Trial against Darwin's theory

In St. Petersburg, a lawsuit began in connection with the imposition of Darwin's theory in secondary schools. The plaintiffs are Maria and Kirill Schreiber, the parents of a 15-year-old schoolgirl, and the defendant is the Ministry of Education.

"Darwin's theory infringes on the rights of children to have different ideas about the act of human creation. Since this theory has so far been only an unproven hypothesis, its teaching in schools cannot be explained by really objective reasons. Moreover, it is taught as the only possible one from the point of view From the point of view of science, the variant of the origin of man. In the absence of unequivocal evidence, this theory is proposed to be taken on faith, which differs little from religious knowledge. But teaching this theory at school deprives children of the right to choose their worldview. Thus, children are deprived of the opportunity to choose among various concepts of the origin of man. If no one version of the origin of a person can be absolutely true, then why not teach all the main options?", - quotes the "Russian line" IA "Spiritual Heritage".

On October 25, the Oktyabrsky District Court of St. Petersburg began considering the claim. According to Interfax-religion , "during the meeting, the parties listened to each other's positions, after which the court needed additional opinions of specialists in matters of religion, theology and Marxist-Leninist ideology.

To clarify a number of issues necessary for the consideration of this case, specialists from St. Petersburg State University will be involved in the trial. See also the report on Portal-Credo.ru.

Muslims of the Sverdlovsk region came out in support of Maria Schreiber. "Now more and more people understand that Darwin's evolutionary theory is a pure utopia. It's stupidity that man descended from a monkey," said Rais Nurimanov, Council of Muslim Elders of the region. In his opinion, schoolchildren have the right and should know a different point of view on the origin of man.

At the meeting on December 13, the court did not have time to proceed to assess the arguments of the parties. According to the Interfax-religion portal , “at the beginning of the meeting, the court granted the petition of the defendant to bring the author of a biology textbook for grades 10-11, recommended by the Ministry of Education, Sergey Mamontov, to the trial as a third party.

It was from this textbook that biology was taught at school No. 148 of the Vyborgsky district of St. Petersburg.

After the involvement of a third party, the court session actually turned into a discussion between the defendants, representing the natural sciences, and the side of the plaintiffs, who are closer to theology.

During the meeting, the court was unable to proceed with the assessment of evidence, as well as interrogate the previously summoned experts from St. Petersburg State University from the faculties of biology, philosophy and history.

In January 2007, K. Schreiber announced that his daughter had gone to study in the Dominican Republic. "It's not about the fact that my daughter emigrated. But the situation that has developed in the school around her now does not allow her to successfully complete her school education in Russia," he said.

On February 21, 2007, the Oktyabrsky District Court of St. Petersburg dismissed M. Schreiber's claim. It also rejected a demand that the Department of Education and Science issue a written apology to a schoolgirl for offending her religious feelings while studying Darwin's theory in biology class. Only the operative part was announced, and the motives for refusing to satisfy the claim are not yet known. Representatives of M. Schreiber said they would appeal this decision to the city court of St. Petersburg.

On February 22, Portal-Credo.ru, citing the news agency Novy Region, reported that, according to K. Schreiber, his daughter would no longer go to school. She plans to complete her secondary education by attending courses in various subjects. According to Father M. Schreiber, she is treated with prejudice at school and even in her absence they give bad marks.

On March 6, a cassation appeal against the verdict of the Oktyabrsky District Court was sent on behalf of the plaintiff to the city court of St. Petersburg.

On July 4, the city court refused to satisfy the cassation appeal of the anti-Darivinists.

Sources

• A lawsuit against the imposition of Darwin's theory in secondary schools begins in St. Petersburg // Russian line. 2006. February 27.
• The court of St. Petersburg began to consider the lawsuit of a schoolgirl dissatisfied with the teaching of Darwin's theory // Interfax-religion. 2006. October 26.
• Maksimov V. REPORT: The trial of Darwin: the meeting has begun. Petersburg schoolgirl Masha does not believe that she descended from a monkey // Portal-Credo.ru. 2006. October 26.
• Muslims Support Schoolgirl Demanding to Stop Teaching Darwin's Theory // Islam.ru. 2006. October 30.
• The court in St. Petersburg, considering the schoolgirl's claim, has not yet been able to begin assessing the arguments in favor and against Darwin's theory // Interfax-religion. 2006. December 14.
• St. Petersburg schoolgirl challenging the right to teach Darwin theory in schools will continue her studies in the Dominican Republic // There. 2007. January 30.
• The lawsuit of a schoolgirl who demanded to ban the teaching of Darwin's theory as dominant in school was dismissed by the court // There. February 22.
• Young opponent of Darwin's theory will no longer go to school // Portal-Credo.ru. 2007. February 22. (With reference to IA New Region.)
• Anti-Darwinist schoolgirl appeals court decision // RIA News. 2007. March 6.
• The court of St. Petersburg rejected the claim of anti-Darwinist Schreiber to the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia // Institute of Religion and Politics. 2007. July 4th. (With reference to ITAR-TASS.)