The Cat-Tribe
08-10-2005, 18:07
Comment: Doh! Those not-so-sneaky creationists (*cough* I mean intelligent design advocates) shoot themselves in the foot.
Text originally referred to creationism
Biology book revised after Supreme Court ruling
Friday, October 7, 2005; Posted: 6:13 a.m. EDT (10:13 GMT)
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Early drafts of a student biology text contained references to creationism before they were replaced with the term "intelligent design," a witness testified Wednesday.
Barbara Forrest, a philosophy professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, took the witness stand in a landmark trial over a school system's use of the book "Of Pandas and People."
The text, written in 1987, was revised after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that June that states could not require schools to balance evolution with creationism in the classroom, Forrest said.
She reviewed drafts of the textbook as a witness for eight families who are trying to have the intelligent design concept removed from the Dover Area School District's biology curriculum.
The families contend that teaching intelligent design effectively promotes the Bible's view of creation, violating the separation of church and state.
Intelligent design holds that life on Earth is so complex that it must have been the product of some higher force. Opponents of the concept say intelligent design is simply creationism stripped of overt religious references.
Forrest outlined a chart of how many times the term "creation" was mentioned in the early drafts versus how many times the term "design" was mentioned in the published edition.
"They are virtually synonymous," she said.
Under the policy approved by Dover's school board in October 2004, students must hear a brief statement about intelligent design before classes on evolution.
The statement says Charles Darwin's theory is "not a fact" and has inexplicable "gaps."
Forrest also said that intelligent-design proponents have freely acknowledged that their cause is a religious one.
She cited a document from the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think tank that represents intelligent-design scholars, that says one of its goals is "to replace materialistic explanations with the theistic understanding that nature and human beings are created by God."
Under cross-examination by school board lawyer Richard Thompson, Forrest acknowledged that she had no evidence that board members who voted for the curriculum change had either seen or heard of the Discovery Institute document.
The trial began September 26 and is expected to last five weeks.
Text originally referred to creationism
Biology book revised after Supreme Court ruling
Friday, October 7, 2005; Posted: 6:13 a.m. EDT (10:13 GMT)
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Early drafts of a student biology text contained references to creationism before they were replaced with the term "intelligent design," a witness testified Wednesday.
Barbara Forrest, a philosophy professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, took the witness stand in a landmark trial over a school system's use of the book "Of Pandas and People."
The text, written in 1987, was revised after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that June that states could not require schools to balance evolution with creationism in the classroom, Forrest said.
She reviewed drafts of the textbook as a witness for eight families who are trying to have the intelligent design concept removed from the Dover Area School District's biology curriculum.
The families contend that teaching intelligent design effectively promotes the Bible's view of creation, violating the separation of church and state.
Intelligent design holds that life on Earth is so complex that it must have been the product of some higher force. Opponents of the concept say intelligent design is simply creationism stripped of overt religious references.
Forrest outlined a chart of how many times the term "creation" was mentioned in the early drafts versus how many times the term "design" was mentioned in the published edition.
"They are virtually synonymous," she said.
Under the policy approved by Dover's school board in October 2004, students must hear a brief statement about intelligent design before classes on evolution.
The statement says Charles Darwin's theory is "not a fact" and has inexplicable "gaps."
Forrest also said that intelligent-design proponents have freely acknowledged that their cause is a religious one.
She cited a document from the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think tank that represents intelligent-design scholars, that says one of its goals is "to replace materialistic explanations with the theistic understanding that nature and human beings are created by God."
Under cross-examination by school board lawyer Richard Thompson, Forrest acknowledged that she had no evidence that board members who voted for the curriculum change had either seen or heard of the Discovery Institute document.
The trial began September 26 and is expected to last five weeks.