West Virginia man claims daughter might never be a veterinarian if she learns evolution in school

Kenneth Smith of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia is suing a slew of local and federal officials, alleging that the state's practice of teaching evolution in schools is an infringement on his daughter's civil rights.

On May 12, Smith filed suit at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. Representing himself, defendants in the case include the Jefferson County Board of Education, state Superintendent Michael Martirano, National Institute of Health director Francis Collins, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and the U.S. Department of Education, the Charleston Daily Mail reports.

The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) helpfully posted the full text of Smith's filing on its website.

According to Smith, public officials have fostered "the propagation of religious faith" in the state's public schools.

Smith writes that teaching evolution in West Virginia public schools threatens his daughter's veterinary prospects. Smith adds that evolutionary science "doesn't exist and has no math to back it."

Smith argues that taking evolution out of the West Virginia curriculum would be beneficial to the state's economy, judiciary, and police force, and defends his legal rationale by citing an "accurate scientific mathematical system of genetic variations that proves evolution is a religion."

In closing, Smith asks the court to declare "the policy of evolution" unconstitutional.

The NCSE points out that Smith published a book in 2013 called The True Origin of Man. "This book represents the truth of man's origins confirmed by D.N.A. mathematical and scientific facts," reads the Amazon description. "Student readers of this book will be informed first ahead of their college professors on the new direction of D.N.A.'s future of calculating the mutated percentage cells in any genome. Truth! Some people love being first to know secrets. Others being ahead of the game and the readers of this book will have that cutting edge in life."