Intelligent Design Theory: Science or Religion?

rosborne979 wrote:

It seems that the issue is starting to leak into mainstream comedy.

At once amusing, gratifying, and wonderfully promising is that those most outraged at finding themselves rendered public laughingstock precisely are and most energetically persist in being the causation of their own discomfiture.

Bernie is designing jewelry, and very successfully now too. But don't tell him I told you because every time he admits it, he worries about his sperm count going down. Silly man........I mean owner. laugh

Bill may deter religious lawsuits
(By SETH GOLDSTEIN, York Daily Record, July 3, 2006)

Those who challenged the mentioning of intelligent design last year in a Dover Area School District biology class might have been deterred from going to court if a bill under debate in a House subcommittee had been passed then.

The bill, introduced recently by Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., would prohibit people who bring religious symbol lawsuits against local or state governments from collecting monetary damages or attorney fees if they win.

Opponents of the measure, which will be reviewed and possibly voted on by the House Judiciary Committee after the July 4 recess, say it aims to discourage people from filing these lawsuits.

"The bill creates an opportunity for school districts to promote religious views knowing those hurt by it won't bring in any legal assistance," said Eric Rothschild, one of the lead attorneys for the 11 plaintiffs in the Dover intelligent design case.

Witold Walczak, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who also represented the plaintiffs, said the bill would attack individuals "in their pockets" to scare them from filing the lawsuits because they would have to pay for the attorneys themselves. He said many attorneys take the lawsuits without payment, as he and Rothschild did in the Dover case, but the expenses for their research and investigation need to be covered.

"None of the 11 plaintiffs, if they pooled their resources together, could afford the type of legal assistance they needed," Walczak said.

In the Dover case, the school district now has to pay a $1 million bill to the plaintiffs' attorneys.

Rep. Todd Platts, R-York County, whose district includes Dover, said he supports the bill because it would allow the legal system to decide issues and remove any kind of intimidation tactics.

"Different organizations, including the ACLU, tend to use the threat of fees as a means to intimidate local governments who don't have deep pockets to take an action they wouldn't otherwise do," Platts said.

Other supporters who testified at a hearing on the bill last week echoed Platts' belief that there's a need to level the playing field for local governments facing large advocacy groups in court.

"Many (local governments) don't have the means or time to set aside a small fortune to defend their constitutional rights against these liberal organizations," Hostettler said during the hearing.

He said many attorneys take the lawsuits without payment, as he and Rothschild did in the Dover case, but the expenses for their research and investigation need to be covered.

"None of the 11 plaintiffs, if they pooled their resources together, could afford the type of legal assistance they needed," Walczak said.

That suggests that Dover was a pyrrhic victory or,to put it another way, that anti-IDers prematurely ejaculated their boasting noises.

:

Ingredients
milk
water
milkfat
whey
whey protein concentrate
sodium phosphate
milk protein concentrate
alginate
sodium citrate
apocarotenal (color)
annatto (color)
enzymes
benzoate
cheese culture