On the recommendations of other science bloggers, I ordered the book, The Devil in Dover: An Insider’s Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-Town America, by Lauri Lebo. It arrived Tuesday, and wantonly setting aside more pressing tasks, I put some jazz on and starting reading the book.

Since I already had some familiarity with the court case it narrates, the 224 pages went by quickly, and I finished it in an afternoon. [Yes, I do read fast. It's how I survived four years at Princeton.] For a readable account of the Kitzmiller v. Dover case of 2005, I can recommend none better. Only the PBS Nova episode on the same case matches it for clarity and, yes, drama.

Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, et al., was a watershed lawsuit involving the teaching of intelligent design in the ninth grade biology classes of the Dover, Penn., Area School District. A conservative, religiously biased school board sought to weaken the teaching of evolution in the schools by requiring teachers (all of whom refused, as it turned out) to read a four-paragraph cautionary statement about the theory of evolution, specifically mentioning Intelligent Design as another explanation for the origin of life.

Lebo’s narrative clearly lays out the religious motivations of the board members, who before hammering out the four paragraphs, had discussed in open meeting the need to bring creationism into the science curriculum. (Those same members later stated, under oath, that they had never used the creationism and accused the two reporters covering the board meetings of fabricating the statements. During the trial, however, it became clear the reporters were in fact correct.)

July 10th, 2008 | Tags: Devil in Dover, intelligent design, kitzmiller, Lauri Lebo | Category: Civil liberties, Commentary, Schools, Science, evolution, religion | Comments (1)

It’s easy. Take out any words suggesting a Divine Creator and replace them with words “intelligent agency” or “intelligent designer.” Then insist the new version is in a fact a science textbook that should be used in schools.

Too bad the ID crowd’s feeble attempt at subterfuge failed. Some fine detective work at the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) revealed the genealogy of the new ID text, Of Pandas and People, as the center prepared briefs for the 2005 Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District legal case.

This YouTube video explains it all.

May 21st, 2008 | Tags: creationism, intelligent design, kitzmiller v dover, ncse, of pandas and people | Category: Schools, Science, Skepticism, evolution, religion | Leave a comment

After summarising the last section, Why Does It Matter?, the Guide finishes its informational portion with a two-column comparison of evolution and intelligent design.

Guide:

Under the heading, “What Is Evolution?”, the Guide offers three variants of the meaning of the word, “evolution.”

1. Evolution is “change over time,” meaning that present-day life forms are different from earlier ones, or that minor changes within species can occur over a short time.
2. Evolution is associated with the theory of common descent, meaning that all organisms existing today have a single common ancestor.
3. Evolution is the “unguided process of DNA randomly mutating with ‘natural selection,’ blindly acting on those changes to gradually produce the variety of all life.”

The Guide then cautions its readers that this multiplicity of definitions can confuse discussions when someone takes evidence for Evolution #1 and tries to make it look like it supports Evolution #2 or Evolution #3. Conversely, someone may discuss issues with Evolution #2 or Evolution #3 but is then falsely accused of also rejecting definition of Evolution #1. This is simply not the case, for most scientists who dissent from Darwinism accept Evolution #1.

Comments:

This bit of sophistry obfuscates the real issue here. There is one theory of evolution, just as there is one atomic theory or one Big Bang theory. The theory of evolution comprises all three “definitions.” You logically cannot accept some parts of the theory and reject other parts, if those parts offend your religious beliefs.

April 11th, 2008 | Tags: evolution, expelled, id, intelligent design, nabt | Category: Commentary, Media, Science, Skepticism, evolution | Leave a comment

Well, here’s another review of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, but this one highlights the actual preview experience as no other has so far.

The screening was amateur, from the sound of it. Rather than using an actual print of the movie (or a high-res digital version), the producers showed the film using a laptop and a digital projector! This for a movie that is due to be released nationally in less than a month.

Since a laptop was playing the film, the sound was bad. Not exactly the best theater experience, either.

The reviewer hints that perhaps the background music during the private screening was not paid for. The tunes include John Lennon’s “Imagine” and The Killer’s “All These Things That I’ve Done,” the rights to which would cost a pretty penny.

The budget for this film was reportedly $3.5 million, much of it bankrolled by wealthy contributors. One would expect a somewhat slicker preview of it.

Not all reviews of Expelled have been negative, to be fair. Predictably, those who are already disposed to oppose evolution and support Intelligent Design/creationism adore the flick. Here’s some links to positive reviews.

Tom Bethell for The American Spectator
Rush Limbaugh on his talk show (audio)
Tom Cashill (Ingram’s Magazine, Kansas City)

It’s also got some thumbs up from Christian and “family-oriented” review sites, with warnings about some images that might be disturbing for younger kids.

March 26th, 2008 | Tags: evolution, expelled, intelligent design, limbaugh, reviews | Category: Commentary, evolution | Leave a comment

Bloomfield Middle School officials had to tell a seventh grade science teacher that she could not teach Intelligent Design (ID) after they received a warning from the Kentucky chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The ACLU letter advised them that the teaching of ID was contrary to “the substantial legal authority establishing the illegality of teaching a religious doctrine within a science curriculum.” The Panda’s Thumb reprinted part of that letter yesterday.

The teacher in question, Adonna Florence, confirmed the gist of the report to me today. I am awaiting details from her, the BMS principal and the ACLU.

Technically, Florence’s introduction of ID into her science classes is not contrary to Kentucky state law.

At one point in history, Kentucky law expressly permitted, but did not require, the teaching of the Biblical creation of Earth and the organisms on it. As part of the Kentucky Education Reform Act, that statute, KRS 158.177, was effectively repealed in 1990 and re-enacted with substantially the same language as before:

March 26th, 2008 | Tags: creationism, evolution, id, intelligent design, kentucky, law, Science, teaching | Category: Commentary, Science, Skepticism, evolution | Leave a comment