So-called "Intelligent Design" not only shut down, but body slammed. And by one of their own, a conservative Christian W-appointee! How cool is that? Finally, a Republican (apart from John McCain) to love! (Even if it's only a brief, illicit affair.)
It's old news by now, but I simply must quote from Judge John E. Jones's decision. Calling I.D. "Creationism relabeled," he said:
"To be sure, Darwin's theory of evolution is imperfect. However, the fact that a scientific theory cannot yet render an explanation on every point should not be used as a pretext to thrust an untestable alternative hypothesis grounded in religion into the science classroom or to misrepresent well-established scientific propositions.
The citizens of the Dover area were poorly served by the members of the board who voted for the I.D. policy. It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the I.D. policy.
Those who disagree with our holding will likely mark it as the product of an activist judge. If so, they will have erred as this is manifestly not an activist court. Rather, this case came to us as the result of the activism of an ill-informed faction on a school board, aided by a national public interest law firm eager to find a constitutional test case on I.D., who in combination drove the board to adopt an imprudent and ultimately unconstitutional policy.
The breathtaking inanity of the board's decision is evident when considered against the factual backdrop which has now been fully revealed through this trial. The students, parents, and teachers of the Dover Area School District deserved better than to be dragged into this legal maelstrom, with its resulting utter waste of monetary and personal resources."
Now there's an invaluable holiday present for our whole country.
2 comments:
It's a Christmas miracle!
"breathtaking inanity" - couldn't have said it better myself.
Occassionally, something happens to reaffirm my faith in this country's institutions. The last few years have been tough on people like me (and I think you), but this decision gives a small ray of hope.
I'm often honestly stupefied that a group like this could ever be elected to the highest governing positions in a first world country. I really try (so far as I am able) not to be myopic and not to judge the world entirely from my own narrow perspective. But I'm damned if I can make headway in feeling any shred of what W's supporters seem to feel. And I spend a hell of a lot of time around this particular political stripe (What do I call them? Non-Libertarian Republicans? Social conservatives? Politically-active nominal Christians?) and nothing makes the whole business seem less wrong to me.
But comes a case like this one and (as I've said before) I feel like I'm trapped in a Kafka novel! I mean, come on: changing the definition of science itself so that "spiritual explanations" can find a snuggly place on the coattails?! It's an embarrassment in the extreme and an incredibly sad commentary on our educational system that this issue got even half the traction that it has.
I should have titled THIS post "Stay of Execution."
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