Intelligent Design Theory: Science or Religion?

The gradual physical changes over time in evolution's determined and boringly predictable processes has nothing to do with mathematics

KINGSTON, R.I. ? There is nothing much unusual about the 197-page dissertation Marcus R. Ross submitted in December to complete his doctoral degree in geosciences here at the University of Rhode Island



His subject was the abundance and spread of mosasaurs, marine reptiles that, as he wrote, vanished at the end of the Cretaceous era about 65 million years ago. The work is ?impeccable,? said David E. Fastovsky, a paleontologist and professor of geosciences at the university who was Dr. Ross?s dissertation adviser. ?He was working within a strictly scientific framework, a conventional scientific framework.?

But Dr. Ross is hardly a conventional paleontologist. He is a ?young earth creationist? ? he believes that the Bible is a literally true account of the creation of the universe, and that the earth is at most 10,000 years old.

For him, Dr. Ross said, the methods and theories of paleontology are one ?paradigm? for studying the past, and Scripture is another. In the paleontological paradigm, he said, the dates in his dissertation are entirely appropriate. The fact that as a young earth creationist he has a different view just means, he said, ?that I am separating the different paradigms.?

He likened his situation to that of a socialist studying economics in a department with a supply-side bent. ?People hold all sorts of opinions different from the department in which they graduate,? he said. ?What?s that to anybody else??

But not everyone is happy with that approach. ?People go somewhat bananas when they hear about this,? said Jon C. Boothroyd, a professor of geosciences at Rhode Island.

In theory, scientists look to nature for answers to questions about nature, and test those answers with experiment and observation. For Biblical literalists, Scripture is the final authority. As a creationist raised in an evangelical household and a paleontologist who said he was ?just captivated? as a child by dinosaurs and fossils, Dr. Ross embodies conflicts between these two approaches. The conflicts arise often these days, particularly as people debate the teaching of evolution.

And, for some, his case raises thorny philosophical and practical questions. May a secular university deny otherwise qualified students a degree because of their religion? Can a student produce intellectually honest work that contradicts deeply held beliefs? Should it be obligatory (or forbidden) for universities to consider how students will use the degrees they earn?

Those are ?darned near imponderable issues,? said John W. Geissman, who has considered them as a professor of earth and planetary sciences at the University of New Mexico. For example, Dr. Geissman said, Los Alamos National Laboratory has a geophysicist on staff, John R. Baumgardner, who is an authority on the earth?s mantle ? and also a young earth creationist.

If researchers like Dr. Baumgardner do their work ?without any form of interjection of personal dogma,? Dr. Geissman said, ?I would have to keep as objective a hat on as possible and say, ?O.K., you earned what you earned.? ?

Others say the crucial issue is not whether Dr. Ross deserved his degree but how he intends to use it.

In a telephone interview, Dr. Ross said his goal in studying at secular institutions ?was to acquire the training that would make me a good paleontologist, regardless of which paradigm I was using.?

Today he teaches earth science at Liberty University, the conservative Christian institution founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell where, Dr. Ross said, he uses a conventional scientific text.

?We also discuss the intersection of those sorts of ideas with Christianity,? he said. ?I don?t require my students to say or write their assent to one idea or another any more than I was required.?

But he has also written and spoken on scientific subjects, and with a creationist bent. While still a graduate student, he appeared on a DVD arguing that intelligent design, an ideological cousin of creationism, is a better explanation than evolution for the Cambrian explosion, a rapid diversification of animal life that occurred about 500 million years ago.

Online information about the DVD identifies Dr. Ross as ?pursuing a Ph.D. in geosciences? at the University of Rhode Island. It is this use of a secular credential to support creationist views that worries many scientists.

Eugenie C. Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, a private group on the front line of the battle for the teaching of evolution, said fundamentalists who capitalized on secular credentials ?to miseducate the public? were doing a disservice.

