Volume 1, Number 1 – October 1998

Premiere Issue!

• KEEP THIS ISSUE!
• ADD IT TO THE STUFF YOU’RE COLLECTING!
• DON’T PUT IT IN YOUR LOCKER WHERE IT CAN GET LOST!

Why? Well, because it’s our premiere issue and going to be a collector’s item and VERY VALUABLE someday, that’s why!!!

The purpose of the X-Nilo Files is contained in our masthead—we purpose to debunk the evolutionary agenda one file at a time!

It is the hope of Answers in Genesis that you will share these newsletters with your friends, young and old.

If you have questions, or want to talk to someone at AiG about what you’ve read here, or if you need more information for, perhaps, research papers, debate information, etc., please contact us.

Students have rights in schools!

IMPORTANT NOTE: This article is not intended to be, and does not constitute, the giving of legal advice. In this short article we only summarize the rights of students and teachers in public schools. It’s important that one understand exactly how things can be effectively accomplished under the law and by understanding decisions of the US Supreme Court. It is important to remember that this area of the law is constantly changing. Therefore, before implementing anything mentioned in this article we urge that readers obtain copies of two booklets available from the Christian Law Association (CLA), and that they contact competent legal counsel for advice. These booklets were written by Christian lawyers who have carefully studied the US Supreme Court (and other court) decisions. If you follow their guidelines, you will be amazed at how much freedom there is to present the Christian message to public school students. Information will be given at the end of this article as to how to obtain these booklets. We thank the Christian Law Association for the special offer they’ve made to get these booklets into the hands of our supporters.

In 1995 President Bill Clinton sent a memorandum to Attorney General Janet Reno and Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. The President stated: I have been advised by the Department of Justice and the Department of Education that the First Amendment permits – and protects – a greater degree of religious expression in public schools than many Americans may now understand.

Many people believe that the Bible, prayer, Christian clubs, discussions on Creation – both Biblical and scientific – or almost anything to do with Christianity are not allowed in any way in public schools. This is FALSE.

The fact is: Christians actually have much more freedom than they’ve been led to believe. There are great opportunities to present the Creation/Gospel message in public schools. Christians need to aggressively use their rights and freedoms and stop being intimidated by people who don’t really understand the law.

Sadly, because of intimidation some anti-religious organizations, teachers and school districts have tried to purge the public school classroom of anything they deem religious.

Teachers and school officials

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution declares that – 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion' by government.

For the public schools of America, the word establishment has been now deemed to mean this: Teachers and school officials, who are representatives of the government, may not do anything to favor religion. This means that teachers may not conduct religious devotions, prayer or Bible reading at the start of the school day. School officials may not sponsor prayers at graduation services, or post the Ten Commandments or religious symbols.

However, public school teachers may use the Bible in instructional ways – as literature, history, in comparative religions classes, and ethics. It is only formal, structured prayer and formal, structured devotional use of the Bible in public schools that are forbidden under the First Amendment’s 'establishment of religion' clause.

Students

American citizens need to remember that the First Amendment also guarantees that individuals have the right to the 'free exercise' of their religion (or non-religion) and free speech rights. Therefore, public school children have rights in public schools, and schools must accommodate the religious expression of public school children.

Keep in mind that because most public school teachers and school district officials are typically not lawyers, many are not familiar with what the US Supreme Court permits in public schools. This lack of knowledge will require an education process. The lawyers from the Christian Law Association (CLA) are willing to help at any time concerning these matters.

Specific freedoms

Many will be surprised at the freedoms allowed in public schools. The following are just some of the many freedoms that are outlined in detail in the CLA booklets. Again, it is imperative that you read the details in these booklets before trying to implement any of the following:

• May a student give out Gospel tracts or religious literature to his classmates? YES! However, this can only happen in the same manner as it would be for students permitted to distribute non-religious material.
• May a student witness to his classmates about Jesus or pray with other students on the school campus? YES! (Before or after school, at lunch or during other times when students are permitted to interact with other students).
• May a student read the Bible during the school day? YES! Any time that students are allowed to read non-instructional books, Bible reading must be permitted.
• May students organize Bible clubs in public school? YES! Public secondary schools must allow Bible clubs the same privileges as any other school club.
• May students write book reports, English papers or do oral assignments based on religious subjects? YES! (Such home and classroom work must be judged by teachers using ordinary academic standards, and religious topics may not be discriminated against or singled out for special restrictions.)

