Groups to Challenge Book Ruling

WASHINGTON — Two civil liberties groups representing parents of Alabama public schoolchildren said Friday that they will appeal last week’s court ruling banning 44 texts that allegedly promote the “religion” of secular humanism.

The American Civil Liberties Union and People for the American Way also warned that the decision by U.S. District Court Judge W. Brevard Hand will unleash a host of challenges to public school education by Christian fundamentalists seeking to promote their sectarian views.

In his March 4 ruling, Hand ordered 44 home economics, social studies and history textbooks removed from the Alabama public school system because they were “infected” with the “religion of secular humanism.”

The Alabama state board of education announced Thursday that it will appeal the decision to the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

William Bradford, a lawyer for the parents, told a news conference that the appeal would be based on a number of grounds, including that Hand erred in finding that “secular humanism . . . no matter how it is defined . . . has infected these 44 textbooks.”

Hand also ruled that secular humanism is a “religion,” Bradford said, and in finding that “omission . . . of facts about religion” in a schoolbook means that it promotes “secular humanism.”

Bradford noted that none of the challenged social studies textbooks was devoid of religious references but the fundamentalists who sued--none with children in public schools--simply argued that there were “not enough” references.

John Buchanan, chairman of the People for the American Way, said Hand’s ruling is “the first time in history that a religion has been created and defined by its adversaries.”

“They have taken neutrality about religion and turned it into a religion,” he said.