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KINGSTON, R.I. ? There is nothing much unusual about the 197-page dissertation Marcus R. Ross submitted in December to complete his doctoral degree in geosciences here at the University of Rhode Island



His subject was the abundance and spread of mosasaurs, marine reptiles that, as he wrote, vanished at the end of the Cretaceous era about 65 million years ago. The work is ?impeccable,? said David E. Fastovsky, a paleontologist and professor of geosciences at the university who was Dr. Ross?s dissertation adviser. ?He was working within a strictly scientific framework, a conventional scientific framework.?

But Dr. Ross is hardly a conventional paleontologist. He is a ?young earth creationist? ? he believes that the Bible is a literally true account of the creation of the universe, and that the earth is at most 10,000 years old.

For him, Dr. Ross said, the methods and theories of paleontology are one ?paradigm? for studying the past, and Scripture is another. In the paleontological paradigm, he said, the dates in his dissertation are entirely appropriate. The fact that as a young earth creationist he has a different view just means, he said, ?that I am separating the different paradigms.?

He likened his situation to that of a socialist studying economics in a department with a supply-side bent. ?People hold all sorts of opinions different from the department in which they graduate,? he said. ?What?s that to anybody else??

But not everyone is happy with that approach. ?People go somewhat bananas when they hear about this,? said Jon C. Boothroyd, a professor of geosciences at Rhode Island.

In theory, scientists look to nature for answers to questions about nature, and test those answers with experiment and observation. For Biblical literalists, Scripture is the final authority. As a creationist raised in an evangelical household and a paleontologist who said he was ?just captivated? as a child by dinosaurs and fossils, Dr. Ross embodies conflicts between these two approaches. The conflicts arise often these days, particularly as people debate the teaching of evolution.

And, for some, his case raises thorny philosophical and practical questions. May a secular university deny otherwise qualified students a degree because of their religion? Can a student produce intellectually honest work that contradicts deeply held beliefs? Should it be obligatory (or forbidden) for universities to consider how students will use the degrees they earn?

Those are ?darned near imponderable issues,? said John W. Geissman, who has considered them as a professor of earth and planetary sciences at the University of New Mexico. For example, Dr. Geissman said, Los Alamos National Laboratory has a geophysicist on staff, John R. Baumgardner, who is an authority on the earth?s mantle ? and also a young earth creationist.

If researchers like Dr. Baumgardner do their work ?without any form of interjection of personal dogma,? Dr. Geissman said, ?I would have to keep as objective a hat on as possible and say, ?O.K., you earned what you earned.? ?

Others say the crucial issue is not whether Dr. Ross deserved his degree but how he intends to use it.

In a telephone interview, Dr. Ross said his goal in studying at secular institutions ?was to acquire the training that would make me a good paleontologist, regardless of which paradigm I was using.?

Today he teaches earth science at Liberty University, the conservative Christian institution founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell where, Dr. Ross said, he uses a conventional scientific text.

?We also discuss the intersection of those sorts of ideas with Christianity,? he said. ?I don?t require my students to say or write their assent to one idea or another any more than I was required.?

But he has also written and spoken on scientific subjects, and with a creationist bent. While still a graduate student, he appeared on a DVD arguing that intelligent design, an ideological cousin of creationism, is a better explanation than evolution for the Cambrian explosion, a rapid diversification of animal life that occurred about 500 million years ago.

Online information about the DVD identifies Dr. Ross as ?pursuing a Ph.D. in geosciences? at the University of Rhode Island. It is this use of a secular credential to support creationist views that worries many scientists.

Eugenie C. Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, a private group on the front line of the battle for the teaching of evolution, said fundamentalists who capitalized on secular credentials ?to miseducate the public? were doing a disservice.

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PERA reintroduced in 110th Congress
(By Rees Lloyd, Banning Record Gazette, February 9, 2007)

The controversial Public Expression of Religion Act (PERA) which almost passed in the 109th Congress with grassroots support including the 2.7-million member American Legion, largest wartime veterans organization in the world, has been reintroduced in the new 110th Congress.

