More science, not less

From the AP: Opening Arguments Made in 'Intelligent Design' Court Case HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A school district went to court Monday to defend its policy of telling students that a higher power may have created life -- an alternative to the evolution theory they are already learning. Eight families are suing the Dover Area School District where the teen students are told about "intelligent design'' before their regular biology lessons on evolution. The families allege the policy violates the constitutional separation of church and state. The intelligent design concept holds that Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection cannot fully explain the origin of life or the emergence of highly complex life forms. It implies that life on Earth was the product of an unidentified intelligent force. Critics say intelligent design is merely creationism -- a literal reading of the Bible's story of creation -- camouflaged in scientific language, and it does not belong in a science curriculum. From NYT: Evolution Lawsuit Opens in Pennsylvania By LAURIE GOODSTEIN Published: September 27, 2005 HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 26 - Intelligent design is not science, has no support from any major American scientific organization and does not belong in a public school science classroom, a prominent biologist testified on the opening day of the nation's first legal battle over whether it is permissible to teach the fledgling "design" theory as an alternative to evolution. "To my knowledge, every single scientific society that has taken a position on this issue has taken a position against intelligent design and in favor of evolution," said the biologist, Kenneth R. Miller, a professor at Brown University and the co-author of the widely used high school textbook "Biology." …………………………………………………………… Intelligent design is not science and does not belong in the science classroom. Already there is not enough time given to science in our public schools. The Bush policies, from stem cells to global warming to energy to the environment all show how the lack of sound science policy can be devastating. Our kids need to learn as much science as possible so they will be able to tackle the mess we are going to leave them.