Reflectorites
Here is an extract from a letter to the editor of The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch from
a US judge defending Phillip Johnson and ID.
Judge Graham makes a good point about how "lawyers and judges are often
required to assess the merits of scientific claims", so the argument that "Phillip
E. Johnson is a law professor and not a scientist" and therefore "he is not
qualified to critique evolutionary theory," is baseless.
The full letter also had some good points about the origin of life.
Steve
=================================================================
http://libpub.dispatch.com/cgi-bin/slwebcli.pl?DBLIST=cd00&DOCNUM=14606&TERMV=216:9:16461:9:22739:9:28004:9:
The Columbus Dispatch
GOVERNMENT SHOULDN'T CHOOSE SIDES IN EVOLUTION
DEBATE
Date: Saturday, May 13, 2000
Section: EDITORIAL & COMMENT
Page: 11A
Column: Letters to the Editor
In a recent Forum-page column, I argued that the origin of life remains a
mystery and that our public schools' science curriculum should include all
scientific evidence bearing on the issue. Responses to my column provide
insights on why scientific evidence in favor of intelligent design has not
received fair consideration.
First is the problem of stereotyping. The proponents of intelligent design
are often miscast as biblical literalists. Then, there is the emotionalism this
issue arouses, often leading to ridicule, name-calling and exaggerated
claims instead of reasoned debate.
The response from microbiologist Russell K. Durbin deserves a reply.
Durbin implies that because Berkeley University's Phillip E. Johnson is a
law professor and not a scientist, he is not qualified to critique evolutionary
theory. But lawyers and judges are often required to assess the merits of
scientific claims, as Durbin will soon discover if he ever should offer an
expert opinion in a courtroom or seek to defend a patent. Science is not an
inscrutable priesthood. Any person of reasonable intelligence should, with
some diligence, be able to understand and critically evaluate a scientific
theory. By the same token, I would expect a person of Durbin's obvious
intelligence to be able to discern any errors of logic that might creep into
my legal opinions.
[...]
U.S. District Judge James L. Graham
Columbus
[...]
All content herein is (c) 2000 The Columbus Dispatch and may not be
republished without permission.
=================================================================
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The account of the origin of life that I shall give is necessarily speculative;
by definition, nobody was around to see what happened. There are a
number of rival theories, but they all have certain features in common."
(Dawkins R., "The Selfish Gene," [1976], Oxford University Press: Oxford
UK, New Edition, 1989, p.14)
Stephen E. Jones | sejones@iinet.net.au | http://www.iinet.net.au/~sejones
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri May 19 2000 - 22:35:54 EDT