strike a blow for Jesus. This is looking more and more like the Dover case.
Comments
HAAAARRR! Har! har... um.. sniff. I can guarantee this case will be good for more than its share of laughs all said and done.
Posted by: Russell Claus | June 13, 2007 9:12 AM
Halle-effing luyah! I like the Bill Buckingham reference - Mmmmm - Good!
Posted by: J-Dog | June 13, 2007 9:14 AM
Sigh...this is why I would move to another country before I would live in the South.
Gawd almighty, what would Molly Ivins have said about this debacle?
Posted by: bob | June 13, 2007 9:26 AM
Bob:
I live in the South at the moment, and your priorities are well-founded. Thankfully, I'm moving in a couple of weeks.
I have in the past been the target of remarks and glares on several occasions for wearing an NCSE t-shirt advocating the teaching of evolution. It is common to be met with loud religious music when entering a fast food restaurant or grocery. A good friend of mine worked as a substitute science teacher in the local school district while looking for a permanent job and was flat-out forbidden by the principal that he was to discuss evolutionary biology with junior high school students after parents complained about a biology lesson he gave -- and after that stint, he was never called back again to teach.
I am currently in North Florida. Despite there being a couple of universities in my local area, the general population is extremely religious and hostile to science. In two weeks, I'll be leaving here for good. I'm looking forward to it.
Posted by: Vyoma | June 13, 2007 9:42 AM
If you think this is a southern issue, then you're an idiot. The religious right culture warriors are a national concern.
Posted by: Reed A. Cartwright | June 13, 2007 12:04 PM
Now why does that date ring a bell?
Posted by: W. Kevin Vicklund | June 13, 2007 12:43 PM
Reed, I think that if Bob had written Bible Belt (which is sometimes considered synonomous with the South) then I think his comment would have been better received.
Ed, any chance you could label this category so that it's easily accessed from your archives? I think NCBCPS might be one of those topics that will come up repeatedly over the next year, and it would be nice to be able to have them linked all in one place.
Posted by: doctorgoo | June 13, 2007 12:49 PM
The date of the Kitzmiller decision?
Nice catch WKV...
Posted by: doctorgoo | June 13, 2007 12:51 PM
I sure do wonder why Alabama's universities have a vet school and a med school and a highly-rated engineering program and popular forestry, fishery, and wildlife programs, and that heathen NASA facility in Huntsville feeding off the aerospace program, when we're all a bunch of bible-thumping, anti-science jackasses. Apparently all them Baptists haven't gotten word yet, or they'd be up in arms over all that evolution going on over at the poultry science lab. Must be a Methodist cover-up.
Posted by: Suze | June 13, 2007 3:15 PM
Yes, it's true that there are "religious right culture warriors" all over the country, and yes, it's true that there are universities and scientists in the South. In terms of overall culture, though, I haven't experienced the degree of hostility toward science and scientists that I have where I am now in any of the other places I've lived (New York, California, Texas, Pennsylvania). I'm not exactly the only person who has noticed it, and a good number of those others are themselves native to this part of the country. For whatever reason -- cultural, political, what have you -- this part of the world is particularly thick with vocal Christian fundamentalists. There are a dozen relatively large fundamentalist churches within no more than a mile radius of my home, and banks, doctors' offices and mechanic shops frequently have biblical quotations on their marquees.
This isn't said to offend anybody, but it's an observation based on five years of direct experience with it in contrast to a decade in California, a decade and a half in New York, etc., and a good deal of personal travel both in the US and abroad. I received my degree from a Southern university myself.
Posted by: Vyoma | June 13, 2007 5:09 PM
Gosh...this is why I rarely comment on anything. Even on this great blog, sensibilities seem to be delicate.
A few clarifications:
1. Yep, "Bible belt" would have been a better term, although the difference is neligible, IMO.
2. "If you think this is a southern issue, then you're an idiot. The religious right culture warriors are a national concern." Thanks, Mr. Cartwright. I appreciate your informing me of this. The rock I've been living under in Michigan has sheltered me from any news on this subject. I had no idea. Try making your point a little more politely, friend.
Good gravy, folks--you don't have to spend much time living in the BB (and yes, I have done this, including the great state of Al-a-BAMA [thanks, Forrest Gump]) to realize that these issues create much more hostility there than in other parts of the country. I've lived in the south, California and all over the midwest, and it's obvious almost immediately that a discussion about the e word or abortion or gay marriage or any other fundamentalist land mine will not be civilized. Vyoma's comments are on the mark. Sorry if it offends anyone, but when you see "John 3:16", etc. on the marquee at the muffler place, outside the dentist's office and Piggly Wiggly, you probably aren't in Michigan.
3. Suze--aw, c'mon. Wherever you live, stereotypes exist. You forgot to mention pickin' the banjo (which I do, BTW) and eating possum (which I don't). Educated people who have travelled more than 100 miles from their birthplace don't buy into them for a minute. I grew up in the midwest, and everywhere I've ever lived, I've answered the usual questions about how big my parents' farm was (about 75 square feet, in the suburbs), whether we had any lakes there (nope, you gotta drive 500 miles to go fishing), if we could get the NY Times there (yeah, but you had to travel for a day by horse and buggy until you reached the trading post).
Let's lighten up a little, friends--no offense intended to anyone. This is a great blog and I enjoy reading the thoughts of others.
Posted by: bob | June 14, 2007 9:42 AM
Oops--dropped a couple zeros. The suburban farm was 7500 square feet. (My first apartment felt like 75 square feet, however.)
Posted by: bob | June 14, 2007 9:47 AM
I never said that the South did not have a higher concentration of religious right wackos than other parts of the country.
My point was the the things that people often believe only happens in the south---racism, creationism, anti-separationism, etc.---happen all over the country. The Discovery Institute is based in Seattle of all places. Megachurches are popping up all over the country, and in my experience tend to be larger in cities outside the South then in it; less competition, I imagine.
It is only going to get worse as the Catholic church becomes more intertwined with the evangelical protestants.
Posted by: Reed A. Cartwright | June 14, 2007 4:05 PM