“Are there epistemologically valid roles for religious faith in science?”  This question is being widely debated in the wake of the recent efforts of creationists to introduce “intelligent design theory” and other supernaturalist hypotheses, usually misrepresented as “theories,” into science classrooms and policy debates. 

When the classrooms are those of public schools or the policies are those of public institutions, the debate often shifts to a narrower question:  “Are there legally permissible roles for religious faith in politics, law, and public life in the United States of America?”  This is the question looming behind the question explicitly posed in this debate:  “Is America a Christian Nation?” 

Dr. Herb Silverman is President of the Secular Coalition for America, a national lobbying organization consisting of several of the largest groups advocating for nonreligious Americans and the separation between church and state.  Silverman is currently Vice-President of the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, and he was the plaintiff in the lawsuit which overturned the religious test for the governorship of South Carolina in 1990, officially recognizing the legal eligibility of atheists to hold public office in the state. 

Silverman's opponent, Chaplain E. Ray Moore, is the Executive Director of the Exodus Mandate Project, a “Christian ministry to encourage and assist Christian families to leave government schools for the Promised Land of Christian schools or home schooling,” according to the organization's website.  Moore has served thirty years in ministry, working as a Bible instructor, Army Reserve Chaplain, and campaign consultant for some 12 political campaigns, including Vice-President Dan Quayle's Senate race in 1980 and Pat Robertson's Presidential campaign from 1986-1988.