Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

[Barry Karr <SkeptInq@AOL.COM>]

 

 

 

 

Welcome to Science Court

By Chris Mooney

 

 

Legally speaking, Judge John E. Jones III's ruling in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District--Pennsylvania's much-discussed lawsuit over the teaching of "intelligent design"--can only be called conservative. The decision draws upon and reinforces a series of prior court precedents, all of which barred creationist encroachment upon the teaching of science in public schools.

 

In another sense, though, Jones' ruling is revolutionary. We live in a time when the findings of science themselves increasingly seem to be politically determined--when Democrat "science" is pitted against Republican "science" on issues ranging from evolution to global warming. By contrast, Jones' opinion strikes a blow for the proposition that when it comes to matters of science, there aren't necessarily two sides to every story.

 

Over the course of a lengthy trial, Jones looked closely at the scientific merits of "intelligent design"--the contention that Darwinian evolution cannot explain the biological complexity of living organisms, and that instead some form of intelligence must have created them. And in the end, the judge found ID utterly vacuous. "[ID] cannot be adjudged a valid, accepted scientific theory," Jones wrote, "as it has failed to publish in peer-reviewed journals, engage in research and testing, and gain acceptance in the scientific community."

 

To Read More of this Column Visit:  http://www.csicop.org/doubtandabout/dover/

 

To Read More Articles by Chris Mooney Visit: http://www.csicop.org/doubtandabout/

http://www.chriscmooney.com/

To write to the author directly: moonecc@yahoo.com

 

 

Now Online at  www.csicop.org

 

Volume 29, Number 6
November/December 2005

• Buy this back issue
• Does Irreducible Complexity Imply Intelligent Design?
• Only a Theory? Framing the Evolution/Creation Issue
• Obfuscating Biological Evolution
• What Should We Think about Americans’ Beliefs Regarding Evolution?
• Investigative Files: Legends of Castles and Keeps
• Forum: Praying for Jane

 

 

For our Friends in the UK

 

Hi Barry,

 As your new list reaches further than the current U.K. skeptic lists, would it be possible to add this to the next news item?

We only have one monthly skeptics meeting for the whole of the U.K., so helping Simon would be a definite step in the right direction.

Best Regards,

Sid Rodrigues
UK Skeptic News
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ukskeptic/

From Nick Pullar
--------------------------------
Hi all

I know that we have people from all around the UK subscribing to this list, so here's a message for some of you who live outside London.

A chap called Simon who lives in Leicester is very keen to start up a Skeptics in the Pub in his own city.

So, if you live close to Leicester, and are interested in going along, then Simon would very much like it if you could email him to let him know you are interested.

His contact details are:

Email: simon@xibis.com

By all accounts he has an excellent venue arranged, and all he needs now are some bodies to fill it up!

Give him a shout of encouragement if you can.

Cheers

Nick

 

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