Re: [asa] Brownback on evolution

The specifics of the Dover case combine and to some degree confound
several issues. Particular ones relevant to the present discussion
include:
What the specific school district was up to
The merit or lack thereof of ID generally
Interpretations of the separation of church and state

Of Pandas and People shows a clear indication of having had
"intelligent design" substituted for "creation science" in an apparent
effort to dodge the previous legal ruling against creation science.
Likewise, it's evident that some of the school board hoped to put it
the teaching of creation science. Various creation science advocates
market their teaching as intelligent design; as this is not generally
in a context obviously impacted by the legal ruling, my guess is that
they think it is a catchy phrase. Some people in the mainstream ID
movement also show strong sympathy for or ready willingness to work
with creation science, and few in the ID mainstream make clear efforts
to distance themselves from creation science (except in efforts to
bill it as suitable for schools, etc.). Thus, it's not surprising
that the ID movement gets tarred with the same brush. Nevertheless,
there are definite differences between standard ID and creation
science.

Regrettably, the mainstream ID movement resembles creation science in
using bad science, bad logic, and bad theology and thus does not
belong in science class because it's wrong.

Regrettably, current legal climate in the U.S. tends towards exclusion
of religion, restricting free speech. Creation science and Johnson or
Dembski style ID do not belong in schools because they are wrong, not
because of their religious motives. By the reasoning of the court, it
is legitimate to ask if physics would be excluded from schools if a
religious group came out endorsing it.

-- 
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"
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