<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. - “Intelligent design” is “a religious alternative masquerading as a scientific theory” and cannot be mentioned in biology classes in a Pennsylvania public school district, a federal judge said Tuesday, ruling in one of the biggest courtroom clashes on evolution since the 1925 Scopes trial.</p>
<p>Dover Area School Board members violated the Constitution when they ordered that its biology curriculum must include the notion that life on Earth was produced by an unidentified intelligent cause, U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III said.</p>
<p>We find that the secular purposes claimed by the Board amount to a pretext for the Boards real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom, he wrote in his 139-page opinion. The citizens of the Dover area were poorly served by the members of the Board who voted for the ID Policy, Jones wrote, adding that several members repeatedly LIED to cover their motives even while professing religious beliefs. </p>
<p>I read the whole decision, including the conclusion that Christian Board members deliberately lied under oath in their depositions. It will be interesting to see whether the prosecutor takes a hint.</p>
<p>Phillip Johnson, one of the godfathers of Intelligent Design, was my torts professor in law school. He clerked for Earl Warren on the Supreme Court, somewhere around the era when the court ruled on prayer in the public schools violating the establishment clause.</p>
<p>It seemed pretty obvious to me that “Intelligent Design Theory” was a what used to be known as “Old Earth Creationism” (in contrast with “Young Earth Creationism” that maintains the universe is 6,000 years old) with a nonsectarian fig leaf designed to allow it to pass consitutional muster with the courts. It’s reassuring, though not particularly surprising, to see that the judge saw through that strategy.</p>
<p>Hey Greybeard - I had Johnson for Criminal Procedure. He always was kind of an odd duck, don’t you think? Still - I wouldn’t have guessed he’d have gone off on this weird of a tangent.</p>
<p>I think the opinion is a must read for anyone who is interested in the subject. The gross intellectual dishonesty of the ID proponents as disclosed in the trial is repellant, but that aside, the opinion is a very good and dispassionate dissection of:
Why ID isn’t science, and
Why requiring the teaching of ID in school violates the Constitution.</p>
<p>And the Discovery Institute has now been heard from - blames it all on an “activist judge” with “delusions of grandeur.” Just another Bush-appointed Republican “activist judge”, I guess…</p>
<p>Come on now. We’re not gonna let a few “facts” and the pesky consitution get in the way of the President wants. Why, that would be un-American! And, it aids the terrorists!!!</p>
<p>As the judge pointed out, it was “activist” defendants that tried to bring religion into the classroom, not an activist judge that disallowed it.</p>
<p>For those of you who aren’t familiar with Dover- it is one of the least respected districts in the area. (I live in York County, where Dover is located.) Dover has a reputation of being “redneck” country and unfortunately the entire intelligent design fiasco has completely reinforced that stereotype. </p>
<p>Not only did ID spark a heated courtroom debate, but it has caused mass chaos in the area over school board elections. ID was up against Darwinism last month, so it seemed. There was even a re-vote in one particular part of the district where polling places closed improperly.</p>
<p>Dover gives York, PA a bad name. The publicity this is getting out of hand. Yes, the decision is important. However- anyone ever heard of the Scopes trial? Teachers bringing up subjects others don’t agree with is nothing new.</p>
<p>By the way, my district brings up ID in our biology curriculum as well. We have yet to see a lawsuit, however :)</p>
<p>Isn’t it ironic that Christian Conservatives berate President Bush for sending out “Happy Holiday” cards and yet refuse to acknowledge that Intelligent Design’s “Designer” is really God? Oh, a Space Alien! Nevermind…</p>
<p>Actually, I read about 35 pages or so in detail, then began to skim, stopping when words caught my attention. I did LOOK at all of the pages, skimming and reading paragraphs (or more), and read the last 10 or so in detail. I thought it was fascinating. I did get a little bored where the tests were being applied ad infinitum, but I got the point that the case failed the “smell tests.”</p>
<p>I actually read all 139 pags, because it is in fact quite gripping. Basically, the testimony of the ID people themselves did them in for the charlatans that they are.</p>
<p>(Disclaimer: I happen to believe in an “intelligent designer” and see no contradiction between doing so and the workings of Darwinian evolution whatsoever. My very intelligent children are pretty good at creating chaos, and it is a sight to behold to watch it “evolve”. ;))</p>
~berurah</p>