David,
In a previous post you noted that the people should decide rather than
the court. Fine, but when are the hoi polloi experts on technical
definitions? As I recall, Judge Jones took clear cognizance of the
people's response to the disclaimer. I note also that the disclaimer was
arrived at in an irregular fashion, bypassing the normal input from the
teachers and administrators involved. Also, two members of the board
browbeat the other members into voting for their version of the
disclaimer. These same two conveniently forgot or deliberately lied under
oath. The citizens' dismissal of the board confirms that the people had a
clear opinion on ID.
The testimony by Forrest concerning the development of /Of Pandas and
People/ from an overtly creationist text to one overtly ID with no more
than replacing the terms gives sufficient grounds for Jones' ruling. The
testimony by one of the defense's experts (whose name I don't recall at
the moment) that ID is creationism was almost overkill.
I grant that the decision could have been short, essentially a
formalization of "cut the crap." However, he knew that offal was being
spread widely, so that he could save the time of many judges with a
definitive detailed decision. He also will save taxpayers a large hunk of
cash.
It's been suggested that ID should be discussed in philosophy classes. I
have heard of philosophy being offered in parochial high schools, but not
in public schools. Additionally, would a high school class in philosophy
provide enough background for a discussion of the philosophy of science?
I think you'll find that it is an upper division or graduate course in
universities
Dave.
On Sun, 1 Jan 2006 22:24:14 -0500 David Opderbeck <dopderbeck@gmail.com>
writes:
As to what I think is the key question -- what sorts of questions should
courts decide -- to some extent your answer will depend on your political
philosophy, as well as on whether you think your side "won" in a given
case. I think subsidiarity is an important principle in a democratic
society, and I don't trust judges to make decisions the people should
make for themselves. For me, that's one of the broader principles at
stake here.
Received on Sun Jan 1 23:31:29 2006
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