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.
"These are the times that try men's souls."
(yep) Brief Biography
On January 29, 1737, Thomas Paine was born in Thetford, England. His father, a corseter, had grand visions for his son, but by the age of 12, Thomas had failed out of school. The young Paine began apprenticing for his father, but again, he failed. So, now age 19, Paine went to sea. This adventure didn't last too long, and by 1768 he found himself as an excise (tax) officer in England. Thomas didn't exactly excel at the role, getting discharged from his post twice in four years, but as an inkling of what was to come, he published The Case of the Officers of Excise (1772), arguing for a pay raise for officers. In 1774, by happenstance, he met Benjamin Franklin in London, who helped him emigrate to Philadelphia.
His career turned to journalism while in Philadelphia, and suddenly, Thomas Paine became very important. In 1776, he published Common Sense, a strong defense of American Independence from England. He joined the Continental Army and wasn't a success as a soldier, but he produced The Crisis (1776-83), which helped inspire the Army. This pamphlet was so popular that as a percentage of the population, it was read by more people than today watch the Superbowl.
But, instead of continuing to help the Revolutionary cause, he returned to Europe and pursued other ventures, including working on a smokeless candle and an iron bridge. In 1791-92, he wrote The Rights of Man in response to criticism of the French Revolution. This work caused Paine to be labeled an outlaw in England for his anti-monarchist views. He would have been arrested, but he fled for France to join the National Convention.
By 1793, he was imprisoned in France for not endorsing the execution of Louis XVI. During his imprisonment, he wrote and distributed the first part of what was to become his most famous work at the time, the anti-church text, The Age of Reason (1794-96). He was freed in 1794 (narrowly escaping execution) thanks to the efforts of James Monroe, then U.S. Minister to France. Paine remained in France until 1802 when he returned to America on an invitation from Thomas Jefferson. Paine discovered that his contributions to the American Revolution had been all but eradicated due to his religious views. Derided by the public and abandoned by his friends, he died on June 8, 1809 at the age of 72 in New York City.
Sounds just a tad different.
"So called?"
"and, Your Honor, that's when I shot him" placemarker
This is not speculation?
No, it speciation.
Excerpts:
"Dendrochronology or tree-ring dating is the method of scientific dating based on the analysis of tree ring patterns"
...
"Fully anchored chronologies which extend back more than 10000 years exist for river oak trees from South Germany (from the Main and Rhine rivers). A fully anchored chronology which extends back 8500 years exists for the bristlecone pine in the southwest US (White Mountains of California)."
More than 10,000 years back!
More than 10,000 years back is right! But some minor corrections to your post (this is one of my major fields of study). Dendrochronology, or tree-ring dating, is a separate field of study unrelated to Carbon-14 dating.
The tree rings are used to calibrate the radiocarbon dates--the method involves finding a tree ring, for example, 9950 years ago and Carbon-14 dating that specific ring, then creating a correction factor. The current calibration curve, based on bristlecone pines, is about 11,600 years. There are others, based on other data, extending back over 20,000 years.
But I still haven't heard an answer to my original question (not to MHalblaub): why is the Carbon-14 date of 7140 BP which recently received in error?
So lions and tigers are the same species, then.
Shudda known.
Coyoteman
(Holding on to OS 9.2 for dear life. When I have to switch to OS 10.whatever I'll retire first)
IOW, you don't have a clue as to how evolution works, or even if it works.
So, do you believe in punctuated equilibrium, and do you think it happens from one generation to the next or does it occur over long periods of time?
All the 'ifs' you mention are mere speculation. You have a better generalized, brief definition of a species? If so, let's see it.
And 20,000,000+ insect species, all the different microscopic forms of life, fresh/saltwater fish and marine life in general...
How long can you tread water?
(Historical reference: Bill Cosby, Noah, 1960 something)
More speculative WAGs because there are so many gaps in the ToE, the evolutionists have no hope of providing a rational and coherent explanation for life as it exists today.
That is an absurd comment.
My understanding of logic greatly exceeds my knowledge of biology. On the other hand, I understand enough about biology to recognize that evolution has many very large gaps that simply cannot be explained away.
Evolution does have gaps. But, the whole of evolutionary data and theory presents a convincing and workable body of evidence. There is very little disagreement within the profession on the overall picture, and a lot of disagreement over small details.
I think that you are coming from a belief system that says "evolution has to be wrong somehow" and so you will seek out any perceived gap or error and gleefully run with it.
You spend a lot of time on these threads, but I don't see science and evolutionary theory as very important to you. Rather, I see you defending a religious belief.
That's fine. But really, to do science you must be aware of the rules of science, have some passing familiarity with the vast literature of each specific field of science, and stick to observable evidence.
That seems to be where we have the divide here: you are arguing a religious viewpoint and "doing heated battle" with the godless evilutionists. Evolutionists and other scientists are defending their fields of study against religious intrusion (seen as superstition, etc.).
Things were at a standstill, with each in its own corner until CS and ID started the current PR campaign.
[Anyway, that how I see it as of this post; I still have a hundred or two to go to catch up.]
Wolf
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