NOTE: It would not be unconstitutional for a teacher to allow students to share their personal religious viewpoints in the classroom at appropriate times or in appropriate assignments. The teacher may (constitutionally) permit religious students to share their views if the views of all other students are also allowed.

Freedoms to present Creation!

Can the Biblical and scientific aspects of the creation message be presented in the classroom? A teacher in a public school could permit student-led discussions in the classroom on such issues as the origins of man and the universe, including creation science. The teacher may also permit the students to research and write papers on these issues. However, the teacher must be careful to remain neutral throughout the discussion.

Christian students could request their teachers to allow student-led discussions. They could then share the material from AiG’s books, and its Creation magazine, etc., as part of this discussion. Students can share their faith in Jesus Christ explicitly.

Depending on the individual school board policy, teachers may present views of origins other than evolution to their students, provided they don’t favor any one view and all views are presented in a 'non-religious' way.

Students could also form a creation science club at the school. This student club will be subject to the same restrictions as all other clubs at the school, but the school may not discriminate against this club on the basis of ideology.

Public school students also have the right to witness to fellow students and even hand out Creation/Gospel tracts as long as such expressive activity does not interfere with the educational mission of the school or the rights of other students.

—Ken Ham, Executive Director, Answers in Genesis

Why don't schools teach creation?

Q. Why do evolutionists say that creation should not be taught in public schools?

A. The evolutionists say that evolution is the scientific theory about the origin of life, whereas creation is the religious theory. They declare religion can’t be taught in the classroom, therefore, creation should not be allowed – only evolution.

The truth of the matter is that evolution itself is religion. Evolution is not science. You see, science involves what we can do in the present. A scientist uses his five senses in the present to build a space shuttle, make computers, pianos, airplanes, and so on. That’s what science is all about.

But you see, when it comes to the past, and evolution’s supposed millions of years of earth history, you just stepped outside of science. No one was there to see some cell form by chance from chemicals millions of years ago. That’s not science – that’s their religious belief.

When the evolutionists threw creation out of the science classroom, they didn’t throw religion out, they threw Christianity out, and replaced it with another religion – the religion of humanism, with its foundation of evolution.

Why don’t public schools teach creation? The evolutionists have rejected the answer from Genesis that God is Creator.

Excerpt from radio broadcast of Answers with Ken Ham on November 30, 1995

Science in the News

There is an article in the October 9, 1998 issue of Current Science about feathered dinosaurs. The banner under the headline states: 'Two new fossils suggest that some dinosaurs may have been early birds.' The article goes on to show that this new discovery proves that the 10,000 species of birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs, and therefore dinosaurs are alive and well today! The truth of the matter is:

Dino-Bird Falls Flat!

by Jonathan Sarfati, Ph.D.

First published in:
Creation Ex Nihilo 20(2):41,
March-May 1998

Readers may remember the recent media fanfare about the so-called 'feathered dinosaurs' (including Sinosauropteryx) supposedly proving that dinosaurs evolved into birds. We covered these in Creation 19(2):6 and 19(4):49, 1997. We cautioned that many media 'proofs' of evolution are later refuted with barely a whimper in the media. Recent research has proved the point:

• 'New research shows that birds lack the embryonic thumb that dinosaurs had, suggesting that it is "almost impossible" for the species to be closely related.'¹ A team led by bird expert Alan Feduccia, chairman of biology at the University of North Carolina, studied bird embryos under a microscope, and published their study in the journal Science.²
  
  
• A team led by John Ruben, a respiratory physiology expert at Oregon State University in Corvallis, analysed fossil outlines of Sinosauropteryx's internal organs. Its 'bellowslike lungs could not have evolved into the high-performance lungs of modern birds.'³ Indeed, in reptile lungs, the air is drawn into tiny sacs and breathed out. But birds have a complicated system of air sacs which keep air flowing in one direction through special tubes (parabronchi) in the lung, and blood moves through the lung's blood vessels in the opposite direction for efficient oxygen uptake,⁴ an excellent engineering design.⁵ Interestingly, some defenders of dinosaur-to-bird evolution, discount this evidence against their theory by saying 'the proponents of this argument offer no animal whose lungs could have given rise to those in birds, which are extremely complex and are unlike the lungs of any living animal.'⁶ Of course, only evolutionary faith requires that bird lungs arose from lungs of another animal.
  
