Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Students Learn Intelligent Design
Phillyburbs.com ^ | January 18, 2005 | Martha Raffaele

Posted on 01/19/2005 8:52:24 AM PST by FeeinTennessee

Pa. Students Learn 'Intelligent Design' By MARTHA RAFFAELE The Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. - High school students heard about "intelligent design" for the first time Tuesday in a school district that attracted national attention by requiring students to be made aware of it as an alternative to the theory of evolution.

Administrators in the Dover Area School District read a statement to three biology classes Tuesday and were expected to read it to other classes on Wednesday, according to a statement from the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., which was speaking on the district's behalf.

The district is believed to be the only one in the nation to require students to hear about intelligent design - a concept that holds that the universe is so complex, it had to be created by an unspecified guiding force.

"The revolution in evolution has begun," said Richard Thompson, the law center's president and chief counsel. "This is the first step in which students will be given an honest scientific evaluation of the theory of evolution and its problems."

The case represents the newest chapter in a history of evolution lawsuits dating back to the Scopes Monkey Trial in Tennessee nearly 80 years ago. In Georgia, a suburban Atlanta school district plans to challenge a federal judge's order to remove stickers in science textbooks that call evolution "a theory, not a fact."

The law center is defending the Dover district against a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of eight families by two civil-liberties groups that alleged intelligent design is merely a secular variation of creationism, the biblical-based view that regards God as the creator of life. They maintain that the Dover district's curriculum mandate may violate the constitutional separation of church and state.

"Students who sat in the classroom were taught material which is religious in content, not scientific, and I think it's unfortunate that has occurred," said Eric Rothschild, a Philadelphia attorney representing the plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit.

Biology teacher Jennifer Miller said although she was able to make a smooth transition to her evolution lesson after the statement was read, some students were upset that administrators would not entertain any questions about intelligent design.

"They were told that if you have any questions, to take it home," Miller said.

The district allowed students whose parents objected to the policy to be excused from hearing the statement at the beginning of class and science teachers who opposed the requirement to be exempted from reading the statement. About 15 of 170 ninth-graders asked to be excused from class, Thompson said.

A federal judge has scheduled a trial in the lawsuit for Sept. 26.

---

Dover Area School District: http://www.dover.k12.pa.us

Thomas More Law Center: http://www.thomasmore.org

January 18, 2005 6:44 PM


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: crevolist
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 201-220221-240241-260 ... 441-455 next last
To: LowOiL
I bet he someone responds and says "separation of church and state"

Ask them if you are able to have a voice and a vote.
221 posted on 01/19/2005 1:09:36 PM PST by Idisarthur
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 218 | View Replies]

To: Idisarthur
And by the way CBS won't ever retract or apologize because they are as arrogant as you.

It's easy to tell the creationists. They are the first over the edge.

222 posted on 01/19/2005 1:09:49 PM PST by WildTurkey (When will CBS Retract and Apologize?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 219 | View Replies]

To: Idisarthur

"Do people like yourself ever consider that your dating techniques might not be sound."


No. But if they aren't, religious people can't then use them to validate religious artifacts (Shroud of Turin or that phony 'James - brother of Jesus' box found last year).


" Meaning that rates of change might have been different back then from now? "


So 6 days may have actually been 4.5 billion years? Yeah - I can believe that.


223 posted on 01/19/2005 1:11:12 PM PST by Blzbba (Kill Saddam NOW.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 184 | View Replies]

To: WildTurkey

Over the edge what are you talking about. I'm just dealing with you Eminem like mannerisms, that's all.


224 posted on 01/19/2005 1:11:44 PM PST by Idisarthur
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 222 | View Replies]

To: mlc9852
Then why don't all scientists agree?

Maybe 1% don't support evolution. Curiously the ones that object to evolution rarely seem to publish anything in scientific journals, can't point to any recent achievements.....

225 posted on 01/19/2005 1:12:31 PM PST by Thatcherite (Conservative and Biblical Literalist are not synonymous)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 201 | View Replies]

Comment #226 Removed by Moderator

To: WildTurkey

"Do people like yourself ever consider that the Bible is written by man and pieces were put in and removed at the hand of man and that the original manuscripts are not available and that you rely on mere mortals to tell you of God?"


Personally, this is exactly why I don't give the Bible much credence on such matters. To assume that an imperfect human beings (something both science and religion agree upon is our inherent imperfection) could translate the message of a perfect Deity without fault is foolish.


227 posted on 01/19/2005 1:13:57 PM PST by Blzbba (Kill Saddam NOW.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 196 | View Replies]

To: WildTurkey
Did God tell you?

False witness seems to be no problem for you.

Are you a Christian or other person of faith?

228 posted on 01/19/2005 1:14:00 PM PST by Protagoras (Real conservatives do not advocate government force to attain societal goals)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 217 | View Replies]

To: Thatcherite
Maybe 1% don't support evolution. Curiously the ones that object to evolution rarely seem to publish anything in scientific journals, can't point to any recent achievements.....

I wonder, also, how their book and DVD sales are.

