An Arkansas minister, and grandfather of a high school freshman, is trying to force the state’s school districts to teach creationism as an alternative to evolution.
 Pastor Bob Dunning (Photo: KHBS-TV) |
Bob Dunning, the pastor of Rocky Comfort Assembly of God in Fort Smith, says nothing stirred his faith more than when his granddaughter began learning about evolution in her biology class last spring, according to a report by KHBS-TV in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Public schools in Arkansas are required to teach as fact the theory modern people evolved from ape-like ancestors over millions of years.
”I wouldn’t have a problem with them teaching that if they us gave equal time to teach creation, but they won’t do that, because they don’t want God brought in the subject, ” he told the television station.
Dunning is fighting back by asking the Rogers School Board to support a policy that grants students exemptions from ”specific instruction which conflicts with their religious beliefs,” according to a report by the Springdale Morning News.
Dunning says he wants students to have the option of skipping certain lesson plans, but not the entire course.
Superintendent Janie Darr says the state Department of Education told her the board could not pass a policy that would exempt students from state-required classwork, according to the newspaper.
Dunning, who checked his granddaughter out of school during her
biology class, said all he’s looking for is the ability of a student to be exempt from ”three to four” days of class. He says his granddaughter made an ”A” in biology last year, despite missing the evolution discussion.
”I’m not asking for the student to miss biology entirely,” Dunning told the paper. ”Just the few classes that deal with evolution.”
”There are plenty of good, private schools out there,” Bill Fulton, a science specialist with the Department of Education told the paper. ”And, if you don’t like what’s going on in the public schools, there’s another option.”
Fulton said that such a policy could allow students to be exempt from any number of activities and classes.
”What if someone’s religion didn’t call for the same standard of hygiene we’re used to,” Fulton told the paper. ”He has to narrow it down.”
Dunning says he expects his proposal to be turned down when he attends next month’s board meeting and is considering a lawsuit in an attempt to change the policy.
In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court barred states from requiring the teaching of creationism in public schools and only three states give districts the option of also teaching creationism.
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