20051221   

Michael considered fate at 11:01   |   Permalink   |   Post a Comment

I'm surprised I didn't catch this yesterday, but for those who haven't either yet:

A Federal U.S. District Judge has ruled against intelligent design in the Dover, PA case. This is good news for anyone who enjoys at least a modicum of real-world, measurable indicators of the possibility of truth in their scientific theories:

Said the judge: "It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy."

The problem, as you might see, is that this case was probably clearly decided due to the fact that those pushing intelligent design in the Dover school district were shown to be making the decision based on religious beliefs, not on scientific grounds. I fear that in future cases in this country - which will inevitably pop up here and there - a more solid defense could potentially hide the religious aspects enough to win. This is not to say that anyone (that is, any federal judge) has any doubt as to the religious connections that ID has, but what we implicitly know and what we must explicitly show (i.e. burden of proof) are two different things. Bummer.