Atheist political activist Rob Sherman. (Credit: CBS)
LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. (CBS) – Atheist activist Rob Sherman is expected to make public comments at the Libertyville High School board meeting Tuesday night, about a science teacher who had been teaching creationism.
As WBBM Newsradio 780’s Bernie Tafoya reports, Sherman is taking issue with biology and human genetics teacher Beau Schaefer.
LISTEN: Newsradio 780′s Bernie Tafoya reports
Officials at School District 128 have confirmed that Schaefer is, in fact, teaching creationist beliefs at the school, and the district says steps have been taken to ensure such practices do not continue, the Chicago Tribune reported.
But Sherman wants more than that. He is asking that Schaefer be fired, and he says parents in the district agree.
Sherman first took on the issue after the brother of a student at the school complained to him about the material Schaefer was teaching.
“Last night, my sister mentioned some typical arguments creationists use to discredit evolution i.e. ‘carbon-dating doesn’t work,’ ‘macroevolution doesn’t exist,’ and ‘there are very few transition fossils.’ After shooting them all down, I asked who had told her such incredible lies,” read the letter, which was published on Sherman’s Web site. “She said she learned them in biology class. Did I mention she attends Libertyville High School, a public school?”
Sherman also published a worksheet he says is from Schaefer’s class, which instructed students to “explain why macroevolution is not testable or observable and thus not scientific,” and asks how the “Cambrian explosion” – the relatively rapid appearance of most major phyla around 530 million years ago – and “irreducible complexity” support “intelligent design (creation.)”
Sherman is urging parents to attend a meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday night at the Vernon Hills High School Library, at 145 N. Lakeview Pkwy. in Vernon Hills.
At the meeting, the board is also expected to go into executive session and talk about the employment of an unidentified staff member, the Tribune reported. It is not known if that staff member is Schaefer.
Pioneer Press contributed to this report, via the Sun-Times Media Wire
65 Comments
A great patriot protecting our forefather’s intentions and the Constitution.
March 22, 2011 at 10:25 am
Rob Sherman is a patriot; I agree. Religious doctrines like Creationism/Intelligent Design have no place in a science classroom.
March 22, 2011 at 10:31 pm
when is one person the majority? One student complained? take a poll of the rest of the class..God bless you Beau!
March 22, 2011 at 10:49 am
Under our system, the minority is not to be subject to the tyranny of the majority. If the majority thought that Episcopalians or Jews should pay 100% of their salary in taxes, would that be OK? I mean, the majority rules, right?
Wrong. Under the Constitution, it is illegal for the government to act as a church. It’s been decided over and over in the courts, and yet insecure Christians keep pushing it. It’s a waste of time and a waste of public funds.
You can push whatever mythology you like on your kids in church or at home. You don’t have the right to impose it upon everyone else, no matter how certain you are that you own the truth.
I’m sure you’d be singing s different tune if it were a Muslim teacher.
March 22, 2011 at 1:39 pm
I agree. One student complained? Shouldn’t students have the right to decide what the truth is after being given ALL the facts? This country is being run by minorities and as a result we are losing more and more of our constitutional rights. The majority should rule and THAT is in the Constitution for a reason.
March 22, 2011 at 3:52 pm
you are so ignorant that is PHYSICALLY PAINS ME
March 22, 2011 at 7:57 pm
Creationism/Intelligent design is not science. That is a fact. It has no place in a science classroom. Students are free to reject the theory, but a school would be permitting lies if it allowed a science teacher to tell their kids that evolution is not science or that creationism/ID is science.
March 22, 2011 at 10:14 pm
I agree 100%!!!!!!!!! he is a Great Teacher!! one of the best i’ve ever had and i specifically remember that unit and to be honest ALL WE DID WAS A STUDENT DEBATE AND WE GOT TO PICK OUT OWN SIDES!!!!!!1
March 22, 2011 at 9:50 pm
This teacher was doing illegal things. He was teaching creationism/intelligent design in a public school science classroom. He was advancing a religious doctrine as though it was science. (Posting exclamation points repeatedly doesn’t make you correct nor does it make it appear that you have an intelligent point. It works against you.)
