[fizziwig]

"The judge specifically ordered the school board never to denigrate or disparage the theory of evolution,"

This is what really gets me....you can't even criticize evolution at all...its absoultely perfect in every way...

Pathetic.

[wagglebee]

It's absurd, the theory of evolution has been around for a hundred and fifty years, and there is not a shred of evidence to support it.

[cdgent]

If this is a direct quite of the judge's ruling (I haven't read all of the court document yet) then he is clearly mistaken in his effort. The theory of evolution today is not even the same as it was a few months ago (I'm referring to the version that would be used by a molecular biologist, not the popular media.) As new evidence becomes available (genotypes of different species, fossil and dating information, etc) the theory is revised and refined to accommodate.

The difference is that a theory (under the scientific method) must both provide testable predictions and be disprovable if those predictions fail to be realized. Claiming observations to be the work of an intelligent designer does neither- we can't make predictions since we have no idea what He will do tomorrow, and any conflicting evidence can be said to be an intentional feature of His design. Evolution, in contrast, MUST be revised when conflicting evidence is found, in order to remain a useful theory. Notice I said conflicting, not missing. Gravity is still not completely understood, but that doesn't make it any less useful (or correct) for predicting the orbits of the planets.

The base issue is that we should teach science in schools, and id is not science. All of creation and evolution may be the design of a Creator, but that is not provable (or disprovable), and as such is not science. Science, for its part, should be more forthright where its theories have shortcomings- such as the line between evolution (does happen) and the origin of life (no idea how it happened).

CDG

[drjimmy]

"The judge specifically ordered the school board never to denigrate or disparage the theory of evolution," This is what really gets me....you can't even criticize evolution at all...its absoultely perfect in every way... Pathetic.

The truly pathetic thing is that someone who heads a so-called Christian organization would so blatantly violate one of the 10 Commandments. Contrary to what "pro family" attorney Richard Thompson claims in this article, the judge in the Dover case did not order the school board to "never denigrate or disparage the theory of evolution."

I have the judge's ruling on my computer screen right now, and here's what the judge says: "We will enter an order permanently enjoining Defendants from maintaining the ID Policy in any school within the Dover Area School District, from requiring teachers to denigrate or disparage the scientific theory of evolution, and from requiring teachers to refer to a religious, alternative theory known as ID."

Anyone who is truly the result of intelligent design can see the difference between saying the school board cannot denigrate or disparage evolution and saying the school board cannot require teachers to denigrate or disparage evolution. Richard Thompson defiles the good name of Thomas More with this lie.