News Intelligence Analysis
From the Christian Post
Opposing Sides Square Off On First Day of Intelligent Design Case
September 27, 2005
A trial over the validity of "intelligent design" as science began yesterday in Pennsylvania, a case that many believe will draw the line between what is and is not religion in the public school classroom.
A scientist from Brown University was the first witness for the plaintiffs, parents from the Dover Area School District who claim that a 2004 policy requiring that students learn about intelligent design is a violation of the establishment of religion clause in the Constitution.
"Intelligent design is inherently religious. It is a form of creationism," said Kenneth R. Miller, a Professor from Brown University, whose biology textbook is used widely in schools throughout the nation, according to the Boston Globe.
The controversy over the idea behind intelligent design theory is that it asserts that some observable aspects of nature are so complex that they could not have happened by chance, thereby demonstrating that an intelligent agent must have designed it. The theory stops short of identifying the intelligent agent.
Defending the District in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case is the Thomas More Law Center, a Christian non-profit legal group.
"This case is about free inquiry in education, not about a religious agenda," said the Law Center?s Patrick Gillen in his opening statement, according to the Associated Press.
In his testimony, Miller said that this was "the first movement to try to drive a wedge between students and the scientific process," according to the Chicago-Sun Times.
In the statement read to students before a ninth grade biology class, the District says that that there are "gaps" in evolutionary theory, and that there are alternatives to it, such as intelligent design.
However Miller asserted in his testimony that "There is no controversy within science over the core proposition of evolutionary theory," according to AP.
Evolutionary theory holds that natural selection acts on genetic variations in organisms, which results in the creation of new species. Natural selection is the process where only those organisms best adapted to their environment survive to transmit genetic characteristics to succeeding generations, while those less adapted are eliminated.
In his testimony, Miller said that one of the reasons intelligent design was not science was because its central assertion that the complexity of organisms points to an intelligent designer was not testable, a requirement of science.
"If you invoke a spiritual force in science, I can't test or replicate it," said Miller, according to the Boston Globe.
"Scientific theories are not hunches," he added. "When we say 'theory,' we mean a strong, overarching explanation that ties together many facts and enables us to make testable predictions."
The Discovery Institute's Casey Luskin said in a statement on Monday that Miller misrepresented intelligent design. The Institute is one of the leading groups within the intelligent design field.
"Most of Dr. Miller's testimony today against intelligent design was simply based upon a misrepresentation of the scientific theory of intelligent design," said Luskin, program officer for public policy and legal affairs with Discovery Institute's Center for Science & Culture.
"The scientific method has been used in many fields to detect the action of intelligence in the natural world," explained Luskin.
"Actual statements by intelligent design proponents clearly show that the scientific theory of intelligent design does not attempt to address religious questions such as the nature and identity of the designer, and thus it avoids such untestable assertions."
He added that the textbook being endorsed by the district for students on intelligent design states that the theory cannot identify the designer, and cannot state if the designer was supernatural or natural.
The court case over the controversy is expected to last between two and three weeks, with various witnesses being called in, from scientists, to philosophers, parents, teachers, and school administrators.
francis@christianpost.com
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