PERA, formally known as the Veterans Memorials, Boy Scouts, Public Seals And Other Public Expressions of Religion Protection Act of 2005, has been introduced in the Senate as S. 415 by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and twelve co-sponsors; and in the House as HR 725 by Rep. Dan Burton and 43 co-sponsors.

PERA, S. 415, and HR 725, would amend federal laws to withdraw the authority of judges to award attorney fees at taxpayer-expense to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), or anyone else, in lawsuits brought under the Establishment Clause against veterans memorials, the Boy Scouts, or the public display of the Ten Commandments or other symbols of America's history which have a religious aspect.

The House of Representatives passed PERA, H.R. 2679, sponsored by Rep. John Hostettler (R-Ind.) in the 109th Congress 244-173.

However, Sen. Brownback's identical PERA legislation, S. 3696, stalled in the Senate when Sen. Arlen Specter declined to call it up for a vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee before the election recess and time ran out before the end of the 109th Congress.

Sen. Brownback, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and ranking member of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Property Rights, held hearings on PERA, S.3696, last year, as did Rep. Hostettler in the House.

Evidence was introduced there that the ACLU has reaped millions in profits in Establishment Clause cases by court-ordered, taxpayer-paid attorney fees, although the ACLU in fact has no actual attorney fees as its cases are handled by staff attorneys or pro bono volunteer attorneys who are forbidden from accepting fees by the ACLU's own rules.

Brownback also elicited testimony from the ACLU's strongest backer in hearings on PERA, the American Jewish Congress, that it is in fact true, as alleged in the testimony of The American Legion, that the ACLU has used the threat of imposition of attorney fees by judges as "a club" to compel cities and other local bodies, including school boards, to surrender to ACLU's secular-cleansing demands.

"It is not fair for taxpayers to pay the legal bills for groups like the ACLU," said Brown Back in introducing PERA, S. 415. "Currently many small towns comply with the demands of the ACLU rather than risk going to trial and paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to the ACLU if they lose the case."

American Legion National Commander Paul Morin, in his recent visitations to American Legion Posts in California, emphasized that the American Legion's legislative priorities in defense of American values in the 110th Congress are "passage of the Flag Amendment, which lost by but one vote in the 109th, and passage of PERA."

(Editor's Note: Civil Rights Attorney Rees Lloyd is Commander of American Legion District 21 and was appointed by Past National Commander Thomas Bock to testify as the representative of The American Legion in support of PERA in House and Senate hearings in the 109th Congress.)

Then I assert that you know nothing about cladistics or trend series analyses, not to mention Taylor series or Lagrangian expansions, factor analyses, and Spectral analyses (a stat term , not chemistry).

In theory, scientists look to nature for answers to questions about nature, and test those answers with experiment and observation.

Science and Mathematics tell me that God must exist. But I don't believe it.

Salvadore Dali.

Some people can sleep soundly even while basing their entire careers on a con-job.

(American Legion Press Release, February 1, 2007)
The leader of the nation's largest wartime veterans' organization today applauded Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan) for reintroducing the Veterans' Memorials, Boy Scouts, Public Seals and Other Expressions of Religion Protection Act of 2007 (S. 415) in the U.S. Senate, a measure that would stop the award of taxpayer dollars in legal fees to groups filing lawsuits against veterans' memorials and public displays of religion.

"Legal attacks against veterans' memorials that display religious symbols must not be rewarded by judges reaching into taxpayer pockets to enlarge the coffers of organizations such as the ACLU to encourage more lawsuits against our traditions and memorials," said American Legion National Commander Paul A. Morin.

