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12/22/2005

Activist Federal Judge Censors Pennsylvania Teachers
"Yet another activist judge has forced personal prejudices on the educational community," says Finn Laursen, executive director of Christian Educators Association International.

MEDIA ADVISORY, Dec. 22 /Christian Wire Service/ -- Last Tuesday, a federal judge banned the Dover Area School District of Pennsylvania from informing students that Intelligent Design is another explanation of the origin of life.

The Dover district had a policy of informing students that Darwin’s theory of evolution was just that, a theory, and that there are many gaps in the evidence for it. Dover further informed students that Intelligent Design is an alternative theory of origins and encouraged them to keep an open mind.

Dover still taught evolution to prepare students for the state proficiency tests, but the very mention of another theory outraged some parents and motivated the ACLU to challenge the District on behalf of the orthodoxy of evolution.

In his 139 page opinion, U.S. District Judge John Jones ruled the board’s policy was unconstitutional, but he went far beyond the question at hand and ruled that Intelligent Design "is an extension of the fundamentalists’ view that one must either accept the literal interpretation of Genesis or else believe in the godless system of evolution."

Clearly, Judge Jones has Intelligent Design confused with Creationism. Creationism is a theory of creation based on the book of Genesis in the Bible. Intelligent Design is not a religious construct; many scientists hold that the unexplained complexity of life points to an Intelligent Designer, and anyone can draw their own conclusions about who or what that may be.

"Perhaps Judge Jones needs to heed Dover’s recommendation to be open minded," says Laursen. "Judge Jones said that ID relies on the unprovable existence of the Christian God and therefore is not science. Under such a definition of science, evolution would not qualify either, since it can not be proven. That many believe that creation points to its Creator is where the faith comes in for many, but we are not advocating religious instruction in public schools."

"We continue to encourage our members teaching in both private and public schools to teach all the science available in the twenty-first century, whether it supports evolution or not. Let science speak for itself," insisted Laursen.