OK, Coffee Break’s Over, everybody back on your heads again! (See Joke 19, warning: foul word.)
I’ve been following the Dover, PA lawsuit by parents against school-board-mandated instruction in “Intelligent Design” closely. This is, in my opinion, a crucial case for preserving public school science classrooms from future domination by individual religions, and for preserving the rights of parents to educate their children in religious matters without governmental interference. For others who may not have been following the case with similar rapt interest, here are some relevant links:
- Chief school board proponents of ID caught perjuring themselves
- More details of ID proponent lying under oath. OK, you obviously can’t throw out an entire case due to some moron lying in court. But it looks really, really bad when you corner the defendant into admitting that he passed money under the table — and lied about it under oath — in a clumsy attempt to disguise his involvement.
- The plaintiff’s closing arguments. (PDF format, Adobe Reader required) This closing argument, IMHO, is very readable, reasonably brief, and summarizes in very clear form why Intelligent Design is a religiously-motivated, unscientific rehashing of Creationism, which violates the Establishment clause of the Constitution and should not be taught in public school science classes.
- This New York Times article (free registration required) documents how the Thomas More Law Center shopped around for five years looking for a school district willing to promote Intelligent Design in science classroooms in order to inspire a lawsuit like this one.
Here are my thoughts and speculations:
- It looks like many ID supporters are bitterly disappointed by the self-appointed champions of classroom ID in PA. Between the defendants’ inability to tell the truth, well-documented Creationist motivations, and hand-in-the-cookie-jar efforts to launder money in support of their religious aims in public school, I have to agree: evolution supporters would be hard-pressed to find more inept public officials supporting Intelligent Design.
- Elections were yesterday, and several of the positions of the ID supporters are up for grabs. Returns aren’t due for some time, but I strongly suspect the Dover voters will express their disappointment with the existing Board in a very direct fashion. I know I would.
- While most supporters of science will score this as a victory, I’m certain Creationism in public schools will come up in court again. Probably sooner than the 30 years it took for this to come back from the previous Supreme Court decision.
- I think this decision works more to preserve their parental rights than public-school instruction in ID. I think of it in terms of some other principle — say, the “Intelligent Thunder Theory”, with Asgard and Thor supporters advocating it be taught in science classrooms to explain the weather. Without special pleading, it just doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.
- I’m certain more rednecks will get their 15 seconds of fame on the TV decrying how American government and “activist judges” are perverting the government into a god-hating secular state in opposition to popular will. Never mind that religion thrives in America mostly because of church/state separation.
Booyah!
This morning local radio reported a clean sweep for Dover CARES candidates–the pro-logic side of the aisle. Very exciting. (Particularly in conjunction with the first recall of a sitting judge ever in PA history, which was the voters response to an unconstitutional 16% pay hike passed by the state legislature.) Voters can make a difference today.
Did you say Delaware, there? I know the East is just the mission field to you guys in UT, but there are 200 million of us, you know.
PA not Delaware, tossed the bums out…
I initially typed Delaware, but I fixed it about an hour ago. Curse you for checking before I did so 🙂 And if you remember, I’m from DC. I live in a fly-over state…
News article on the slate of board positions chucked out: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051109/ap_on_re_us/evolution_showdown_2
Not to make an ad populum assertion, but it looks like the voters have spoken. And they were not happy with the school board.
And yet, in Kansas, ID wins. Barely, 6-4. Glad I don’t live there… if you recall, it was the place which spawned this particular legislator who, ironically enough, says women shouldn’t be allowed to vote!
Most quotable quote from the Sign On San Diego article:
Yeah, we heard it from Kansas first: any pursuit which uses a systematic method of study can be called science now. I found this useful little site that covers the changes. http://www.kansasscience2005.com/ .
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Hmmm
<rant> Let’s poke holes in the THEORY of Evolution and claim that since we can’t fully explain it, God must have done it.
If you want to explain the gaps in human knowledge using something mystical, go ahead. Just don’t burn the scientists when we finally do figure our a natural cause for what you’ve attributed to a higher power.
