US Constitution's First Amendment Gets Its Own Website. (October 2, 2005)

    The first amendment to the US Constitution was ratified on December 15, 1791 and is one of the first ten amendments collectively known as The Bill of Rights. It reads,

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

An oft tested interpretation of the First Amendment is the guarantee of separation of church and state.

    Yesterday, a group of US leading scientists, clergy and legal scholars announced the formation of the Campaign to Defend the Constitution to combat the threat posed by the religious right to democracy, public education and scientific leadership in the United States. The Campaign's intention is to "oppose efforts to control and distort religion, education, science and culture in ways that ultimately threaten the health and well-being of American society.

Their Website: http://www.defconamerica.org.

The Campaign's first "DefCon Alert" is a hyperlinked map showing America's top ten "islands of ignorance," where science education is under attack - including, of course, the Dover, Pennsylvania school district.