21st century, 1....16th Century, 0

Judge Bars 'Intelligent Design' From Pa. Classes

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- "Intelligent design" cannot be mentioned in biology classes in a Pennsylvania public school district, a federal judge said Tuesday, ruling in one of the biggest courtroom clashes on evolution since the 1925 Scopes trial.

Dover Area School Board members violated the Constitution when they ordered that its biology curriculum must include the notion that life on Earth was produced by an unidentified intelligent cause, U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III said. Several members repeatedly lied to cover their motives even while professing religious beliefs, he said.

The school board policy, adopted in October 2004, was believed to have been the first of its kind in the nation.

While there are many threats to the economic well being of the United States one of the greatest is replacing science with mythology in the class room. It goes much further than the separation of Church and State but the very technological survival of this nation. A student who learns 16th century mythology instead of 21st century science will not be prepared to learn science, medicine or engineering in college. The University of California is being sued for recognizing that fact.

Parents who wish that their children learn mythology should be free to send them to religious schools but at the same must recognize that will eliminate any possibility of those children becoming doctors, nurses or scientists.

Update
Patridiot Watch makes an interesting point; unless this decision is overturned by a higher court it now has legal precedent. Although the ID wingnuts would want an appeal it would have to be appealed by the school board and the Dover school board is no longer made up of wingnuts, they were all defeated in November, so an appeal is unlikely.