March 22, 2011 at 10:19 pm
Would you like to teach math answers by popularity too?
March 22, 2011 at 10:29 pm
Actually, atheists shouldn’t be allowed to flat-out state IN SCHOOLS that evolution disproves the existence of a God. It may disprove a “God of the gaps”–but a God, for example, who explains “why there is something, rather than nothing at all” is a PHILOSOPHICAL question, not a scientific question (and one that needs a lot of work to even begin with!).
March 22, 2011 at 10:52 am
They shouldn’t be allowed to? They don’t. What you say doesn’t even make sense. The problem Christians have is that scientific discoveries falsify a part of the bible, which sends fundamentalists over the edge. There is no need to bring up religion in a science class. If you want to compartmentalize, and believe in atoms while being a biblical fundamentalist, that is your own business.
As I said, a science class is no place to teach religious ideas. In a public school, doing it is not just a bad idea — it’s illegal.
March 22, 2011 at 1:52 pm
Steve, I don’t see how believing in atoms is incompatible with believing the bible. The creationists that I know are in agreement with all operational science (observable, testable, repeatable science), they only disagree on origins science (not observable, not testable, not repeatable). When it comes to the origins you have faith in either naturalistic evolutionary theory or creationist theory
When you say that a science class is no place to teach religious ideas you presume that the religion, and what it has to say about science, is false under your own naturalistic religion.
March 22, 2011 at 8:02 pm
Steve, you are wrong. Yes, it is illegal to teach creationism in the public school system. I don’t disagree with you on that. I don’t classify myself as having a religion or any such belief, I guess you could say I am an atheist, but one thing is for sure: He never persuaded or taught us creationism and I don’t ever recall taking any quiz on creationism. The debate, where we each got to pick our own side was a very engaging, interesting thing that we did but I never felt persuaded by Mr. Schaefer because he NEVER expressed which side he was on.
March 22, 2011 at 9:55 pm
carbon dating does not work!
macroevolution does not exist!
there are no transition fossils!
these are facts!!!
how can this guy shoot these ideas down?
pure madness!
real scientists such as physicist, chemists, mathematicians, laugh at biologists,
who believe in darwinism.
look into it on your own.
what do you think of emperor’s new clothes?
March 22, 2011 at 10:53 am
I don’t know if your misinformed, brainwashed, or just a liar, but you seem to know little about science, and a lot about marketing snake oil to fools.
March 22, 2011 at 1:41 pm
Virgin birth does not work.
You cannot create a woman from a mans rib.
No one has ever walked on water.
Snakes do not tempt humans with apples.
these are facts!!!
March 22, 2011 at 2:06 pm
There seem to be only 6 possibilities why there is something rather than nothing. (1) nothing created everything – an untenable view; (2) chance – there is no creative power in chance, it has to have something to work with; (3) everything is an illusion – what is the source of the illusion?; (4) universe is eternal – disproved by science [Laws of Thermodynamics & "Big Bang"]; (5) universe is self-created – same problem as #1, it would have to pre-date itself; (6) there is a creative agent external to and independent of the universe. Re: #s 1 & 5, multiple universes don’t solve the problem. Why did the late Sir Anthony Flew, the world’s foremost atheist, became a creationist? His rationale was that he went where the evidence took him.
March 22, 2011 at 11:17 am
“nothing created everything – an untenable view” – Except when its applied to your god creating everything out of nothing, oh except when he ran out of nothing, he had to create man from dirt and women from bone. You have no basic understanding of how the theory of the big bang works and only apply science when it is convenient to you. Please educate yourself and stop listening to your fundie friends. I can apply the same logic to your god. (1) nothing created god – an untenable view ( I agree, man created god ). (2) chance – there is no creative power in chance, it has to have something to work with. ( like the writings of ancient men ). (3) god is an illusion – what is the source of the illusion? ( Ancient men that didn’t understand their surroundings ) (4) god is eternal – disproved by science ( agreed ) (5) god is self-created – same problem as #1, it would have to pre-date itself ( good, good, now we are getting somewhere ) (6) there is a creative agent external to and independent of god. ( if something created god, is he truly a god? Who created gods god? ect.. ect..)
