Sticker Shock
When a judge violated the church-state peace treaty.
by Stephen L. Carter | posted 3/02/2005 12:00AM
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One need not be a skeptic on evolution to be a Christian, and one need not be a Christian to be a skeptic on evolution. According to Frank Newport of the Gallup Poll, "Public acceptance of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is well below the 50 percent mark." Only 35 percent say evolution is well supported by the evidence.
But, whatever one's view on that controversy, it seems reasonable to enforce a central rule: The state should not, without very strong reason, interfere with the religious choices of parents. Where the state feels it must do so—for example, by teaching evolution in the science curriculum—a cautionary sticker of the sort struck down in Cobb County seems a reasonable compromise between church and state.
When reasonable compromise becomes unconstitutional, it is time to worry that perhaps the peace treaty is being violated.
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