The same board that voted against Darwin and in favor of God in 2005 is now trying to remove God and religion from schools.

The recurring science-religion clash has erupted again in (where else) Kansas - the geographic center of the lower 48 states, and the very same state that previously ruled that scientific evidence for the evolutionn is “too scarce” to be the primary theory taught by educators.

Kansas’ Department of Education approved new, evolution-friendly science standards with a 6-4 vote last week, replacing ones that questioned the theory and had the support of “intelligent design” advocates.

The shift towards the evolution-friendly approach in Kansas schools is not the result of some scientific breakthrough, it’s merely the outcome of the elections that took place last year for the State Board of Education.

A coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats decided it’s time to favor Darwin over God again, making this the fifth change in standards for Kansas schools in less than eight years.

Conservative Republicans, who recommended in 2005 that students should receive their tuition inside the “intelligent design” frame, said after last Tuesday’s vote they weren’t planning to reopen the debate even if elections go their way in 2008. But the state law will require another review of school standards by 2014.

In the meantime, Darwin’s newly acquired advantage against God is not that certain, with another change possible in the next few years in the Board.

“I think we’re good for two years,” said board member Janet Waugh, a Kansas City Democrat supporting the new standards. “Who knows what the election will hold in two years?”

The Board recommended deleting paragraphs that dealt with the evolution vs. creation problem, and allowing school manuals to include key terms from evolution theory that refer to the common origin of life on Earth and random mutations that lead to the appearance of new species.

The new standards reflect mainstream scientific views of evolution.

“There seems to be a pattern,” said board member Steve Abrams. “Anything that might question the veracity of evolution is deleted.”

The decision came one day after the 198th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, which the University of Kansas celebrated with a costume party and an evolution theory-biased documentary called “Flock of Dodos.”

One wonders how Sen. Sam Brownback, who has declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2008 presidential race, feels about this.

We’re also curious as to whether we can circulate a petition to get the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster into the curriculum if Darwin happens to lose his bid for re-election.