I'm not sure what the law is, but if a government building is routinely rented out for private functions, they are usually not allowed to discriminate based on the content. The anti-evolutionists may be playing a fun propaganda game with this, but it would probably be a violation of the First Amendment for the Smithsonian to refuse to allow the film to be shown at a private screening. If the Discovery Institute is claiming the film is sponsored by the Smithsonian, that's a different problem and the anti-evolutionists should be jacked up on that basis.
Nathan Newman
----- Original Message ----- From: "B." <docile_body at yahoo.com> To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 11:05 AM Subject: [lbo-talk] Smithsonian to screen pro-"Intelligent Design" film
The Smithsonian is airing a movie on "Intelligent Design" in return for a donation of $16,000 from the Discovery Institute. They claim the money will help them fund science research.
See http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/28/national/28smithsonian.html
-B. ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk