http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051012/sc_nm/life_evolution_dc;_ylt=ArT8GOh1pJE2WLV02BWgxBz737YB;_ylu=X3oDMTA4NmhocGZ1BHNlYwMxNzAw
Bob Dog
Atheist #153 = 1^3 + 5^3 + 3^3
EAC's chief cook and brainwasher
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"I always thought our house was haunted,
'Cause nobody said boo to me."
- John Hiatt
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Professor slams intelligent design in Penn. schools By Jon Hurdle
Wed Oct 12, 7:03 PM ET
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - A professor on Wednesday
slammed the teaching of intelligent design as a blow to science
education as he testified in a lawsuit over whether the theory
should be introduced in schools as an alternative to evolution.
Teaching intelligent design is "probably the worst thing I have
ever heard of in science education," said Brian Alters, who
teaches science education at Harvard University and McGill
University in Montreal and was called as an expert witness by
parents suing the Dover, Pennsylvania, school district.
The federal court trial over teaching theories of human origins
in U.S. schools pits Christian conservatives, who say nature is
so complex it must have been the work of a God-like creator,
against teachers and scientists who back Charles Darwin's
theory of evolution.
The case, seen as a major test of the issue, has echoes of the
famed Scopes Monkey trial of 1925 when lawyers squared off in
a Tennessee courthouse over the teaching of Darwin's work.
In Dover schools, ninth-grade biology students are given a
four-paragraph statement suggesting intelligent design as an
alternative to evolution and steering them to a book explaining
the theory. The district says the policy does not amount to
teaching.
The 11 parents bringing the federal lawsuit say the policy is
religiously based and illegal because it violates the U.S.
Constitution's separation of church and state.
Alters testified the statement amounted to teaching because it
was part of the learning process and that teaching the theory
may force students to choose between God and science.
"Evolution does not deny the existence of God," he said. "It's
not about God. You can play the game of science and still have
your religious beliefs."
Alters warned that high school students who were taught
intelligent design may suffer a loss of credibility in college
academics by mixing theology and science.
"It engenders misconceptions not only about evolution but also
about the whole process of science," he said.
Alters cited a recent survey by the 50,000-member National
Science Teachers Association showing that 31 percent of its
members reported being under pressure to teach creationism or
other nonscientific beliefs in science classes.
In at least 30 U.S. states, proponents of intelligent design
are trying to introduce it into classrooms through school
boards, state education standards or state legislation.
The trial is in its third week and is expected to last into
November. The defense is expected to begin presenting its case
on Monday.
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