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Dover Area School District to teach "Intelligent Design"
by david
Sunday, Nov. 21, 2004 at 9:51 PM
The Dover Area School District has cast a vote against evolutionary theory.
The Dover Area School District has amended its school curriculum so that “Students will be made aware of gaps/problems in Darwin’s Theory and of other theories of evolution including, but not limited to Intelligent Design."
The Dover Area is a 3,600-student school district 20 miles south of Harrisburg. It has become the first school district in the U.S. encourage that "Intelligent Design" be taught alongside Evolutionary Theory. Intelligent Design is a pseudo-scientific "theory" claiming that the complexity of the natural world is evidence of a supernatural force at work.
According to revised curriculum, the following statement will be read to all students:
The state standards require students to learn about Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and to eventually take a standardized test of which evolution is a part.
Because Darwin’s Theory is a theory, it is still being tested as new evidence is discovered. The Theory is not a fact. Gaps in the Theory exist for which there is no evidence. A theory is defined as a well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations.
Intelligent Design is an explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin’s view. The reference book, Of Pandas and People, is available for students to see if they would like to explore this view in an effort to gain an understanding of what Intelligent Design actually involves. As is true with any theory, students are encouraged to keep an open mind.
The school leaves the discussion of the Origins of Life up to individual students and their families. As a standards-driven district, class instruction focuses on the standards and preparing students to be successful on standards-based assessments.
Read the school board's press release here: http://www.dover.k12.pa.us/doversd/cwp/view.asp?A=3&Q=261852
Of Pandas and People has been widely criticized for misrepresenting biology and misleading students as to the scientific status of evolutionary biology. Among other things, it distorts or outright ignores geological evidence concerning the age of the Earth, numerous fossil records, the issue of extinction and molecular evidence. Read a critique of Of Pandas and People here: http://www.kcfs.org/pandas.html.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled teaching creationism in public schools is unconstitutional, the Christian Right has advanced "Intelligent Design" as a back-door to creationism. Dover's is the first school district to attempt this tactic of undermining evolutionary theory by supporting Intelligent Design.
Two board members of the Dover Area School District quit in protest after the board voted 6-3 in favor of the curriculum changes.
Dover School District,s Return to the Dark Ages
by Harvey Meieran
Monday, Nov. 22, 2004 at 6:36 AM
meierang@aol.com
The Dover School District, PA, appears to be rapidly advancing back to the Dark Ages of Reason and Intelligence with their condemnation of Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Perhaps they should now re-advocate that the sun circles the earth, the dinasours exhisted with prehistoric man, the earth is flat and has four corners. The District is by-passing the national REQUIRED standard of separation of church and state. Are they now going to abolish freedom of speech?
God forbid we educate these kids
by Bruce Almighty
Monday, Nov. 22, 2004 at 7:26 AM
Education means providing all infomration and advancing critical thought. That sounds to me like what the school district is doing. There are gaps in Darwin's theory, and it is but one theory for how we all got here. Yet there are other theories and Darwin's theory does require certain leaps of "faith" if you will. Is it inappropriate to present these issues and allow children to make their own decisions? It seems that the "evolutionists" do not want any challenge to their theory, which is intellectually dishonest and seems to violate freedoms of speech (and thought).
Educate and then allow people to determine if it is not the biggest leap of faith to deny the existence of a deity. Or would you rather present Darwin's theory as gospel not t be challenged (just as you are so quick to accuse the vast religious right of doing). I think that the school board's decision is a proper one and protects the rights of each party.
Science!
by Mr Scientist
Monday, Nov. 22, 2004 at 8:35 AM
Science is bullshit. Who cares if they teach a different sort of bullshit? I think this is actually a very good thing. Science cannot be a neutral medium. Science has been used to create an endless number of horrible things from economic exploitation to environmental rape and mass mind control. And the justification has been "its science!". Even if I dont completely agree with the aims here, it is still very nice to see ordinary folks trying to take control of science for the construction of their own ideal world. I think we on the left have allot of learn from them.
Science, Values and Theism
by david
Monday, Nov. 22, 2004 at 10:14 AM
Bruce Almighty and Mr. Scientist:
While it is true that scientific endeavors are often tainted by corporate greed and militaristic values, to dismiss all science as bullshit is a facile, dangerous and reactionary claim.
