A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the “intelligent design” explanation for the origin of life cannot be taught in biology classes in a Pennsylvania public school district.

The Dover Area School Board violated the Constitution when it ordered that its biology curriculum must include “intelligent design,” the notion that life on Earth was produced by an unidentified intelligent cause, U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III ruled.

“The citizens of the Dover area were poorly served by the members of the Board who voted for the ID Policy,” Jones wrote. “It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy.”

Bravo!



  1. Andrew Keeslar says:

    Why do they have to say anything about evolution or ID, its the KIDS that matter not the beliefs of the towns people.Aren’t the kids supposed to be learning about science not the religious biases of their town. Most of the kids dont care or are not paying attention in science class anyway(I know that from experience).

  2. Pat says:

    Kevin

    Compare other higher primate’s hands with a humans hand. They are relatively similar, four fingers and a thumb, a palm, wrist, and similar bones. Yet the human hand has the thumb opposed to the fingers where the primate’s are adjacent. This mutation allows the human style hand to grasp things much more strongly, better then the primate’s which can only wrap its fingers around something. The thumb gives humans much more dexterity, allowing them to use tools much more efficiently then the other primates.

    The lack of pigment allows better absorption of sunlight allowing the body to make Vitamin D. The science on ultra-violet radiation is under review as perhaps having been over reactive. While the incidence of skin cancer was relatively rare, since the high usage of UV blocker has come an increase in Vitamin D deficiency. Artificial Vit. D is not as beneficial as natural Vit. D. That said, it may not be as detrimental to absorb the UV as thought.

    I never claimed to understand Darwin. Actually I do. I do not believe everything that Darwin wrote was correct though. First, realize that he made his observations with extremely primitive instruments. There was very little background or previous science on the matter for Darwin to use. Furthermore, he wrote this 160 years ago. There is little about his general theory that needs correcting though. All science comes into review and as man’s knowledge grows, that science is refined and corrected. There might be gaps or misunderstood aspects to evolution, but I am very confident that with time, they too will be explained.

    As far as religion goes though, if it can’t be explained then it is God’s will. Or some other excuse. We know that people lived to an average age of about 30 to 35 years in biblical times. That was because of the lack of good diet, bacterial infections, other medical care, and accidents. As all these causes are address, our average life span has more then doubled to where it is closing in on the expected natural life span. The sun rising in the sky every morning was because the earth revolved around the sun, not the other way around. The stars in the sky are from the uncountable other suns. Higher life forms are from the combination of sperm and egg, not God’s divine intervention.

  3. Parallax Abstraction says:

    “To say that ID/Creationism has no scientific basisis incorrect. There are many bonafide scientists who use the real facts to show that the ID or Creation model is at least as well supported.”

    Really? Please give examples cause I’ve never found any of the “bonafide scientists” you speak of. And when you give you examples, please do not provide ones that are just religious leaders who claim to have an understanding of science. Real scientists schooled in scientific institutions would be more credible.

  4. Tim says:

    You look at the universe and experience teaches you to accept certain things as true whether you can understand them or not. You come up with theories about why things work the way they do. Sometimes though things don’t work the way you want; what should happen doesn’t, the numbers just don’t add up. So someone, somewhere comes up with an explanation, one that makes everything add up and work out nicely in the end so everyone can sleep at night knowing the meaning of life is “Just so” and it all makes sense. Never mind that this knowldge by its nature cannot be measured and whose only proof is that life’s equations don’t add up without it. Add to that you’re considered a kook if you don’t believe it, because, well, just because. It’s a matter of faith.

    God?

    No,

    Dark matter.


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