IT WILL be a verdict of truly biblical proportions. For 40 days Judge John Jones presided over the intelligent design trial in Pennsylvania and now he aims to decide by 1 January whether teaching ID in US science classes alongside evolution violates the constitutional ban on religious indoctrination in schools.
Eleven parents brought the case last June after objecting to the Dover High School Board鈥檚 decision compelling pupils to learn about ID, the theory that the complexity of life is best explained by an unidentified supernatural creator. Lawyers for the parents sought to prove that ID is a thinly veiled attempt to repackage biblical creationism as a scientific theory, so if taught would violate the American constitution (see 快猫短视频, 29 October, p 6).
鈥淲e proved two key points,鈥� said Steve Harvey, an attorney for the parents. 鈥淔irst, that the board of education had a specifically religious purpose in enacting its policy, and second, that ID is not a scientific theory or science at all. It鈥檚 a religious concept.鈥�
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鈥淭he board of education had a specifically religious purpose in enacting this policy鈥�
Harvey told 快猫短视频 that if the judge finds for the parents, the verdict would set a precedent undermining the case for teaching ID in schools elsewhere in the US.
On a lighter note, the defendants鈥� attorney noted that the final day was the fortieth, and asked the judge whether this was deliberate. The court collapsed in laughter when the judge replied: 鈥淣ot by design鈥�.