Everything in this universe abides by laws. Reality abides by laws. God doesn’t play by the rules because he doesn’t exist besides in the imagination.
“Why did the late Sir Anthony Flew, the world’s foremost atheist, became a creationist? His rationale was that he went where the evidence took him.”
Besides being a huge controversy on his conversion and books written by fundies on his behalf ( while he was in a declined mental state ), the unknown is not evidence of creationism. Have a nice day.
March 23, 2011 at 2:31 am
Creationists are complete morons, and should move to a backward state like Kansas, where they would fit in. There is also absolutely no proof that Jesus ever really existed, he is a made up character to fit church teachings.
March 22, 2011 at 11:29 am
Why are you liberals such christian haters? I guarantee if that teacher were muslim you’d be defending his 1st amendment rights.
March 22, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Not all Christians are “Creationists” – but UR truly a Moran for not knowing the difference – or worse and more likely – for intentioanally ignoring that fact.
March 22, 2011 at 1:01 pm
That may be what you’d like to believe in order to make yourself feel better, but it’s not true. Teaching religion in a science class in public schools is illegal — end of story. I don’t care which religious myth the teacher is pushing.
Are you particularly hostile toward Muslims? Do you think their religion is false and wrong? Now you know how non-Christians feel about YOUR religion.
March 22, 2011 at 1:36 pm
Moran? Go back to school and learn your ABC’s
March 22, 2011 at 2:56 pm
@ Steve: HE NEVER TAUGHT US CREATIONISM YOU IDIOT!!!! all we did was have a debate where WE DID OUR OWN RESEARCH AND PICKED OUR OWN SIDE!!!!!!
March 22, 2011 at 9:58 pm
He has 1st amendment rights. He can believe and teach whatever religious doctrine he’d like, whether it be Judaism, Satanism, Atheism, or Scientology, but he can’t do it in a public school science classroom. Intelligent Design/Creationism is a religious doctrine. Evolution is a scientific theory. A scientific theory belongs in a science class. A religious doctrine belongs in a church, home, private institutions etc.
March 22, 2011 at 10:25 pm
A boring a$$ho)e who has made his life mission to be a pain in the a$$ to everyone. If there is a God he should have a special place for Mr. Sherman where he can have daily fun playing with what is left of his mind.
March 22, 2011 at 11:38 am
A citizen – who is not a serf and still knows how to think for himself.
March 22, 2011 at 1:03 pm
Evolution is a theory, not a law. By definition, evolution is merely a possible explanation of how the universe came to existence. Likewise, intelligent design (some people confuse this with Creationism) is a theory about how the universe came into existence. The purpose of science is to examine observations and form theories, which are then tested. We should be encouraging our kids to think and weigh information, even if that information sheds light on the weaknesses of our arguments. If our ideas are as good as we believe them to be, it does not matter how many people examine all the options. If, however, our ideas are weak, should we not be mature and scientific enough to be able to be able to face reason and adjust our thinking accordingly?
March 22, 2011 at 11:44 am
@Drewman:
Evolution is a theory, in the sense that the atomic theory and the germ theory are theories. A theory is not a wild guess, although many people untrained in science (especially those with a religious agenda) seem to think it is.
“Intelligent design” is not a theory. It posits not testable hypotheses. It is a faith-based enterprise. It is nothing more than a stalking horse for biblical creationism. It has no more claim to truth than any of the thousands of creations myths of mankind. It is NOT science. Not in any way at all.
The problem for the creationist folks is that a public school is not a church, and it cannot legally be used for that purpose under the Constitution. If you think God’s law trumps the Constitution, then go try to repeal the Constitution. See if you can replace our government with a Christian republic. But meanwhile, as much as you don’t like it, you’ll have to live under the legal system that is in place.
March 22, 2011 at 1:07 pm
The idea that our distant ancestors 8 million years ago are the same of those as chimpanzees is a undeniable fact.
The theory of evolution is simply a model to explain this observation. Whether you believe that natural selection or god caused primates to evolve is up to you, but the fact that primates have branched off and evolved into current humans is undeniable.
March 22, 2011 at 5:34 pm
Good thing that atheists are not saying in schools that Evolution disproves the existence of God.
