Creationism is stealing headlines again in Pennsylvania.Eight years after Americans United successfully challenged the Dover School District’s attempt to push creationism in public schools, lawmakers are at it again. State Representative Stephen Bloom (R-Cumberland) is now seeking co-sponsors for a bill that would allow students to question evolutionary theory.Bloom calls it a move to protect “academic freedom.” The Philadelphia Inquirer quotes Bloom as saying, “In the real world, outside of academia, scientific theory is up for all kinds of argument. I don’t think it’s right to exclude any particular kind of argument prima facie. If a student wants to discuss a criticism, he or she should be able to.”Nothing on the Pennsylvania books forbids the sort of questioning that Bloom says he wants to protect. This isn’t a matter of academic freedom. It’s yet another attempt to force a right-wing religious agenda into public schools.The states of Louisiana and Tennessee have adopted similar “academic freedom” bills and the Inquirer states that since 2004, 50 such measures have been introduced for consideration across the country. Bloom’s push isn’t an isolated incident; it’s clearly part of a coordinated national campaign to promote creationism.Bloom needs to read the 2005 Dover decision, in which U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III identified intelligent design as a “relabeling” of creationism, which is an exclusively religious belief.Bloom thinks he’s found a way around that decision. He’s adamant that the bill he’s proposed does not mandate religious education. His bill may lack that mandate, but there’s a more insidious presumption at work: that evolution, global warming, and other pet targets of the Religious Right aren’t really science.As an individual, Bloom is entitled to those beliefs. But he really ought to know better than to try to use the public school system to further those views.

Eugenie Scott, who heads the National Center for Science Education in California, told the Inquirer that bills like the one Bloom’s proposes merely create another way for religion to be introduced into public classrooms.

“It's not another point of view, it’s bad science," she said. "Why would you deliberately teach kids bad science?”Why indeed?The answer is that ideologues like Bloom aren’t concerned about teaching science. They’re driven by another conviction entirely: the belief that they need to save souls. And that means proselytizing whenever and wherever possible.

To them, arguing a scientific basis for creationism is an attempt at obscuring the issue by pretending that their theology had a scientific patina. We know better. At the end of the day, creationism is about a narrow interpretation of the Bible. To true believers, any science that conflicts with this interpretation must be discarded, no matter what the evidence shows.

Our public school system simply isn’t the place for proselytization. It’s not the place for these back-door attempts to sneak religious beliefs into public curriculum. The Constitution is clear about this, and that’s why we won in Dover in 2005.

Bloom’s fellow state representatives should remember this and refuse to co-sponsor his reckless legislation.