Brunswick, North Carolina still chatting about Creationism

This story from the StarNewsOnline doesn't offer up anything really juicy but we have some tidbits still coming in dribs and drabs. (For context read here and here.) Apparently, the people running for county commissioner there have to deal with whether or not the schools there should teach creationism. They report:

CREATIONISM: Questions about teaching creationism in Brunswick County schools prompted the most spirited responses from school board candidates.

John T. Jones, the Democratic candidate for District 1, said he would take a pledge if elected to execute his duties in accordance with the law. “And the law is very plain on that,” he said, referring to teaching creationism.

Christy Judah, running for the District 2 seat, said the school board should follow the guidelines set by the state.

Shirley Babson, the incumbent Republican seeking re-election for District 4, said the school board should move away from deciding to teach creationism as a fact but instead consider offering it as a theory.

I'm glad to see that two of these candidates have some sense and have listened to the people from the North Carolina Department of Education who have, it seems, pretty clearly stated that teaching creationism will land their schools in very hot legal water. I guess Babson doesn't understand that creationism is neither a fact or a theory except in the most pejorative sense of the term - a hunch. And a pretty senseless and groundless one at this point.

There have been numerous letters to the editor on this as well. A couple of Catholics decried the potential waste of resources and creationism's educational emptiness and another gives a sharp and succinct explanation about why evolution is science. The question isn't "Why not creationism?" The question is "Why creationism?" The answer. There is no reason.

But I'll close with the best letter:

Regarding the discussion on the teaching of creationism, I offer that if the Bible is without error, then the Biblical view of the universe must also be taught. The sky above us is a solid dome, and the stars are fixed on the dome, and when it rains, the dome opens to let the waters above it pour through. Surely, we all believe that, don’t we?
Dennis Conlon
Wilmington