If you insist that Creationism be taught in schools, then all creation myths must be taught including the one for the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
We Pastafarians will not be discriminated against. Ramen.
March 22, 2011 at 12:14 pm
Yeah, all this from a guy who been in jail for beating up his own kid and not obey the judges orders.
March 22, 2011 at 12:18 pm
@Drewman:
Evolution does NOT attempt to explain the creation of the universe. It doesn’t even try to explain the origins of life (that’s a separate concept: abiogenesis).
Evolution describes the changes within living things over time. If you want to believe some divine being(s) started the ball rolling, fine. But there’s no science behind that.
March 22, 2011 at 12:52 pm
I think the only people that evolved from apes are the atheists and they definitely have a right to believe that’s who their relatives are!
March 22, 2011 at 1:11 pm
I was hatched from an egg that arrived in a meteor from the planet Ork.
My myth is as good as yours, and has as much evidence in support.
March 22, 2011 at 1:33 pm
And you have a right to your belief that you hatched from an egg that arrived in a meteor from the planet Ork and that Mork is your father. My point exactly.
March 22, 2011 at 2:29 pm
You were made from dirt when god ran out of nothing after he created everything. Have a nice day :-)
March 23, 2011 at 2:37 am
Whoever was there at the dawn of time should teach about how the world began.
March 22, 2011 at 1:17 pm
Then, Vicky, it’s a good thing they’re not discussing how the world began. The subject is the evolution of life.
While we’re at it, we should stop teaching history that happened over 100 years ago. After all, no one who teaches it was there, and there is no way to find out anything about it, RIGHT?
March 22, 2011 at 1:32 pm
May God have mercy on Sherman. The evidence of God is everywhere, yet this poor soul cannot see any of it. What a sad case. Glad to see that students in Libertyville (ironic name in this context) are being exposed to the truth, and I’m sure they are smart enough to make their own conclusions without a lawsuit or nutcase telling them what to think. The Creation Museum would make a great field trip for school kids. It is always interesting why people like Sherman are so fearful of Christianity. What is to be afraid of? They want their right to believe as they wish protected, but at the expense of everyone else’s beliefs. Nobody is forcing anyone to live here. If someone don’t like Christian values, anyone is free to move to a country that rejects God. My mother-in-laws’ reading text in grammar school was a Bible. Maybe we need to bring that back too.
March 22, 2011 at 1:32 pm
The evidence is everywhere? You mean like when little babies are getting raped? Where is YOUR god then?
March 22, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Same place he was when the planes went into the twin towers. He gives us a choice. How we use it as humans is up to us. It’s called “free will”.
March 22, 2011 at 2:34 pm
Eric, a science class is not a church, and turning it into one in a public school is clearly illegal. I don’t care about your faith or Sherman’s. Your straw man about fear, blah, blah, blah, shows that you lack anything substantial to say.
You argue that people who don’t want their kids attending public schools turned into Christian madrassas are free to leave? I hate to tell you this, but the U.S. is not a Christian republic. Perhaps you’d be happier in such a place. We are a nation of laws, and the Constitution is the ultimate law here. If you can’t deal with it, you are free to leave. Perhaps you’d be happier living in the Vatican.
You are free to use the bible as a grammar book, if you want to raise semi-literate kids. Send them to a private Christian school that does it, and we’ll all be happy. But you cannot turn public schools into churches.
March 22, 2011 at 1:46 pm
First you assume this is a christian country….wrong. Second. Do you mean countries like Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark where the population is majority atheist/agnostic, has the highest education rate, nice universal healthcare, much lower prison populations compared to the U.S. and is most peaceful according to the global peace index? Hmmmm.
The creationist museum is a joke and is not endorsed by real science. Your creationist “scientist” are constantly laughed at. That so called museum should be illegal. Ignorance and stupidity is not a good idea for the future generations of America.
March 23, 2011 at 3:08 am
Evolution isn’t a theory, they have proven it in time. One example is that people used to be shorter than they are now.
Public schools and government need to keep religion out. I’m sure Christians wouldn’t want Jewish people or Muslims or any other religion being the focus of their child’s education. If you want YOUR religion taught to your child more than you teach them at home or at church, then put them in a religious school. Why do you have to push your beliefs on everyone else?
