Posted on 10/03/2005 6:22:51 AM PDT by PatrickHenry
After a weekend break from a court case involving intelligent design, the Dover school board officials will face business as usual. The board today will hold its first school board meeting since the trial began.
On Sunday, Dover school board member David Napierski said he sympathized with the time fellow members Shelia Harkins and Alan Bonsell have spent on the court case.
I really havent seen it erode them from their duties, he said. It definitely has taken a lot of their time . . . I think it is sapping some of the people, too.
The trial began Sept. 26 in U.S. Middle District Court in Harrisburg. It resumes Wednesday.
Napierski hopes to attend at least one day per week of the trial.
Were seeing one side of the whole picture right now, he said. I think its going to go all the way up to the Supreme Court.
He said dealing with the court case while running the school district is a double-edged sword.
I just hope and pray that our focus will stay on business, he said.
School district residents might have a difficult time resuming day-to-day life as it was before the trial began.
Lonnie Langioni left his position as a school board member in Dover in 2003. He said the issue has divided the community and he wants folks to again be friends.
Were just going to have to let it run its course, he said about the trial. Im just waiting for the day that this is all over and that the people of Dover can go back to talking to each other again.
He said he follows the case and reads newspapers and articles online.
Its crossed all kinds of lines, he said of the trial. Dover is a great community. We all need to respect each others viewpoints.
Former Dover school board member Barrie Callahan, a plaintiff in the court case, is ready to spend more time in court this week.
The case needs to proceed, she said Saturday. I know the issue. To see it through the process is truly fascinating.
Youre seeing the best of the best, she said about attorneys. It is an honor to be in their presence.
She said shes been following news of the trial posted online.
Its not about little tiny Dover, she said. This case really, really is important.
UPDATE
Trial schedule: The trial resumes Wednesday and Thursday in U.S. Middle District Court in Harrisburg and is scheduled to continue Oct. 12, 14, 17 through 21, 24, 27 and Nov. 2 through 4.
At stake: Its the most significant court challenge to evolution since 1987, and its the first time a court has been asked to rule whether intelligent design can be taught in public schools. Experts say the cases outcome could influence how science is defined and taught in schools across the country. The lead defense lawyer said he wanted to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Coming this week: Among the scheduled witnesses: Dover school district science teacher Bertha Spahr and Jennifer Miller and plaintiffs Cynthia Sneath, Joel Leib and Deb Fenimore.
Barbara Forrest, a professor of philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University, also is scheduled. Forrest co-authored Creationisms Trojan Horse, subtitled The Wedge of Intelligent Design.
Diapers
OK. Things are hanging by a thread here, but I'll extend the cooling off period another year.
It isn't the room, it's the lighting.
Regularity would imply a Regulator. Somewhat a different job description from Designer and the career would be longer.
"Regularity would imply a Regulator."
No it doesn't. It just means that there are patterns and predictable processes in nature. It implies no Regulator or Designer. There may be a Regulator or a Designer, but without knowledge of them or of their capabilities there is no way to tell.
Paley proved a Watchmaker. He needed to prove a Watchwinder and Watchsetter [could be the same entity] to keep the watch wound up and to reset it now and then to railroad time.
Patterns are created by the mind. Processes are created by the mind. Nature has none of these things.
Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns arent lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.
-Dorothy Parker
Are there no patterns until the mind recognizes such? This is "tree falls in a forest" semantics. Here's what quartz crystals look like if they form slowly enough in a non-disruptive environment.
This can be understood in terms of chemical bonds and the shapes of molecules. Thus, we know it isn't an illusion of just one or two people's minds. There's an underlying pattern out there in nature. If you're saying the pattern is just the thing in someone's mind, you're using a unique definition of "pattern."
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."
-- Groucho Marx.
Dorothy Parker: "Pearls before swine!" (Breezes on through)
"Paley proved a Watchmaker."
Paley TRIED to prove a Watchmaker. There's a difference. He failed.
" Patterns are created by the mind. Processes are created by the mind. Nature has none of these things."
No, the world has patterns and processes whether there is an intelligence to understand them. The world is what it is whether we know it or not.
"If all the girls from Bryn Mahr were laid end to end, it would probably be Saturday."
--(Not really Parker.)
I require only three things of a man. He must be handsome, ruthless and stupid.Take care of luxuries and the necessities will take care of themselves.
It serves me right for keeping all my eggs in one bastard.
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