It is just about the time when Linus starts looking for The Great Pumpkin. Which is as good a reason as any to take time to reflect upon that fundamental American principle of the separation of church and state.

What’s the connection?

Just think what would happen if that insidious young boy from "Peanuts" were to marshal forces with other adherents to The Great Pumpkin mythology. Why, soon they would be clamoring for us to teach it in the schools. Indeed, some of these fanatics would even start running for the school board and begin infiltrating through our administration. Before we knew it, these zealots would be filling our impressionable young children’s minds with this foolish fable!

Sound ridiculous?

At this very moment, there are thousands and thousands of equally fervent believers seeking to force an equally ridiculous premise on the students of our public school systems.

Creationism is the term employed to describe the theory that God created the world in six calendar days. Starting with light on the first day and arriving at glorious humanity by the sixth, according to this theory it all happened in one pretty dramatic week a little over six thousand years ago.

Bizarre might be the best word to describe such a postulation. Still, millions of faithful Jews and Christians subscribe to it.

This is certainly their right. They are free to pit ancient myth against contemporary science.

What they are not, and must not, be free to do, is foist such ludicrousness on our kids in the name of education.

A few years ago, the dean of a charter school was removed from her position for refusing to teach creationism. The board of directors, composed of a majority of the religious right, demanded that she indoctrinate the children in this particular religious belief. Because she understood and valued the Constitution, she refused. For this she was fired.

Such an un-American action should send a shiver down our collective spine. It is my understanding that the pervading strategy on the part of our creationist co-citizens is to penetrate the power structures in our schools and continue to abuse our rights as Americans to the separation of church and state.

As a product of the parochial school system, I am particularly aware of the value of our freedom to worship as we please. As a citizen of the United States of America, I am also deeply convinced that we cannot allow anyone, no matter how powerful or popular, to dictate what we must believe.

There is no question that there is a growing force seeking to deny us these fundamental rights.

The most common argument employed by the creationist attempts to appeal to our sense of fair play. All they are asking, they claim, is to have their theory taught on a par with the theory of evolution.

It sounds reasonable enough, I suppose, until you start wondering what we will do with those other true believers who are convinced the world began on Saturn, or the folks who are sure it all started in Atlantis, or that one cute kid looking out for The Great Pumpkin.