March 22, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Evolution is in fact a scientific theory, as are atoms and germs, but one that is backed up by a mountain of good evidence.
But you are correct: If people want to have their kids indoctrinated in their favorite religion, they are free to send their kids to private religious schools.
March 22, 2011 at 1:49 pm
Teach science, not science fiction!
March 22, 2011 at 2:00 pm
It doesn’t matter whether Sherman is an atheist or a talking dog. He is criticizing an illegal activity. Nothing about Sherman himself changes the fact that it’s illegal.
March 22, 2011 at 2:21 pm
Good question. God doesn’t force anyone to obey him. Although we can choose to reject God, we cannot choose the consequences of our sins, if we don’t repent for them. God is very present and very real when someone who harms (or misleads) a child dies, and will deliver their just reward (judgement). To say that because bad things happen to innocent people means there is no God is not logical. All sin ultimately stems from the heart of someone who has rejected God and serves themselves. And raping a child, or any other person, is one of the most selfish acts one could commit. However, if people like this accept God to lead their lives and sincerely repent, God can restore those involved and bring good from evil. We are getting off topic, and God doesn’t make sense to someone who has not tried living for Him. So I’ll sum up this way. I don’t know or care how old a rock, fossil, or star are, how they were made, or how long they will last. They are all temporal. There is only one object in this universe I understand, and that object is me. And I know God is real because his Spirit lives in me, guides me, speaks to me, corrects me, and encourages me. I cannot explain this to one other person in this universe. God is foolishness to those who do not believe. Whatever the outcome of this board meeting, God’s will will be done, whether that is to motivate enough parents to establish more private education, to cause some students to closer examine their own beliefs, or countless other things He could be accomplishing. God doesn’t need help, but can even use diligent atheists to help out ;-)
March 22, 2011 at 2:22 pm
Compared to the life of the earth, your life is very temporal. I live my life for my life, you live your life for the afterlife. Without your god, you have no morals. Without your god, I have morals. I don’t need ancient mythology to explain what is right and wrong to me.
“I don’t know or care how old a rock, fossil, or star are, how they were made, or how long they will last.” – Spoken like a true christian. Ignorance over reality. Study how beautiful this planet really is and embrace its wonders, its mysteries. You will find that the true god you seek is not a personal god, but the simple beauty of our reality.
“And I know God is real because his Spirit lives in me, guides me, speaks to me, corrects me, and encourages me.” – It also encourages parents to kill their offspring because they were told to do so by god. Sickening.
Your prayer is a product of chance. God is omnipotent and proves so by showing himself on toast. He can do anything, except feed the hungry, stop illness, give an amputee his limb back, stop wars, stop natural disasters, stop criminals, stop corruption, ect.
What happens to a nation under god? The most corrupt government, a high rate of unemployment, holy wars, low education compared to the world, racial discrimination, religious discrimination, greed, and a science class full of mythology.
March 23, 2011 at 1:49 am
This guy is a complete idiot! When, oh when does the minority become the majority!
March 22, 2011 at 2:35 pm
Under our system, the minority is not to be subject to the tyranny of the majority. If the majority thought that Episcopalians or Jews should pay 100% of their salary in taxes, would that be OK? I mean, the majority rules, right?
Wrong. Under the Constitution, it is illegal for the government to act as a church. It’s been decided over and over in the courts, and yet insecure Christians keep pushing it. It’s a waste of time and a waste of public funds.
You can push whatever mythology you like on your kids in church or at home. You don’t have the right to impose it upon everyone else, no matter how certain you are that you own the truth.
I’m sure you’d be singing s different tune if it were a Muslim teacher.
March 22, 2011 at 2:51 pm
Way to go, Eric. A few comments on comments. Evolution is true because people are now taller. They are taller PEOPLE, not a new species. Jesus is a myth. A long-since discredited theory. The writer is asking me to believe that a few Galilean peasants created this imaginary figure and then stuck to their story even to the point of death. I think not. Re: intelligent design and its corollary, irreducible complexity. Try constructing the evolution of blood clotting, particularly if vision is evolving at the same time. Multiple generations of sightless creatures, de facto hemophiliacs, that would have to avoid injury and death by hemorrhage long enough to reproduce. To quote a book title, I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist.
