‘Intelligent design’ teaching ban

A court in the US has ruled against the teaching of “intelligent design” alongside Darwin’s theory of evolution.

A group of parents in the Pennsylvania town of Dover had taken the school board to court for demanding biology classes not teach evolution as fact. The authorities wanted to introduce the idea that Earth’s life was too complicated to have evolved on its own. Judge John Jones ruled the school board had violated the constitutional ban on teaching religion in public schools.

The 11 parents who brought the case argued that teaching intelligent design (ID) was effectively teaching creationism, which is banned. They complained that ID – which argues life must have been helped to develop by an unseen power – was tantamount to religious education.

The separation of church and state is enshrined in the US constitution.

The school board argued they had sought to improve science education by exposing pupils to alternatives to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. But Judge Jones said he had determined that ID was not science and “cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents”. In a 139-page written ruling, the judge said: “Our conclusion today is that it is unconstitutional to teach ID as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom.”

He accused school board members of disguising their true motives for introducing the ID policy. “We find that the secular purposes claimed by the board amount to a pretext for the board’s real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom,” he said.

He banned any future implementation of the policy in Dover schools. (bold emphasis mine)

The case, the first of its kind, sets an important precedent in a country where several states have adopted the teaching of ID, reports the BBC’s James Coomerasamy in Washington. Ironically, he adds, it is a somewhat academic ruling in the Dover area since parents there voted last month to replace the school board members who brought in the policy. That move provoked US TV evangelist Pat Robertson to warn the town was invoking the wrath of God.

A lawyer for the parents said the ruling was a “real vindication” for those families who challenged the school.

This article was taken from the BBC here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4545822.stm

You can read more here:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/12/20/intelligent.design/index.html?section=cnn_topstories

All of the Intelligent Design supporters on the Dover, PA school board were ousted in Monday’s elections.

From the York Dispatch:

Dover CARES sweeps school dir. seats
STAFF REPORTS

Dover CARES candidates swept eight seats available on the Dover Area School Board in tonight’s election, according to unofficial vote totals from the York County elections office.

Sixteen candidates sought the eight seats and were split into two camps, based largely on the issue of intelligent design.

Dover CARES candidates think that if intelligent design is referenced, it should be in an elective course, such as comparative religion.

The incumbent school board members who were ousted in Tuesday’s election favor mentioning intelligent design in biology classes.

Winning four-year seats tonight were Dover CARES candidates Bernadette Reinking (2,754 votes), Terry Emig (2,716), Herbert McIlvaine Jr. (2,677) and Bryan Rehm (2,625).

Incumbent board members seeking those seats were Sherrie Leber (2,584), James Cashman (2,526), Edward Rowand (2,547) and Alan Bonsell (2,469).

Winning two-year seats were Dover CARES candidates Lawrence Gurreri (2,623), Judy McIlvaine (2,658) and Patricia Dapp (2,670).

Incumbent board members seeking those seats were Eric Riddle (2,545), Ronald Short (2,544) and Sheila Harkins (2,466).

In a race for a separate two-year seat, Dover CARES candidate Phil Herman edged school board member David Napierskie, 2,542 votes to 2,516.

A victory for those of us who believe ID belongs in a religious studies class and not in the science classroom. Unfortunately, the Kansas State Board of Education in a 6-4 vote, decided in their vote Monday to allow ID in the classroom.

From the /. article here:

kwietman writes “The Kansas State Board of Education voted 6-4 to allow science students in public schools to hear materials critical of evolution in biology classes. The new curriculum mentions that theories of life arising from similar building-block molecules through purely random processes can be challenged by recent findings in the fossil record and by molecular biology. Not all were happy, however. ‘This is a sad day. We’re becoming a laughingstock of not only the nation, but of the world, and I hate that,’ said board member Janet Waugh. The new standards will be used in statewide standardized testing; the students are still expected to know ‘basic evolutionary principles.’ As part of the decision, the Board of Education also went so far as to redefine science itself, saying that it is ‘no longer limited to the search for natural explanations of phenomena.”

Read the MSN article here.

Some of the comments on /. are not too optimistic about the Kansas approach to things. For instance:

“And those in the Kansas government should know that this issue is making Kansas a laughing stock world wide. There is absolutely nothing that you could do to get me to move my family, science or business there. Speaking of business, we are in the initial stages of moving technologies we have developed into the privately funded domain and early estimates are that we are sitting on significantly large markets right out the door with significant expansion likely in a variety of areas. Kansas does not remotely have a chance of attracting businesses like ours given the educational climate required for our work. We need students and employees who are well prepared in the sciences and are capable of thinking independently, and if the school board succeeds in misleading their students, they are of no use to us.”

It’s almost like a giant leap backwards to the days of cave-dwelling and animal sacrifice IMHO. What will they think of next, re-building Solomon’s Temple and re-establishing the Levite priesthood? Turning water into wine? These people are delusional nutjobs. The scariest thing mentioned though, is that the school board, without review nor approval, decided to redefine the meaning of science. What does this mean for the children taught there? How will they cope with reality once they get to college, and find that everything they were taught in highschool “science” is worthless? Talk about the dumbing down of America. These religious zealots are masters of it.