The Louisiana Legislature explicitly set forth its secular purpose *627 ("protecting academic freedom") in the very text of the Act. La.Rev.Stat. § 17:286.2 (West 1982). We have in the past repeatedly relied upon or deferred to such expressions, see, e.g., Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Regan, 444 U.S., at 654, 100 S.Ct., at 846-47; Meek v. Pittenger, 421 U.S., at 363, 367-368, 95 S.Ct., at 1764-1765; Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist, 413 U.S., at 773, 93 S.Ct., at 2965-66; Levitt v. Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty, 413 U.S., at 479-480, n. 7, 93 S.Ct., at 2819 n. 7; Tilton v. Richardson, 403 U.S., at 678-679, 91 S.Ct., at 2095-96 (plurality opinion); Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S., at 613, 91 S.Ct., at 2111; Board of Education v. Allen, 392 U.S., at 243, 88 S.Ct., at 1926.The Court seeks to evade the force of this expression of purpose by stubbornly misinterpreting it, and then finding that the provisions of the Act do not advance that misinterpreted purpose, thereby showing it to be a sham. The Court first surmises that "academic freedom" means "enhancing the freedom of teachers to teach what they will," ante, at 2578 --even though "academic freedom" in that sense has little scope in the structured elementary and secondary curriculums with which the Act is concerned. Alternatively, the Court suggests that it might mean "maximiz[ing] the comprehensiveness and effectiveness of science instruction," ante, at 2579 --though that is an exceedingly strange interpretation of the words, and one that is refuted on the very face of the statute. See § 17:286.5. Had the Court devoted to this central question of the meaning of the legislatively expressed purpose a small fraction of the research into legislative history that produced its quotations of religiously motivated statements by individual legislators, it would have discerned quite readily what "academic freedom" meant: students' freedom from indoctrination. The legislature wanted to ensure that students would be free to decide for themselves how life began, based upon a fair and balanced presentation of the scientific evidence--that is, to protect "the right of each [student] voluntarily to determine what to believe (and what not to believe) free of any coercive pressures from the State." *628 Grand Rapids School District v. Ball, 473 U.S., at 385, 105 S.Ct., at 3223. The legislature did not care whether the topic of origins was taught; it simply wished to ensure that when the topic was taught, students would receive " 'all of the evidence.' " Ante, at 2579 (quoting Tr. of Oral Arg. 60).As originally introduced, the "purpose" section of the Balanced Treatment Act read: "This Chapter is enacted for the purposes of protecting academic freedom ... of students ... and assisting students in their search for truth." 1 App. E-292 (emphasis added). Among the proposed findings of fact contained in the original version of the bill was the following: "Public school instruction in only evolution-science ... violates the principle of academic freedom because it denies students a choice between scientific models and instead indoctrinates them in evolution science alone." Id., at E-295 (emphasis added). [FN5] Senator Keith unquestionably understood "academic freedom" to mean "freedom **2602 from indoctrination." See id., at E-36 (purpose of bill is "to protect academic freedom by providing student choice"); id., at E-283 (purpose of bill is to protect "academic freedom" by giving students a "choice" rather than subjecting them to "indoctrination on origins").
Are you still convinced that the Balanced Treatment Act had no secular purpose?
Contrast these two purposes:
1. The religious purpose of "advanc[ing] the religious viewpoint that a supernatural being created humankind." (p. 1848)
2. The secular purpose of protecting impressionable children, who are a captive audience in the public schools, from a one-sided presentation about human origins.
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