'That's Not My Religion'

Bryan Rehm is one of 11 parents who, together with the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, have sued the Dover, Pennsylvania area school district over its policy of presenting intelligent design as an alternative to Darwin's theory of evolution in ninth-grade biology class. On Sept. 27, Rehm, a physics teacher in a neighboring district, testified as a witness for the plaintiffs, saying that the teaching of intelligent design theory is a harmful policy because it conflates religion and science. The following excerpts from Rehm's full testimony, reflect his personal objections, as a person of faith, to the district's policy.

On Oct. 17, the defense opened its case, beginning with testimony from Michael Behe, professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University and a leading proponent of intelligent design theory. As the case progresses, Beliefnet will post intriguing excerpts from testimony on both sides of the isssue.

ATTORNEY: And can you please tell us how the Board's actions have harmed you?

REHM: There are a lot of different ways. I'll simply start with professionally. When I went to Dover, I thought that was going to be my teaching home. I enjoyed working with the faculty. I enjoyed the students I had. It was my home district. It's where I lived. I was looking forward to that.

Within those two years I was in the district, I saw a totally different side. I saw a district in which teachers were not respected for their educational expertise. Their educational background was not respected. Science teachers were not respected. And it was all, as far as the science teachers not being respected, out of religious ideas.

I sat in a meeting when [school board member] Alan Bonsell told me he didn't agree with evolution because of his religious background. He may not have been aware of it, because I was teaching evolution as well, because natural selection was part of the curriculum for the environmental course that I had to teach.

So, therefore, even though he was addressing the curriculum change in biology, he was addressing the curriculum change in something that I also had to teach. How long is it until he changes my environmental [course] and tells me what I have to do?

They don't know me. They don't know that I'm the co-director of the children's choir at church, or that I run the music at the second service, or that my wife and I run Vacation Bible School. Yet they have no problem going around calling me an atheist because my particular religious viewpoint doesn't agree with that of the school board, which is a public entity and not a religious one.

In addition to that, if his religious beliefs of young earth creationism that he expressed are in disagreement with evolution, what happens when we get to the big bang theory and I'm teaching in physics that the earth is billions of years old? I saw my head on the chopping block and my curriculum as being the next to be altered when they realized what was there.

Personally, I live in the neighborhood, you know. I live within the school district where I taught. You used to be able to go out to any restaurant, sit down, not worry about who was next to you. You could walk down the street and say hi to everybody and get a nice pleasant return.

Now people stare. They know I'm a Plaintiff or they know in this particular case that I'm a candidate opposing the school board, and you can't sit there and not worry about who's looking at you or what's going to happen, you know. You'll go out and regularly be called inappropriate things centering around the concept of atheist.

They don't know me. They don't know that I'm the co-director of the children's choir at church, or that I run the music at the second service, or that my wife and I run Vacation Bible School. Yet they have no problem going around calling me an atheist because my particular religious viewpoint doesn't agree with that of the school board, which is a public entity and not a religious one.

"It has filtered down to the kids"
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