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Professor, teachers to testify in intelligent-design trial [Dover, PA, 05 Oct]
Times Leader ^ | 05 October 2005 | MARTHA RAFFAELE

Posted on 10/05/2005 3:53:39 AM PDT by PatrickHenry

HARRISBURG, Pa. - A philosophy professor and two science teachers were expected to testify Wednesday in a landmark trial over a school board's decision to include a reference to "intelligent design" in its biology curriculum.

Barbara Forrest, a philosophy professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, is being called as an expert witness on behalf of eight families who are trying to have intelligent design removed from the Dover Area School District's biology curriculum. The families contend that it effectively promotes the Bible's view of creation, violating the constitutional separation of church and state.

Forrest's testimony was expected to address what opponents allege is the religious nature of intelligent design, as well as the history and development of the concept, according to court papers filed by the plaintiffs before the trial.

U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III was also expected to hear testimony from Bertha Spahr, chairman of Dover High School's science department, and biology teacher Jennifer Miller.

Under the policy approved by Dover's school board in October 2004, students must hear a brief statement about intelligent design before classes on evolution. It says Charles Darwin's theory is "not a fact," has inexplicable "gaps," and refers students to an intelligent-design textbook for more information.

Intelligent-design supporters argue that life on Earth was the product of an unidentified intelligent force, and that natural selection cannot fully explain the origin of life or the emergence of highly complex life forms.

The plaintiffs are represented by a team put together by the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The school district is being defended by the Thomas More Law Center, a public-interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich., that says its mission is to defend the religious freedom of Christians.

The trial began Sept. 26 and is expected to last as long as five weeks.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; Philosophy; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: cnim; crevolist; dover; evolution
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This is the start of week two of the trial.
1 posted on 10/05/2005 3:53:40 AM PDT by PatrickHenry
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To: VadeRetro; Junior; longshadow; RadioAstronomer; Doctor Stochastic; js1138; Shryke; RightWhale; ...
EvolutionPing
A pro-evolution science list with over 300 names.
See the list's explanation at my freeper homepage.
Then FReepmail to be added or dropped.
See what's new in The List-O-Links.

2 posted on 10/05/2005 3:55:23 AM PDT by PatrickHenry (Disclaimer -- this information may be legally false in Kansas.)
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To: PatrickHenry

Let the games resume.


3 posted on 10/05/2005 3:58:30 AM PDT by js1138 (Great is the power of steady misrepresentation.)
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To: js1138

How about that Supreme nominee, a Bible thumper????


4 posted on 10/05/2005 4:00:02 AM PDT by Just mythoughts
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To: Just mythoughts

You seem to be on the wrong thread. Have some coffee.


5 posted on 10/05/2005 4:06:43 AM PDT by js1138 (Great is the power of steady misrepresentation.)
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To: PatrickHenry
As much as I deplore the ACLU's ideological zealotry to drive out all references to religion and values other than their own from public life, I've always felt the faith community members who have advocated intelligent design and creationism were leading with their chins.

You don't fight bad citizenship with bad science.

Full disclosure: I'm a professional geologist with a "vested interest" in geostratigraphy, chronostratigraphy, and biostratigraphy, all of which are tools without which I couldn't work.

6 posted on 10/05/2005 4:06:59 AM PDT by lentulusgracchus ("Whatever." -- sinkspur)
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To: js1138
Got your intellectual twoXfour out already?
7 posted on 10/05/2005 4:12:09 AM PDT by Just mythoughts
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To: lentulusgracchus

You're gonna love it in these threads. Or hate it. Depends on your sense of humor.


8 posted on 10/05/2005 4:14:29 AM PDT by PatrickHenry (Disclaimer -- this information may be legally false in Kansas.)
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To: lentulusgracchus
You don't fight bad citizenship with bad science.

The Bible is bad science? Evolution is good science? Maybe I jsut don't udnerstand evolution, could you explain to me how man evolved? From the beginning till now.

9 posted on 10/05/2005 4:16:14 AM PDT by newsgatherer
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To: All
I usually add this somewhere near the start of such threads:

The List-O-Links. Info for beginners.
How to argue against a scientific theory.
Another service of Darwin Central, the conspiracy that cares.

10 posted on 10/05/2005 4:22:53 AM PDT by PatrickHenry (Disclaimer -- this information may be legally false in Kansas.)
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To: newsgatherer
The Bible is bad science?

The Bible is science now? I thought ID wasn't about religion.

Thanks for clearing that up.

11 posted on 10/05/2005 4:25:06 AM PDT by Wormwood (Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!)
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To: newsgatherer

The Bible is about faith. Evolution is about science. Not that the two are necessarily incompatible, just different :)


12 posted on 10/05/2005 4:25:48 AM PDT by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
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To: newsgatherer
The Bible is bad science? Evolution is good science?