When a person has a relationship with God, that’s wonderful. It’s just when you have a group of people with that agenda, things go bad.
Separation of church and state. I don’t care if you teach kids there are gaps in the Theory of Evolution. I just take offense when you teach that some higher power may be involved IN A SCIENCE CLASS!. Teach that in social studies where it belongs.
</rant>
All 8 Were Replaced
The NY Times Digest I read in Anguilla did a better job of reporting the vote when it stated, plainly, that all 8 psycho religious freak Republican Board Members were replaced by 8 new Board Members as a result of the vote.
Of course, I may be para-phrasing.
I’m also following the trial.
A key tenet for the defense is that ID is not a religious theory and in no way related to Creationism. The Supreme Court already struck down Creationism in the science classroom in the 1987 Edwards v Aguillard case, so it is critical for the defense to try and distance themselves from Creationism as much as possible. The ID supporters deperately want to make themselves out to be concerned parents, educators, and scientists who have nothing to do with that old Creationism stuff.
This is really the key point of the whole trial. ID cannot equal creationism for it to pass muster of the 1987 Supreme Court case.
Anyway, part of the statement that the ID community wants read to school students refers them specifically to check out the book “Of Pandas and People” (conveniently provided and paid for by concerned Christians) to learn more about Intelligent Design.
So, it was awesome when Barbara Forrest took the stand and began showing slides of the drafts for “Of Pandas and People.” The early versions all say “Creationism” instead of “Intelligent Design!” The C-word was merely replaced!
Best of all, in one of the drafts, they even botched the replacement of the word! Instead of “creationists” they had, “cdesign proponentsists”.
Oh man. That was a Perry Mason moment. Check out the details here: NCSE Trial Coverage
ID should absolutely be in Science..
If you look at the…
Just kidding.. (In the last argument, I was clockng 3 hours a day writing.. time to go back to showering, eating and paying bills, you Godless heathens)
SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!!
I agree
Be excellent to each other!
Burrito…
(attaches burrito to fishing line) (lowers to Justin)
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Careful..
I jumped off a 60 ft cliff once for a burrito.. no joke.
Oh, and now I’m hungry.. grr..
60 foot cliff?
Are you serious?
That’s blog-worthy. The best I did was falling off the roof of my house trying to recover a balsa-wood airplane…
—
Matthew P. Barnson
yup..
It will come – (if I haven’t blogged it before)
Not to beat a dead horse…
Not to beat a dead horse, but I now believe it’s just not possible for Pat Robertson to open his mouth without more stupidity spilling out:
This is the same guy who said New Orleans was destroyed because Ellen Degeneres (comedienne and acknowledged lesbian; N.O. was her hometown) was selected to host Hollywood’s Emmy awards, that the September 11 attack was a direct result of her having been selected for the same honor.
Maybe I should take him seriously. I mean, he has claimed to be a faith healer of hemmorhoids, flat feet, and vericose veins. And I’ve had one of those… he cured me! Hallelujah!
Ugh. I can’t believe this guy actually had enough support to run for president at one time. Like the idiots who claimed that the deaths in New Orleans were due to its “sinfulness”… No, actually, the statistics would show if that were the case that it was punished for having old people, black people, poor people, and the sick and infirm, because those were the people who died.
If God strikes Dover, PA with a disaster because of their decision to vote sane candidates into office, then I believe He struck Pat with cancer because Pat’s an obnoxious, self-righteous prick.
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Actually, the one part of
Actually, the one part of New Orleans that stayed mostly dry was the French Quarter, the absolute heart of Mardis Gras with all its wonderful hedonism. Meanwhile, several highly religious wards faced wave after wave of liquified divine wrath.
I also offer exhibit B: the paths that last year’s hurricanes took when they ravaged Florida. The most heavily ravaged counties were the ones that voted for Bush. Most blue counties were left untouched.
Circumstancial evidence and only correlational logic? Perhaps. But maybe, just maybe, there’s enough evidence to at least make worthy of discussion the idea that maybe God just really hates Christians…