You are too kind. ;)
Posted on 12/28/2005 3:49:52 AM PST by PatrickHenry
US. District Judge John E. Jones III's decision to bar the teaching of ''intelligent design'' in the Dover, Pa., public school district on grounds that it is a thinly veiled effort to introduce a religious view of the world's origins is welcome for at least two reasons.
First, it exposes the sham attempt to take through the back door what proponents have no chance of getting through the front door. Jones rebuked advocates of ''intelligent design,'' saying they repeatedly lied about their true intentions. He noted that many of them had said publicly that their intent was to introduce into the schools a biblical account of creation. Jones properly wondered how people who claim to have such strong religious convictions could lie, thus violating prohibitions in the book that they proclaim as their source of truth and standard for living.
Culture has long passed by advocates of intelligent design, school prayer and numerous other beliefs and practices that were once tolerated, even promoted, in public education. People who think that they can reclaim the past have been watching too many repeats of Leave it to Beaver on cable television. Those days are not coming back anytime soon, if at all.
Culture, including the culture of education, now opposes what it once promoted or at least tolerated. The secular left, which resists censorship in all its forms when it comes to sex, library books and assigned materials that teach the ''evils'' of capitalism and ''evil America,'' is happy to censor any belief that can be tagged ``religious.''
Jones' ruling will be appealed and after it is eventually and predictably upheld by a Supreme Court dominated by Republican appointees (Jones was named to the federal bench by President Bush, who has advocated the teaching of creation), those who have tried to make the state do its job for them will have yet another opportunity to wise up.
This leads to the second reason for welcoming Jones' ruling. It should awaken religious conservatives to the futility of trying to make a secular state reflect their beliefs. Too many people have wasted too much time and money since the 1960s, when prayer and Bible reading were outlawed in public schools, trying to get these and a lot of other things restored. The modern secular state should not be expected to teach Genesis 1, or any other book of the Bible, or any other religious text.
That the state once did such things, or at least did not undermine what parents taught their children, is irrelevant. The culture in which we now live no longer reflects the beliefs of our grandparents' generation.
For better, or for worse (and a strong case can be made that things are much worse), people who cling to the beliefs of previous generations have been given another chance to do what they should have been doing all along.
Religious parents should exercise the opportunity that has always been theirs. They should remove their children from state schools with their ''instruction manuals'' for turning them into secular liberals and place them in private schools -- or home school them -- where they will be taught the truth, according to their parents' beliefs. Too many parents who would never send their children to a church on Sunday that taught doctrines they believed to be wrong have had no problem placing them in state schools five days a week where they are taught conflicting doctrines and ideas.
Private schools or home schooling costs extra money (another reason to favor school choice) and extra time, but what is a child worth? Surely, a child is more valuable than material possessions.
Our children are our letters to the future. It's up to parents to decide whether they want to send them ''first class'' or ``postage due.''
Rulings such as this should persuade parents who've been waffling to take their kids and join the growing exodus from state schools into educational environments more conducive to their beliefs.
most of us would love to abandon the public schools. the only problem is we still have to pay for them.
"Why is evolution a scientific claim?"
Because it has tons of evidence, explains the phenomena, makes testable claims. You know, like other scientific theories.
Nor can one make any blanket statements about the Laws of Thermodynamics without knowing the processes involved (this one particularly irks me). The reasons are basically the same.
And in any event, one or two "fake" fossils hardly falsify the science of evolution any more than a Jim Jones or Marjoe falsify faith.
Because it has tons of evidence, explains the phenomena, makes testable claims. You know, like other scientific theories.
Name one claim for macroevolution which has been supported by today's DNA testing.
LOL. And what university paleontology departments and museums support that "lack of scientific foundation for evolution"?
OK, there is that "creation research" museum, but with all the fools that have been convinced that evolution is false I can see that the one museum that caters to that faith would be quite a money maker.
Maybe I should switch sides and open a museum and get rich from scientific illiterates.
No, it is the content and quality of their publications, as you know, that is the real measure of success. Currently there are thousands of articles in refereed journals describing and refining evolutionary theory and zero for intelligent design, either pro or con. This is because intelligent design has no yet identifiable scientific consequences.
In the origin of species debate, not only do the evolutionist deny the holes in their explanation, they deny the right to question these gaps.
What specific question(s) do you feel are being denied the right of being brought to fruition, and what accessible means do you propose to test such questions?
DNA testing has lent stupendous credence to evolutionary theory.
A couple articles on the subject:
Sorry, that market has already been occupied. You'll have to fight them for the worldwide rights
You are too kind. ;)
Most churches in my town have private schools in them and they are growing by leaps and bounds. Many start with only a few grades then add 1 or 2 each year until all 12 grades are included. There are many, mine included, who have home schooling programs. Those, too are growing. People here are fed up with public education. These home schooled students are doing quite well in the scholarships awarded, too.
I do not know where you live, but home schoolers here have to pass all of the normal routine tests given to every grade. The home schoolers are doing great. I guess it depends on where you live.
Evolution is the basis of all study of biology.
Amen.
Todays DNA testing supports the fact that all living things on earth are descended from a common ancestor.
The endogenous retroviral evidence has matched the predictions of common descent. Had the evidence come out differently it would have falsified common descent. The crushing nail in the coffin for those aware of the evidence who would like the evidence to go away. Essentially since this evidence has appeared even people like Behe, Denton, and Dembski have been forced by the evidence to accept common descent.
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