The bible is religion, evolution is science. Good or bad comes from the mind.

13 posted on 10/05/2005 4:40:47 AM PDT by shuckmaster (Bring back SeaLion and ModernMan!)
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Comment #14 Removed by Moderator

To: mewzilla; shuckmaster
Evolution is about science.

Miller admitted that evolution is not a fact. Where is the fossil record to support the speculation about the existence of 'transitional forms'? The belief in 'transitional forms' is not science; it's nothing more than speculation.

Until evolutionists can provide a credible fossil record supporting the actual existence of 'transitional forms'; they can hardly claim that a belief in evolution does not require a considerable amount of 'faith' in the unknown.

15 posted on 10/05/2005 5:02:29 AM PDT by connectthedots
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To: DaveLoneRanger

Well lookee here; Barbara Forrest is not just another 'philosophy professor'. She's a priestess wannbe in High Leftist Circles. What an utter shock.

Barbara Carroll Forrest
Curriculum Vitae
Position: Professor of Philosophy

Academic Address:

Southeastern Louisiana University
SLU 10484
University Station
Hammond, LA 70402-0001

Education:

B.A., English, Southeastern Louisiana University, 1974
M.A., Philosophy, Louisiana State University, 1978
Ph.D., Philosophy, Tulane University, 1988
Teaching Positions:

Professor of Philosophy, Southeastern Louisiana University, 2002 - Present
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Southeastern Louisiana University, 1994-2002
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Southeastern Louisiana University, 1989-1994
Full-time Instructor of Philosophy, Southeastern Louisiana University, 1988-1989
Part-time Instructor in Philosophy, Southeastern Louisiana University, 1981-1988
Awards:

President's Excellence in Teaching Award, Southeastern Louisiana University, 1998
Woman's Hospital Distinguished Teaching Professorship, Southeastern Louisiana University, 2001-2004
"Friend of Darwin" Award, National Center for Science Education, March 1998
Alex Allain Intellectual Freedom Award, Louisiana Library Association/Social Issues Research Series, Inc., 1999
Conference Presentations:

"A Critical Philosophical Analysis of the Moral Distinction Between Active and Passive Euthanasia," Mid-South Sociological Association, Jackson, MS, November, 1978.

"Naturalism and Education: Sidney Hook's View," Louisiana Philosophy of Education Society, November 18, 1984.

"Sidney Hook, Secular Humanism, and Education," Louisiana Philosophy of Education Society, November 19, 1989.

"Back to Basics: The Use of Newspapers and Other Print Media to Teach Analytical Reading, Writing, and Reasoning," Thirteenth Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking and Educational Reform, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California, August 1993.

"The Philosopher's Role in Holocaust Studies," 27th Annual (International) Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches, Tampa, Florida, March 2, 1997.

"Methodological Naturalism and Philosophical Naturalism: Clarifying the Connection," and "The Possibility of Meaning in Human Evolution," Science and Society Conference. Russian Academy of Sciences; Institute of the History of Natural Sciences and Technology; Faculty of Philosophy, St. Petersburg State University. St Petersburg, Russia, June 19-25, 1999.

"Methodological Naturalism and Philosophical Naturalism: Clarifying the Connection," at Science and God: A Naturalistic Examination of Cosmology, the Anthropic Principle, and Design Theories. Society of Humanist Philosophers, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, September 25-26, 1999.

"A Defense of Naturalism as a Defense of Secularism," at Sidney Hook Reconsidered: A Centennial Celebration, October 25-26, 2002, at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York City. Cosponsored by Continuing Education and Public Programs, Ph.D. Program in English, Ph.D. program in History, and Ph.D. Program in Philosophy of The Graduate Center, City University of New York.

Lectures/Presentations:

"Creation and Evolution: A Philosophical View of the Concept of Balanced Treatment." Public forum: "Evolution and Creationism in Louisiana Public Schools," SLU, March 31, 1981.

"The Importance of Free Expression," Fanfare: SLU Annual Lecture Series, October 1994.

"Remembering the Holocaust in the Post-Holocaust World." Lecture series on the end of World War II, Dept. of History and Government, April 3, 1995.

"The Influence of Darwin on 19th- and 20th-Century Culture," Dept. of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, April 21, 1995.

"Call to Organize: Scientists Against Creationism," American Women in Science public lecture, Louisiana State University, February 29, 1996.

"Organizing Against Creationism: Strategies for Scientists," keynote address, Sigma Xi, Louisiana State University, April 21, 1997.

"Methodological Naturalism and Philosophical Naturalism: Clarifying the Connection," New Orleans Secular Humanist Association, January 9, 2000.

"The Possibility of Meaning in Human Evolution," South Place Ethical Society, London, England, June 27, 1999.

"The Wedge of Intelligent Design Creationism," Second Annual Darwin Day, University of New Orleans, February 2001.

