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.
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Dover Area School District: http://www.dover.k12.pa.us
Thomas More Law Center: http://www.thomasmore.org
January 18, 2005 6:44 PM
"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."
Interesting, indeed. Considering that both Jews and Christians give the Old Testament serious credibility....yet only Orthodox Jews give the Creation belief any real credibility. Of course, no real Jewish person gives any literal credibility to the New Testament, since they are still waiting for their Savior.
It's an interesting dichotomy, for sure.
"Throne is too formal - just call it a Golden Toilet."
I hate to think of what you believe rain to be, in that case...
:)
"Why would ID have anything to do with Christianity?"
Because it's a thinly and poorly veiled reference to Old Testament Biblical Creation.
Oops, "When scientists disagree with other scientists about evolution, they are proposing that evolutionary theory is invalid - they are delving into the details." should read
"When scientists disagree with other scientists about evolution, they are NOT proposing that evolutionary theory is invalid"
typing too fast at work :-)
Did the dog turn into a monkey? Did the bacteria turn into a catfish?
It's still bacteria, right? Or will they eventually grow arm and legs? Takes a lot of faith to think so. Biologists, like the rest of creation, are intelligently designed. That's why they can do what they do.
And what does that have to do with Christianity? Are you familiar with Christianity?
"It's still bacteria, right?"
It's not the same bacteria it was just years ago. It has evolved, whether one wants to admit it or not.
Where do we sign up for what we want taught in public schools? I have a few suggestions. And of course what I don't want taught. I'm glad we now have a choice of what teachers teach since we pay taxes. (sarcasm - big time)
Right. Give a river two seconds and it's not the same river any more either.
"And what does that have to do with Christianity?"
The Bible has a lot to do with Christianity, as I recall.
"it's not the same river any more either."
Really ignorant example. And a wrong one, for the water molecules that comprise your river are still 2 parts Hydrogen and 1 part Oxygen.
Water isn't God's tears, or some other mystic BS.
And I hope you never get a staph infection, or you'll learn up close how nature evolves.
What would falsify ID?
Based on rhetoric and the mysterious "stealth designer".
Funny how the left-wing states push the anti-science screed.
Are adults are not the same as children - they change but they are still humans. I think that is the point. Adaptation is observable - evolution is not.
"BTW, do you believe that those things up in the night sky are suns similar to ours. Why do you accept that (assuming you do) when no-one has ever been there and seen them? A literal reading of the bible would indicate that they aren't anything like our sun."
There is no evidence that is credible to believe otherwise. The evidence states this to be true.
Where in the Bible does it state that "reading of the bible would indicate that they aren't anything like our sun." Could you provide the book and verse on that?
"I've befriended a physicist that believes in a global flood....as well as a geologist."
Hey, I too believe in a geologist! (sorry - had to have some fun there!)
"It does take faith to believe it, sort of like the faith that is required to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. I guess to you this would be myth too."
That does take faith. Your guess, however, is incorrect.
"According to the best recent estimates, the land area of the globe is 0.28 of the whole surface, and the water area 0.72. But the mean height of the land above the sea-level is found to be 2250 feet, while the mean depth of the seas and oceans is 13,860 feet; so that though the water area is two and a half times that of the land, the mean depth of the water is more than six times the mean height of the land."
Nice try. Your stats don't at all explain how this water rose up over the land itself. Nor does it take into account that, for such a meteorological event to take place, the resulting atmospheric pressure would kill any life and the concentrations of nitrogen an oxygen would have been toxic to Noah and his floating zoo.
We won't even bother discussing how he was able to round up animals from Australia and other isolated geographical areas. Nor will we bother discussing how many gross tons of food he would've needed to feed 2 animals of every species for 40 days. No - I'd prefer to leave Creationism as the nice story I was told when I was 4, rather than ruin it with fact.
"I also would like to point you to Mount Saint Helen's this is a real life lesson in geology my friend."
As a former environmental geologist, I have to pass. St. Helens is rather tame to study in comparison to the Yellowstone Supervolcano, which I highly recommend to you!! Fascinating stuff, yet pretty damn scary, considering the ramifications to America!!
Also, don't forget the tsunami. Plate tectonics in action!
"There is NO contradiction in the Bible"
So my slaves still have to honor me? Can I put my wife outside during 'that time of the month'? Can I stone her, as the Bible commands, if she commits adultery? Better yet, can I have sex with her sister if she's unable to produce a son for me?
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