  
• Also, Ruben and ancient bird expert Larry Martin believe that the so-called 'feather' traces are actually frayed collagen fibres beneath the skin. Feather expert Alan Brush, University of Connecticut, Storrs, points out that they 'lack the organization found in modern feathers.'⁷

References

¹ The Cincinnati Enquirer, October 25, 1997. Return to Text

² Ann C. Burke and Alan Feduccia, 'Developmental Patterns and the Identification of Homologies in the Avian Hand,' Science 278(5338):666­8, 24 October 1997, with a perspective by Richard Hinchliffe, 'The Forward March of the Bird-Dinosaurs Halted?; on pp. 596­7. Return to Text

³ Quoted in Ann Gibbons, 'Lung Fossils Suggest Dinos Breathed in Cold Blood,' Science 278(5341):1129­1130, 14 November 1997. Ruben's paper was published in the same issue, 'Lung Ventilation in Theropod Dinosaurs and Early Birds,' pp. 1267­1270. Return to Text

⁴ M. Denton, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, Adler and Adler, Bethesda, Maryland, pp. 199-213, 1985; K. Schmidt-Nielsen, 'How Birds Breathe,' Scientific American, December 1971, pp. 72­79. Return to Text

⁵ Engineers make much use of this principle of counter-current exchange which is common in living organisms as well, see P.F. Scholander, 'The Wonderful Net,' Scientific American, April 1957, pp. 96­107. Return to Text

⁶ K. Padian and L.M. Chiappe, 'The Origin of Birds and their Flight,' Scientific American, 278(2), 38­47, Feb. 1998; quote on p. 43. Return to Text

⁷ Quoted in 'Plucking the Feathered Dinosaur,' sidebar in Ref. 3. Return to Text

Dinosaur feathers? NOT!

Q. Secular press announced that scientists working in China had supposedly discovered a dinosaur with feathers. What’s the latest on this subject?

A. At a gathering of dinosaur experts in Philadelphia in early 1998, a number of papers were presented about this famous fossil called Sinosauropteryx. One of the papers declared that the so-called feathers were probably just collagen fibers beneath the skin of a reptile. In fact, it was shown that this same type of fibering appeared when the back and tail of several large lizards were skinned.

Now what was fascinating about all this, was to observe the reactions to this research by some of the evolutionists in the audience. Many of them became angry – you’d think they’d been personally attacked! Actually, what really happened was that their religion of evolution had been shaken.

You see, evolutionists so want evolution to be true, they’re desperate for anything – even feathered dinosaurs – they can cling to in their efforts to reject God’s Word.

You know what’s thrilling to me? God’s Word has never changed! The answers in Genesis have always stated that God made the birds BEFORE the reptiles. Don’t put your trust in man’s theories!

—excerpt from radio broadcast of Answers…with Ken Ham on October 8, 1998

Quotable quotes

'I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire cannot rise without His aid? We have been assured in the sacred writings that, ‘except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it.'
—Benjamin Franklin, calling for a time of fasting and prayer at the Constitutional Convention on June 28, 1787.

'We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in Heaven, and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His Kingdom come.'
—Samuel Adams, as he signed the Declaration of Independence

The Rest of the Story

'This would be the best of all possible world if there were no religion in it,' is a quote attributed to John Adams – the second president of the United States.

In 1817 Adams wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson. In that letter Adams reported a conversation between two ministers. The two ministers’ names were Lemuel Bryant and Joseph Cleverly.

Mr. Adams states:

'One day when the schoolmaster [Joseph Cleverly] had been more commonly fanatical and declared “if he were a monarch, he would have but one religion in his dominions;” the parson [Lemuel Bryant] coolly replied, “Cleverly! you would be the best man in the world if you had no religion.'

Adams continues:

'Twenty times in the course of my late reading have I been on the point of breaking out, “This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it!!!”'

Now for the rest of the story:

Adams further went on to say – in the same paragraph of the letter –

'But in this exclamation I would have been as fanatical as Bryant or Cleverly. Without religion this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company, I mean hell!'

So you see, Adams’ position on religion was exactly the opposite of what is being put forth in most history books today!

—Excerpt from Original Intent, by David Barton, Wallbuilder Press, Aledo, TX, 1997