The American Civil Liberties Union (A C L U)
The churches of
Christ
Greet You (Romans 16:16)
We quote from an
ACLU
ad referring to the Bible: “In some public schools, it’s a science
textbook.
What’s taught in Sunday school shouldn’t be taught Monday through
Friday
school. But that’s exactly what’s happening. School officials that
impose
their religious beliefs on your children are in direct violation of the
First
Amendment. Help us defend your rights. Support the ACLU.” www.aclu.org
(American Civil Liberties Union).
The foregoing text is pathetically filled
with distortion
of the most insidious variety. It is so reckless in its treatment of
fact,
as to have no credibility at all; yet thousands will read it,
and receive
it as truth. We register our protest in the following response:
The Bible is not,
and
so far as we know never has been, used as a “science textbook” in any
“public
school” - or private school, for that matter. The Bible does not
address
“science” per se. It says nothing about the composition of
matter
- electrons, protons, neutrons, etc. It makes no attempt to define the
law
of gravity. It contains no chart of the chemical “elements.” The
accusation,
therefore, is supremely false.
What Christians do
contend
is this: The Bible contains a vast body of evidence that supports its
claim
of divine origin. One of the ways an honest student can explore
this
affirmation is to raise this question: When the Scriptures touch upon
an
issue that somehow relates to “science,” does one have a right to
expect
the narratives to be accurate, if, in fact, they originated with the
God?
The answer must be in the affirmative. And so, while the Bible
never
pretends to be a “science textbook,” it is not at variance with any
known
scientific truth. This has been demonstrated countless times.
Another important
point
is this: The issue of “origins” is not within the domain of “scientific
investigation.”
That which occurred “in the beginning” cannot be subjected to the
scientific
method, which involves observation, experimentation, and either
falsification
or verification. But the ACLU has no problem with humanists teaching an
anti-theistic
materialism relative to “origins.” They advocate a skeptical “liberty”
to
teach a “no-God” brand of “science.” The ACLU is really the
Anti-Christian-Liberty
Union!
With a smirking
patronization,
the ACLU ad suggests that these Bible-believing simpletons may teach
whatever
they wish on Sunday, but on Monday through Friday, your children will
be
taught what the skeptics wish them to learn. The fact is,
whatever
is truth ought to be taught on any day of the week. It is not
the
day of the week that counts; the issue is, where does the truth lie?
This is the question the ACLU does not wish to confront.
The statement that
“religious beliefs” are “in direct violation of the First Amendment” is
ludicrous on
the face of it. Is the Declaration of Independence at variance
with
the First Amendment? It states: “We hold these truths to be
self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights . . . .” The First Amendment prohibits
the Congress from establishing a religion; it is not a mandate
against
all religious considerations.