More Dover

This just in:

DOVER, Pa. - A school board that is requiring students to learn about alternatives to the theory of evolution voted to retain legal counsel for its defense against a federal lawsuit filed by eight families who oppose a new “intelligent design” mandate.

Seven members of the Dover Area School District board voted unanimously to retain a nonprofit law center that describes itself as a defender of Christians’ religious beliefs, the Thomas More Law Center of Ann Arbor, Mich., despite the objections of most of the community members who spoke at the meeting. The board did not issue a comment on its decision.

Martha Raffaele, Associated Press story

It looks like we’ll be hearing more from the Thomas More Law Center in the near future. Check out their website, http://www.thomasmore.org/. If your British history is a bit rusty, see his Wikipedia page or this BBC History page on Sir Thomas More (1477 - 1535).

If you are wondering, 1535 is when King Henry VIII chopped Thomas More’s head off, because More refused to repudiate the Pope and join the Church of England, which Henry had established because the Pope wouldn’t let him divorce his wife. For this, More was canonized as a Catholic saint in 1935, but earlier in his career, Thomas More himself took “personal responsibility” for the “whipping and burning of English heretics.” (BBC) Henry’s decision, on the other hand, led to centuries of religious strife in England, continuing into modern times with the Catholic vs. protestant battles in Northern Ireland. Isn’t mixing Church and State fun?