"Intelligent design" legislation in New York reborn

National Center for Science Education ^ | 21 March 2006 | Staff

[PatrickHenry]

Assembly Bill 8036 is back. Originally introduced on May 3, 2005, the bill would have required that "all pupils in grades kindergarten through twelve in all public schools in the state ... receive instruction in both theories of intelligent design and evolution." It also charged New York's commissioner of education to assist in developing curricula and local boards of education to provide "appropriate training and curriculum materials ... to ensure that all aspects of the theories, along with any supportive data, are fully examined through such course of study."

NCSE previously reported that the bill died in committee when the New York State Assembly's legislative session ended on June 24, 2005. But apparently not: on January 4, 2006, the bill was again referred to the House Committee on Education, where, after two amendments, it remains. The main difference is that the bill now would require pupils to receive instruction in "all aspects of the controversy surrounding evolution and the origins of man," including but not limited to "intelligent design and information effectively challenging the theory of evolution."

[js1138]

Evolution requires a population of replicating individules.

[blowfish]

The one that put the man on the moon and developed the atomic bomb.

Odd, I don't remember which denomination did the uranium isotope separation. Was it the Lutherans, or the Catholics?

[blowfish]

An evolutionist questions God.

First he has to identify the right one to question; there seem to be a lot to choose from.

[taxesareforever]

As other recent threads have established, there is a lot of unfinished buiness in cosmology.

Unfinished does not equal evolution. I believe that the universe is decaying. However, in your perspective this decay is evolution.

[taxesareforever]

First he has to identify the right one to question; there seem to be a lot to choose from.

First he has to seek, and the right One will speak to him thru His Word. Continually being in denial will not get you there.

[Dimensio]

But I thought everything started from nothing.

You are mistaken, then.

If it didn't where did it start?

Evolution started with the first population of imperfect replicators.

[js1138]

The universe as a whole can decay, but that does not prevent pockets of order from arising. Living things, for example, reproduce, grow, develop, metabolize, synthesize, photosynthesize. These can, if you wish, be construed as local bubbles defying entropy, but they exist.

Evolution is a life process like growth that is seen at the level of populations. There is nothing magic about phenomena emerging at different levels of organization. You have molecules that are organized into cellular machinery, cells organized into tissues, tissues organized into organs, organs organized into your body.

Populations undergo evolution. There is nothing magic about it.

[blowfish]

The theory of evolution is "science" the easy way.

Another howler from FesterWorld. There is nothing easy about the research, exploration and analysis that has gone into modern evolutionary theory.
In contrast to Creationism (GodDIdIt) or ID (some unknown...nudge nudge wink wink... creator did it). ID doesn't even have a shred of positive supporting evidence, and you dare to call evolution 'easy science'. Your gall is only matched by your sketchy understanding of modern science.

[blowfish]

Ah, but what if my god != your god.
For instance: "there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his Prophet"

[freedumb2003]

Veeeeeerrrry silent. No room for the Master Builder in evolution.

Do you pretend to be this obtuse? No one can be as stupid as you pretend to be. "Silent" means just that. Not "there is no room." It is that science advances no statement of whether there is a God or not. But many scientists (myself included) see God in the wonder of the physical universe.

There just is no scientific proof. Nor should there be.

Like so many of your ilk you can't differentiate between "faith" discussions and "science" discussions.

[taxesareforever]

Evolution started with the first population of imperfect replicators.

What were their names? Who named them?

[taxesareforever]

Populations undergo evolution.

Populations undergo change. Change is not evolution.

[dread78645]

That is easy. The one with the nicest churches,

The Mormons, gotit ...

the entire human calendar set by the day of the death of His son,

Except his death was somewhere between 27 to 33 CE; unless you mean his birth, which was between 7-4 BCE, -- or unless you're Jewish, or Muslim, or Buddhist.

the one with the best art and sculpture,

Hindu?

the one that preserved the work of the ancients, etc.

OK, I gottit figured out:
Abraham Allah Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Christi Akbar!!

[taxesareforever]

Ah, but what if my god != your god.

It won't. My God has a capital G whereas your god could be a rock, a tree or a star or money.

[js1138]

Dear child. It doesn't matter what their names were or whether anyone was around to see them. Evolution can only take place in populations of imperfect replicators. It matters not a bit whether they emerged by naturalistic means or were poofed into existence by God.

Evolution describes ongoing processes, not the origin of existence.

I notice that religion manages to slip by without explaining the origin of God. If you can't accept the existence of something without explaining its origin, how does this work?

[js1138]

Change is evolution. Where did you get the silly idea that it isn't?

[freedumb2003]

It won't. My God has a capital G whereas your god could be a rock, a tree or a star or money.

Arrogant little SOB ain't you? You basically are saying your beliefs are "better" than other beliefs.

You better be ready to prove that your god (or God) is better than Yggradisl or the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Visnu.

Remember: I said "prove" not "believe."

[dread78645]

There are laws against self-abuse in public.

Head decay?

[metmom]

No, evolution is silent on God.

But evolutionists aren't.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!