PROGRESSING BACKWARDS

In 1968 the US Supreme Court banned teachers from telling pupils that the theory of evolution is wrong, saying that to do so breached the principle of the separation of church and state. In 1987, the Supreme Court ruled that the mandatory teaching of creationism was unconstitutional because it was illegal to advance a particular religion in schools. This legislation is about to be overturned by new measures in Tennessee. "The measure has already passed through the state's legislature, dominated by the conservative Tea Party wing of the Republican Party, and Governor Bill Haslam has until today to veto it. If passed, Tennessee would become the second state after Louisiana to allow teachers to challenge the accepted science on evolution and climate change." (Daily Telegraph, 9 April) 150 years after the publication of the "Origin of Species" religious zealots are still denying the unassailable evidence for evolution. RD