Posted on 12/20/2005 12:12:16 PM PST by truthfinder9
SEATTLE — "The Dover decision is an attempt by an activist federal judge to stop the spread of a scientific idea and even to prevent criticism of Darwinian evolution through government-imposed censorship rather than open debate, and it won't work," said Dr. John West, Associate Director of the Center for Science and Culture at Discovery Institute, the nation's leading think tank researching the scientific theory known as intelligent design. “He has conflated Discovery Institute’s position with that of the Dover school board, and he totally misrepresents intelligent design and the motivations of the scientists who research it.”
“A legal ruling can't change the fact that there is digital code in DNA, it can’t remove the molecular machines from the cell, nor change the fine tuning of the laws of physics,” added West. “The empirical evidence for design, the facts of biology and nature, can't be changed by legal decree."
In his decision, Judge John Jones ruled that the Dover, Pennsylvania school district violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by requiring a statement to be read to students notifying them about intelligent design. Reaching well beyond the immediate legal questions before him, Judge Jones offered wide-ranging and sometimes angry comments denouncing intelligent design and praising Darwinian evolution.
"Judge Jones found that the Dover board violated the Establishment Clause because it acted from religious motives. That should have been the end to the case," said West. "Instead, Judge Jones got on his soapbox to offer his own views of science, religion, and evolution. He makes it clear that he wants his place in history as the judge who issued a definitive decision about intelligent design. This is an activist judge who has delusions of grandeur."
"Anyone who thinks a court ruling is going to kill off interest in intelligent design is living in another world," continued West. "Americans don't like to be told there is some idea that they aren't permitted to learn about.. It used to be said that banning a book in Boston guaranteed it would be a bestseller. Banning intelligent design in Dover will likely only fan interest in the theory."
"In the larger debate over intelligent design, this decision will be of minor significance," added Discovery Institute attorney Casey Luskin. "As we've repeatedly stressed, the ultimate validity of intelligent design will be determined not by the courts but by the scientific evidence pointing to design.”
Luskin pointed out that the ruling only applies to the federal district in which it was handed down. It has no legal effect anywhere else. The decision is also unlikely to be appealed, since the recently elected Dover school board members campaigned on their opposition to the policy. "The plans of the lawyers on both sides of this case to turn this into a landmark ruling have been preempted by the voters," he said.
"Discovery Institute continues to oppose efforts to mandate teaching about the theory of intelligent design in public schools," emphasized West. "But the Institute strongly supports the freedom of teachers to discuss intelligent design in an objective manner on a voluntary basis. We also think students should learn about both the scientific strengths and weaknesses of Darwin's theory of evolution."
Drawing on recent discoveries in physics, biochemistry and related disciplines, the scientific theory of intelligent design proposes that some features of the natural world are best explained as the product of an intelligent cause rather than an undirected process such as natural selection. Proponents include scientists at numerous universities and science organizations around the world.
You are a member of the superfamily Hominoidea. As are all great apes.
http://www.chimpanzoo.org/hominoid.html
Why don't you tell me where this fantastic science item can be located?
Lawsuits can be dismissed.
susie
If you were as brilliant has you claim, why don't you already know? It's been the biggest shift in thinking in human origins. I thought you Darwin Fundies were all super intellects?
I've actually never heard anyone say that they "believe" in evolution. "Belief" implies an adoption of an idea even though there is no rational proof (such as ID), whereas evolution is backed up with actual scientific evidence.
Except for the fact that it was created specifically to try and sneak Creation Science past the Constitution. Nice try, but the history doesn't bear out your assertion.
I am beginning to think you are a liar.
Apes are, by definition, members of the Hominoidea superfamily. Great apes are, by definition, members of the fmaily Hominidae.
Humans are members of Hominidae. Humans are great apes.
Appeal to numbers. If "many" scientists think this, then it still doesn't matter. "Many" of them are wrong.
Funny, I thought someone using my nick and writing in a manner resembling me just said that taxpayers should decide what gets taught in schools. I just have a problem with teaching ID as science, cause it's not. Would you have a unit on the Declaration of Indpendence in your calculus class?
Wait, I forgot the cardinal rule. Facts don't work on people who reached their conclusion without considering the facts. So I won't bother.
Why would one have to sneak creation science past the Constitution?
susie
Science involves theories. Theories aren't proven. Neither evolution or ID is proven or likely will be. I encourage evolution being taught in schools. It just doesn't make sense to completely ignore the gaps and problems with it and then completely ignore all the evidences of the theory of ID. How can it hurt the kids to teach them about controversy? If they know both sides they'll be able to look at it more objectively. Not just being taught one side and having no idea of the other side.
And yet anytime evolution is questioned, it's defenders leap readily to attack those who would dare question the faith (and not the ideas they set forth). Yep. Very "Scientific".
Witty!
susie
Did you know that our understanding of genetics and the theory of evolution is used to develop flu shots each year? The flu virus mutates and we use our knowledge of genetic mutation and evolution to predict the proper vaccine.
If you get flu shots, you are placing your trust in our knowledge of evolution to keep you healthy. In case you want to read more:
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/relevance/IApathogens.shtml
It's sad how much people fight tooth and nail against such a basic fact of reality. Life evolved. It's really funny that you and others like you find it insulting that we evolved from earlier life forms (fact), yet have no problem with the idea that an invisible man in the sky created us out of mud (myth).
I hear you. (The difference obviously missed you.)
"The attractive force between two bodies is proportional to their masses and inversly proportional to the square of the distance between them" - That's the LAW of gravity.
Why? - That's the THEORY of gravity. And there's a Nobel Prize in it for you if you can come up with a better explanation than the current one.
Very good point. I strongly support this decision, and think it was the right one. However, the people who oppose it should be very careful about what they ask for. If this had been allowed, every religion would have asked that their theory on the origin of life be taught, from Hinduism to Flying Spaghetti Monster-ism.
I include the latter, because it would happen, and it would then put the courts in the untenable position of deciding which religious beliefs could be taught in the schools. It would be used to marginalize Christianity, and ultimately polarize Christians against non-Christians, and there are more on the non side in the US than most of us imagine.
Consider the scenario of muslims moving to a town of about 15,000 in numbers large enough to control the vote. Probably only take 5 or 6 thousand the first election, and they control the city government and school board. You wouldn't want them to schedule school holidays around Ramadan or the birth of Mohammad, or require the girls to wear veils to school would you? It's easy to say it doesn't matter and that a little won't hurt when Christianity is the dominant religion, but if that changes, we would see things from a much different perspective.
"gentics in recent years has been showing that man and "apes" aren't related. Look it up"
You haven't met my Uncle Earl
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