"The Advance of the Wedge," Third Annual Darwin Day, University of New Orleans, March 2002.

"The Evolution of Creationism: Intelligent Design," Southeastern Louisiana University, annual Fanfare Lecture Series, October 9, 2002.

Journal Articles:

"Creation and Evolution: A Philosophical View of Balanced Treatment," The Boardman, September 1982.

"An Analysis of the Causal Interpretation of Karl Marx's Theory of History," Lamar Journal of the Humanities, Spring 1989.

"Back to Basics: The Use of Newspapers and Other Print Media to Teach Analytic Reading, Writing, and Reasoning," Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines, Vol. 13, April/May 1994.

"The Philosopher's Role in Holocaust Studies," Teaching Philosophy, December 1999.

"Methodological Naturalism and Philosophical Naturalism: Clarifying the Connection," Philo, Fall-Winter 2000.

"The Possibility of Meaning in Human Evolution," Zygon, December 2000.

Published Conference Proceedings:

"Naturalism and Education: Sidney Hook's View," Louisiana Philosophy of Education Journal: Official Proceedings of the Louisiana Philosophy of Education Society, Fall 1985.

"Sidney Hook, Secular Humanism, and Education," Louisiana Philosophy of Education Journal: Official Proceedings of the Louisiana Philosophy of Education Society, Fall 1990.

"The Philosopher's Role in Holocaust Studies," published on CD-ROM by the 27th Annual Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches, 1997.

"Methodological Naturalism and Philosophical Naturalism: Clarifying the Connection," in Proceedings of the Conference on Science and Society: Russian Academy of Sciences; Institute of the History of Natural Sciences and Technology, St. Petersburg Branch; Faculty of Philosophy, St. Petersburg State University, Summer 2000.

"The Possibility of Meaning in Human Evolution," in Proceedings of the Conference on Science and Society: Russian Academy of Sciences; Institute of the History of Natural Sciences and Technology, St. Petersburg Branch; Faculty of Philosophy, St. Petersburg State University. Summer 2000.

Book Articles:

"Back to Basics: The Use of Newspapers and Other Print Media to Teach Analytic Reading, Writing, and Reasoning," in Critical Thinking and the Media. Institute for Critical Thinking, Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, New Jersey, August 1995.

"The Wedge at Work: How Intelligent Design Creationism Is Wedging Its Way into the Cultural and Academic Mainstream," in Robert Pennock, ed., Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics: Philosophical, Theological, and Scientific Perspectives, MIT Press, 2001.

Book:

Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design, Oxford University Press, 2003. Coauthored with Paul R. Gross.

Commissioned Articles:

"Combating Creationism in a Louisiana School," The Textbook Letter: A National Report on Schoolbooks and Schoolbook Affairs. California Textbook League, July/August 1997.

"The Newest Evolution of Creationism," Natural History Magazine, April 2002.

Book Reviews:

Review of Thomas Gilovich's How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life, in Teaching Philosophy 16:2, June 1993.

Review of Marcel Gauchet's The Disenchantment of the World: A Political History of Religion, in Free Inquiry Magazine, Winter 1998/99.

Review of David Suzuki's The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature, in Free Inquiry Magazine, Winter 1998/99.

Review of The Sacred Depths of Nature, by Ursula Goodenough, in Free Inquiry Magazine, Spring 1999.


16 posted on 10/05/2005 5:05:30 AM PDT by gobucks (http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/classics/students/Ribeiro/Laocoon.htm)
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To: connectthedots
Where is the fossil record to support the speculation about the existence of 'transitional forms'?

How many times have you asked that question and completely ignored the answers you were given?

17 posted on 10/05/2005 5:06:22 AM PDT by shuckmaster (Bring back SeaLion and ModernMan!)
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To: connectthedots

" Miller admitted that evolution is not a fact."

Evolution is both a fact and a theory. The theory is how the fact of evolution occurred.

"Where is the fossil record to support the speculation about the existence of 'transitional forms'?"

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html

" Until evolutionists can provide a credible fossil record supporting the actual existence of 'transitional forms'..."

Done.


18 posted on 10/05/2005 5:07:38 AM PDT by CarolinaGuitarman ("There is a grandeur in this view of life...")
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To: newsgatherer
"The Bible is bad science? Evolution is good science? "

Yes and yes.

" Maybe I jsut don't udnerstand evolution..."

Yes.
19 posted on 10/05/2005 5:16:23 AM PDT by CarolinaGuitarman ("There is a grandeur in this view of life...")
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To: CarolinaGuitarman

Your info at your link is laced through and through with the words 'probably' and 'possible; so much so that it amounts to a tremendous amount of speculation. Speculation can hardly be called factual.

If the ToE is based on a considerable amout of speculation, an honest person can hardly complain the the ID position involves a degree of speculation.


20 posted on 10/05/2005 5:19:33 AM PDT by connectthedots
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