I knew it! As i said before that the Kansas education system has been taking a christian, right-wing orientation since the gradual imposition of creation theory in public schools by the kansas state board of education. Practically , biology courses are abolished, and biology teachers have been forced to understate their own views in case they go contrary to what is stated in the bible about creation. Finally, the religious right has taken control over the medical school. These guys are financially backed by libertarians and economic liberals as the number of neo-conservatives in the board of education proves (unanimous 12 or 10) . I am not suprised. Non-religiosity is not even welcomed among the secular progressives in the US, let alone among Kansas reactionaries. Unfortunately, recent events seem to be the product of this conformist and fascisan popular mentality.. As Marx sophisticatedly said in his early writings, religion is the product of bourgeois "secular narrowness" and the legitimating ideology of civil society that privitizes the "privilige of faith" as a "universal right of man", just as it legitimizes private property as a natural right. (Marx-engels reader, Tucker, p. 41) Mine -------- KANSAS FIRES FREETHINKER PROFESSOR Texans know Fred Whitehead, Ph.D. from his talk on Freethought history at the 1999 Atheist Alliance convention and his research into Comfort's German Freethinkers. Fred is an outspoken advocate of freethought nationally and at his university. It got him fired last week from his Kansas University professorship in medical humanities after 21 years of teaching. His "research does not fit the mission of the Medical School," said Dr. Deborah Powell, Executive Dean of the School. "This is surely the most extensive peer review in the entire history of the University," Whitehead responded. "The Medical Center has many religion-based events, such as an annual Religion and Medicine symposium. Yet last November, when I sponsored a national conference at this center on the Evolution Controversy, I was harassed by two administrators. My subsequent proposal that I work in the field of science education in Kansas has been rejected by the University. There is a clear pattern of favoritism for religious expression, while a secular humanist like me is dismissed entirely." On his complaint to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Whitehead listed his religion as "Freethinker." His religious belief not being accommodated is "academic freedom." Whitehead thus continues the American intellectual tradition of Thomas Paine and Robert Ingersoll. More than 150 letters of support have arrived at Kansas University from 34 States and 11 nations. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org/