March 22, 2011 at 3:00 pm
I don’t care what your faith is, or how much of it you have. That is your business. What’s taught in public schools is the public’s business. The public school is not a church, no matter ho much you believe what you believe — and believe me, there are many more people in the world who passionately believe that you are wrong.
So, rather than trying to divert the subject down a rathole, can we just agree that the public school science classroom is not a proper (or legal) place to preach religion?
If your answer is yes, then I’m sure you’d be singing a different tune if the religion being preached was not your own.
March 22, 2011 at 3:05 pm
I’m thinking that the thought that we have to answer to GOD when all is said and done scares STEVE to death!! I’d rather live like there is a GOD and find out there isn’t than to live like there isn’t a GOD and find out there is!!
March 22, 2011 at 3:40 pm
You may be right that there is a God. However, whether or not there is a God does not change the fact that evolution is science and is appropriate to teach in a science classroom, and intelligent design/creationism is not scientific.
March 22, 2011 at 10:03 pm
Pascals wager. Typical fundie. If your god can be fooled by you living “like there is a god”, he is not a god. You are a pathetically scared person. Rest assured that when you die, lights out, the end. No more pain, no more suffering, no more consciousness.
“I’m THINKING THAT THE THOUGHT THAT we have to answer to GOD” = proof we do not need creationism in school. We are already far behind in education compared to the world.
March 23, 2011 at 1:19 am
I think this guy’s a jerk, I always have. Jeez, nobody cares what you do or don’t believe about little people in the clouds, each to his own pal, plus NO ONE KNOWS!
March 22, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Parents, get that teacher out of there. He is teaching ignorance. I had a high school sociology teacher who taught right-wing politics. Not fair to the kids. As for the atheist activist, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. How did you miss the big to-do about St. Patrick’s Day?
March 22, 2011 at 5:25 pm
(As for the attack on Sherman, he is a secularist activist. He is not arguing that atheism should be taught in schools or that there should be declerations of atheism before county board meetings instead of prayers. He is arguing that there should be a strict separation of church and state. That sort of separation would prevent the exclusion of religious minorities in public life, and in the case of this science teacher issue, it would prevent religious agendas being promoted in schools. One can believe in science and religious ideas and one could reject scientific ideas in favor of religious ideas, but you are right, this teacher cannot reject evolution as non-science in a science classroom in favor of religious ideas.)
March 22, 2011 at 10:09 pm
Pingback: Suburban Teacher Who Taught Creationism Keeps His Job « CBS Chicago
Mr Sherman: do you believe that your mother engineered you? She made a very
big mistake by creating such an idiot. God is willing to clean all the mess. Give Him a chance.
March 24, 2011 at 11:02 am
@ThuggWood Actually I get lots of results of Muslim Vision, they all SEE CHRIST. God has said He would come in visions to those that seek & know Him, Mohammad was possessed per the Quran: youtube(dotcom) /watch?v=aPA9s7Gu_xk&feature=player_embedded Aisha wrote His mouth foamed as he shook violently his face changed to animal shapes when he prophesied, tried to commit suicide 3 times, so called angel he saw pushed on his chest to the point of death 3 times before he agreed to prophesy, wake up!
April 5, 2011 at 5:22 am
I never went to church, I read the Gospel in my room, asking for God to make me Holy knowing I wasn’t, forget saying sorries, God wants to hear, I WAS BORN messed up so please God fix me, give me the Holy Spirit LIVING WATER in Jesus name Father, WHILE not partaking in pleasures from the world at all, fasting a bit a few days a week telling nobody, read all the Gospel asking for the Holy Spirit in Jesus name like this and before you finish, guess what? GOD will be revealed within you, heaven within and as Jesus said, RIVERS or living water will burst out from within you and as He said, you will be made ONE with HIMSELF who is one with GOD and you will be TOTALLY one with heaven itself, DREAM come true in weeks! Check out my testimony please: www(DOT) youtube(DOT)com/watch?v=b6FTS8G6ZAE
April 5, 2011 at 6:09 am