The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is calling on our supporters in West Virginia to stand up for science and secularism by contacting the governor’s office.
CFI is appalled that the West Virginia Legislature has passed three separate bills that promote religion in schools and are anti-science. We need residents of the state to help stop this legislative assault at the last hour by urging Governor Jim Justice to veto all three bills.
First, SB 280 would allow teachers in public schools to teach intelligent design to students. Intelligent design (or “creationism”) is a pseudoscientific theory asserting that certain features of the universe and living things are best explained by an intelligent cause or agent. It is religious belief that proponents attempt to dress up as science.
Students should not be taught intelligent design in public schools, and the courts (including the Supreme Court) have made clear that such religious instruction is a violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.
Second, HB 5105 would create a religious exemption from West Virginia’s school vaccination requirements for students in virtual public schools as well as private and parochial schools. All that would be required is for a student’s parent or guardian to express in writing their religious objection to vaccinations. This would be a major public health mistake given that vaccines are among the greatest advances in modern science and have saved countless lives.
Third, SB 152 would require that all public elementary schools, secondary schools, and universities in the state prominently display “In God We Trust” posters in every single classroom. This is a needlessly divisive move in a state where nearly one in five surveyed adults identifies as “unaffiliated” with any particular religion.
CFI’s Office of Public Policy (OPP) has lobbied against each of these bills. Following the legislature’s decisions, OPP sent a letter in opposition to the bills to Governor Justice yesterday.
Now we need CFI supporters in West Virginia to do their part against this theocratic assault. Please contact the office of the governor and ask him to veto all three bills.
