After more than three hours of hearings and deliberation, Louisiana's Textbook Advisory Council voted 8-4 to adopt new Biology texts, despite an effort from Religious Right activists to convince the panel that new books should include creationist theories in the form of Intelligent Design.
Most of those who testified before the advisory council supported the books and objected to any inclusion of disclaimers about the theory of evolution or of provisions about intelligent design or creationism.
But many who submitted written comments objected to the proposed biology books, saying they should include information about intelligent design and don't offer enough questioning about certain parts of evolutionary theory.
Courts have consistently ruled that creationism – even under the guise of Intelligent Design – is an inappropriate use of religion in the science curriculum.