229 posted on 01/19/2005 1:15:14 PM PST by WildTurkey (When will CBS Retract and Apologize?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 225 | View Replies]

To: FeeinTennessee
About 15 of 170 ninth-graders asked to be excused from class, Thompson said.

What kind of wussy kids would ask to be excused?

230 posted on 01/19/2005 1:16:45 PM PST by Sloth (Al Franken is a racist.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: WildTurkey
(When will CBS Retract and Apologize?)

(When will WILDTURKEY Retract and Apologize?)

231 posted on 01/19/2005 1:16:53 PM PST by Protagoras (Real conservatives do not advocate government force to attain societal goals)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 229 | View Replies]

To: Blzbba
Textual Criticism is something that should be look into. I'm not saying I take things literally. There is alegorical interpretation.

But Christians say they believe Jesus was God, but can't believe that the 60+ books have harmony because God was behind their creation. This is interesting.
232 posted on 01/19/2005 1:17:59 PM PST by Idisarthur
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 227 | View Replies]

To: All
Although I addressed it to "All" I really would like IDers to answer the following questions, for the purpose of making your case and clearing up some questions that I have about ID. I'm not looking for flame bait or to have questions answered by questions, just an honest discussion.

1. Exactly what is the Intelligent Designer? ("Who",IMO, denotes a person)

2. What else is the Intelligent Designer directing besides evolution?

3. Does the Intelligent Designer hold the Human Species at a different level than other Species?

4. If the answer to 3 is yes, then at what time in Earth's History did the Intelligent Designer "design/create" the Human Species?

5. What was the precursor for the Human Species? (Another species or not?)

Thank You for your answers, and again I ask for no flames of either side

233 posted on 01/19/2005 1:18:32 PM PST by WASH
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 200 | View Replies]

To: Protagoras

LOL. He won't, don't wait. He is no different than Eminem.


234 posted on 01/19/2005 1:18:49 PM PST by Idisarthur
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 231 | View Replies]

To: Blzbba
A White man with a long flowing beard who sits on a big golden throne.

Throne is too formal - just call it a Golden Toilet.

235 posted on 01/19/2005 1:18:54 PM PST by balrog666 (A myth by any other name is still inane.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 174 | View Replies]

To: tkhoveringhead

"How come a biologist can take a culture of normal bacteria and in a few generations have a new strain of bacteria that can digest materials that are toxic to every other living thing on the planet?"


Not to mention the staph bacteria that have built up immunity to previously-working anti-biotics, or having to get flu shots yearly for the new strains of influenza that have evolved on some chicken's ass in Hong Kong. These have all happened in our lifetimes, not millions of years. Yet, zero acknowledgement of this by the Creationists. Why are they so fearful of observable fact?


236 posted on 01/19/2005 1:22:44 PM PST by Blzbba (Kill Saddam NOW.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 226 | View Replies]

To: Blzbba
God is Zorak?

Didn't he come back to life again? And again?


I AM THE LONE LOCUST (really a MANTIS) OF THE APOCALYPSE!!!!

237 posted on 01/19/2005 1:25:40 PM PST by balrog666 (A myth by any other name is still inane.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 194 | View Replies]

To: Savagemom
But I do resent the fact that I had to be a 35 year old with a PhD in psychobiology before I knew that evolutionary theory has some big holes and that alternative theories exist.

This isn't an accurate statement. There aren't any "big holes" in evolutionary theory. Like any scientific theory, the theory will be modified as more evidence comes in or discarded if evidence comes in to falsify it.

When scientists disagree with other scientists about evolution, they are proposing that evolutionary theory is invalid - they are delving into the details.

By the standard you are employing, volcanology has "huge holes" because scientists don't know all of the answers right now. Like I pointed out before, scientists can't explain why the Yellowstone super volcano that erupts every 600,000 years is 40,000 overdue for an eruption. That doesn't mean that volcanology has "huge holes".

I don't mean this in a offensive or rude way, but it concerns me that a PhD in psychobiology would be ignorant of the scientific method. Again, by your understanding of the scientific method, no field of scientific study could ever be taught and your scientific degree would be worthless.

Also, there are no "alternative theories" to evolution that meet the scientific standard for a "theory". ID is not a scientific theory because there is no way to falsify it - whatever evidence that comes in could just be explained away by "that's just the way the designer did it".

Science only deals with the natural, not the supernatural. Science must always pursue a naturalistic path because supernatural is out of its scope.

238 posted on 01/19/2005 1:25:46 PM PST by JeffAtlanta
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 153 | View Replies]

To: Blzbba

Why would ID have anything to do with Christianity?


239 posted on 01/19/2005 1:27:13 PM PST by mlc9852
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 190 | View Replies]

To: WASH
Here are a few links that will hopefully answer your questions:

ID & the evidences

ID FAQ DI style

ID FAQ ARN style

240 posted on 01/19/2005 1:27:44 PM PST by Michael_Michaelangelo (The best theory is not ipso facto a good theory. http://ww7.com/dna/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 233 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 201-220221-240241-260 ... 441-455 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson