Recent letters to local newspapers continue to claim that evolution is a religion. One said evolutionists have “faith” in evolution, and that “faith” makes it a religion. I have “faith” in my newspaper being delivered, that means my paperboy is reliable. Deliberate misuse of semantics is an immature debate tactic, even worse, dishonest. Using the word “faith” as if its only meaning is a spiritual belief is inane. Ignorance thrives on such rhetorical tricks.
In 1994, biology teacher John Peloza in California, sued the Capistrano School District, claiming that “evolutionism” is a “religious belief” — Peloza V. Capistrano Unified School District, 37F 3d. 517 (9th Cir. 1994).
The federal court said that adding “ism” to evolution did not “metamorphose” evolution into a religion, evolution does not deny the existence of a divine creator and the teaching of evolution is not the promotion of a religion. The judge said, “To say red is green or black is white does not make it so.” Peloza appealed and lost.
Ordering Mr. Peloza to teach evolution and stop proselytizing to his students was not a violation of his civil rights. A teacher is an employee, subject to the district’s policy, state and federal laws.
Creationists might stop embarrassing themselves and find a new dead horse to whip, or at least do some research to not be redundant. They lost the “evolution is religion” legal battle years ago but because they are mired in dogma, they don’t know it.