Intelligent design case awaits ruling

Intelligent design case now in judge's hands - Americas - International Herald Tribune: "HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania The first trial in the United States to test the constitutionality of teaching intelligent design as science has ended with a lawyer for a pro-design school board pronouncing it 'the next great paradigm shift in science.'

His opponent, an attorney for the 11 parents suing the Dover school board, dismissed intelligent design as dishonest, unscientific and based entirely on 'a meager little analogy that collapses immediately upon inspection.'"

Now that we know who is who...

"The case will be decided by Judge John Jones 3rd, who said he hoped to issue his ruling before the end of the year, or early January at the latest.

The scientists who advocate intelligent design explained that the complexity of biological organisms and the "purposeful arrangement of parts" are evidence that there is a designer. They said their theory was not religious because they were not claiming the designer is God, since that is untestable.

Scott Minnich, an associate professor of microbiology at the University of Idaho, testified for the defense on Thursday and Friday, saying that intelligent design is like seeing a watch and implicitly knowing that it had a designer - the argument the plaintiffs' attorney called "a meager little analogy."

So, you have a flamewar cropping up with a generally conservative judge at the helm. Teach'em both, they're both just theories anyways.

Archives: "New evolution spat in U.S. schools goes to court"