"It's a good bill. Just vote for it."

I can smell the baloney wafting off the capital all the way out here in Sugarhouse. The stench is incredible. The quote above from Rep. Jim Ferrin, R-Orem, reminds me of another similar situation (the serpent told Eve, “It’s good for you, and useful. Just eat it.”)

There are a few articles out today concerning the House Education Committee’s vote yesterday to pass the ‘Origins of Life’ bill on to the House floor where I am sure it will easily pass. Here are a couple of the highlights I noted, first, despite efforts to keep the discussion off religion, the Deseret News quotes Carol Lear calling it like she sees it in this bill’s inexorable march to a courtroom,

… Education Office attorney Carol Lear fears the bill opens the door to religious discussion in science classes.

"Proponents of the bill want to make sure there's an opportunity for intelligent design or creationism . . . to have some moment in the classroom. I think (this bill) certainly allows for that. One of the questions is, does it require it," said Lear, director of school law and legislation for the State Office of Education.

"This discussion has been so involved with people's religious points of view . . . (that) it becomes a discussion about legislation with a religious viewpoint," she said. "The court in reviewing that gets to look at the whole discussion, even how people perceive the discussion, and you can't just say . . . King's X, this isn't about religion."

Also, in the Daily Herald it mentions that Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay, who is one of those who voted against the bill yesterday as saying,

… she was worried literature and history topics would be at risk if the Legislature were allowed to establish the curriculum requirements on biology.

"I think we're heading down the wrong track here, and it's a dangerous one," she said.

Some might think she is being a little alarmist, but I don’t think her fears are unfounded, nor off the mark. Take a look at what’s happening just over the border in Colorado. Parents out in Bennett are declaring music teacher Tresa Waggoner something evil for showing their children a “satanic video” that “glorifies Satan” and traumatizing them. Some are demanding that she be fired. I just loved what this one parent, that the Denver Post quoted, had to say,

"Any adult with common sense would not think that video was appropriate for a young person to see. I'm not sure it's appropriate for a high school student," said Robby Warner, a mother of two children who saw the video.

What kind of unadulterated Satanic evil, something so unrighteous, could warrant such scorn? This…



Hand puppets that sing opera and go to hell! The music teacher Mrs. Waggoner found this piece of wholesome goodness in her own elementary school’s music room.

What would our Utah legislature do with this, especially with religiously motivated pressure groups knowing that they can have their way with them?