What is problematic about Dover Area School Board's decision is that it constitutes a slippery slope progression to fundamentalist Christian control over education. The decision to distribute "Of Pandas and People," a book so fraught with contradiction and so blatantly a backdoor to Creationism, is part of a larger agenda that has little to do with the construction of a world devoid of "economic exploitation," "environmental rape" and "mass mind control." Rather, it must be viewed in the context of the Christian Right's backlash against gender and reproductive freedom alongside the movement's zealous commitment to imposing its flavor of Christo-facist morality on the country, if not the world.
For years, Christian fundamentalists have struggled to seize control over school boards and educational curricula, knowing full well that it is the route to mass indoctrination. Only by educating the young that secular humanism, homosexuality, abortion and socialism are evil could they hope to command legions who would consent to trading their freedom for Patriarchal rule by the likes of Ashcroft.
Science and technology is certainly value laden, but one does not throw out the baby with the bath water. For good or worse, humankind's ability to reason, to distinguish fact from faith, to make scientific inferences, is the cornerstone to building a better world. Should students be taught about confirmation theory, epistemology and the social history of science and technology in order to think critically about the "scientific method" and the way values affect scientific research, technology and society? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean they should abandon the study of mainstream scientific theories in favor Theistic doctrine disguised as "theory."
I for one do not want to live in the Republic of Gilead. Do you?
What is science.
by gwen
Monday, Nov. 22, 2004 at 1:14 PM
If science was "bulls***" (nice that obvious christians are cursing in a public forum), we wouldn't be able to use these crazy devices to communicate on this forum. No, really.
Evolution is the theory that best fits the evidence we have. It may not be perfect, and it may even be wrong, but Intelligent Design is but one of an infinite amount of possibilities for alternate thoughts on the matter, and it does not actually fit the evidence that we have. There is no reason it should be singled out as the "alternate" to the theory of evolution.
Perhaps also, we should just scrap our other scientific theories. You know, the theories of physics, math, and whathaveyou. I mean, really, the ability to have one plus one equal one is just a theory too, and because it's a theory, we should really scrap it! One plus one now equals three! That'll make our economy get better, by advancing more rapidly! But wait, that's all based on theory too! I guess we should just go back to hunting and gathering, screw all this science.
Really, science isn't the gospel, it's science. Anyone who thinks that science is "preached" like the "gospel" clearly doesn't know what science is. And without science, we wouldn't be where we are at.
Dear Billy
by Urban Guerrilla
Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2004 at 10:12 AM
Dear Billy,
We want you to recognise the possibility that an invisible white man with a long beard who lives in the clouds created the Earth and everything on it in 8 days. Oh, and the monkeys are not our distant relatives.
p.s. Remember Billy, it's OK to talk to God, we actually encourage it. But, if you should hear God talking to you, you may be burned at the stake or stoned to death.
signed,
your loving, morally just, heterosexual parents.
Please, let's educate these kids. And leave God out of it.
by greg
Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005 at 10:31 AM
This shows a stunning lack of understanding of what science is. Darwin's evolution is science; testable, peer-reviewed, supported by mountains of evidence. Yes it's a theory, but so is gravity, and when's the last time anyone, minus a rocket, suddenly shot up into space for no reason. A scientific theory is not just a shot-in-the-dark guess on a whim. There are no "leaps of faith" in science. Any gaps are continually researched until they're filled or shown to be falacious. Evolution has been studied in dozens of disciplines of science by millions of scientists since 1859 when Darwin published his findings, yet never has a gap been filled by valid evidence that discounts the theory as a whole. It continues to be revised and improved as new data is researched and evidence is discovered.
Intelligent design is completely contrary to that. It is supernatural, therefore untestable, with no valid evidence or data for it. I repeat, there is no valid evidence or data for it, outside of religious texts. It's pure faith, aka religion/dogma, not science. This has no place in a public school at all, much less in a science class. If anything it'd go in literature or social studies class next to Greek mythology.
"Evolutionists" will accept any valid challenge to the theory, provided there's evidence and data for it. Science is the search for knowledge of how the universe works, and must be supported by experimental data and evidence. Otherwise it's discounted. Intelligent Design is just a dirty, under-handed way for Christian fundamentalist to force their beliefs on children with this generic creationism, aka Christian creationism. Let kids learn it in philosophy and religion classes in college where it belongs, not in a public high school science class where they should be learning the scientific method.
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