The Veterans' Memorials, Boy Scouts, Public Seals and Other Expressions of Religion Protection Act of 2007 would amend U.S. statutes to eliminate the chilling effect on the constitutionally protected expression of religion by state and local officials that results from the threat that potential litigants may seek damages and attorney's fees. A similar measure passed overwhelmingly in the House last year but the Senate version was not brought up for a vote prior to the adjournment of the 109th Congress.

Most Americans are unaware that activist groups, such as the ACLU, recover hundreds of thousands of dollars from state and local governments each year based on a provision of the 1976 Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act, which was intended to assist underprivileged plaintiffs in obtaining legal representation in civil rights cases.

Some of these cases include lawsuits against veterans' memorials, the Boy Scouts of America, the public display of the Ten Commandments and other symbols of America's religious heritage. Last year in a testimony to the Senate, Rees Lloyd, former ACLU attorney and Department of California District 21 Commander, provided these examples of ACLU awards of taxpayer money: Approximately $950,000 in attorney's fees was awarded to the ACLU in a settlement with the City of San Diego in its lawsuit to drive the Boy Scouts out of Balboa Park.

In the Judge Roy Moore Ten Commandments case, the ACLU received $500,000. In a recent "Intelligent Design" case against a school board, the ACLU received $2,000,000 in attorney's fees by order of a judge--although the law firm that represented the ACLU informed the court and public that it had acted pro bono and waived any attorney's fees; these fees were pure profit to the ACLU.

"If the ACLU feels it has to bring lawsuits that most Americans abhor, it should at least have the decency not to assess these to the taxpayers to make a profit," Morin said.

"It is not fair for taxpayers to pay the legal bills for groups like the ACLU," said Brownback. "Currently many towns comply with the demands of the ACLU rather than risk going to trial and paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to the ACLU if they lose the case.

Brownback is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and is the ranking member on the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights.

"The American Legion will do everything in its power to educate the public about this abusive practice and why this law must be passed," Morin said.

"Legal attacks against veterans' memorials that display religious symbols must not be rewarded by judges reaching into taxpayer pockets to enlarge the coffers of organizations such as the ACLU to encourage more lawsuits against our traditions and memorials," said American Legion National Commander Paul A. Morin.

"Legal attacks against veterans' memorials that display religious symbols must not be rewarded by judges reaching into taxpayer pockets to enlarge the coffers of organizations such as the ACLU to encourage more lawsuits against our traditions and memorials," said American Legion National Commander Paul A. Morin.

A look at how Kansas' science standards would change
(Associated Press, February 13, 2007)

A look at some of the changes proposed for Kansas' science standards:

INTRODUCTION
_ 2005 Standards: "Evolution is accepted by many scientists but questioned by some. The board has heard credible scientific testimony that indeed there are significant debates about the evidence of key aspects of chemical and biological evolutionary theory. ... We also emphasize that these science curriculum standards do not include intelligent design ..."
_ New Standards: This language is deleted.
_ Reasoning: The statements do not reflect mainstream science. The "credible evidence" was testimony from the leaders of the intelligent design movement, viewed as flawed by the scientists and educators proposing changes. They view the last statement as false, arguing that language in the text of the existing standards does in fact promote intelligent design, if not explicitly.

SCIENCE DEFINED
_ 2005: "Science is the systematic method of continuing investigation that uses observations, hypothesis testing, measurement, experimentation, logical argument and theory building to lead to a more adequate explanation of natural phenomena."
_ New: "Science is a human activity of systematically seeking natural explanations for what we observe in the world around us."
_ Reasoning: The 2005 definition does not specifically limit science to the search for natural explanations - potentially allowing for supernatural explanations that can't be tested, according to those seeking changes.

ORIGIN OF SPECIES
Standard 3, Benchmark 2, life science for grades 8-12, the "additional specificity" meant to flesh out a requirement that a student understands evolution.
_ 2005: "Whether microevolution (change within a species) can be extrapolated to explain macroevolutionary changes (such as new complex organs or body plans and new biochemical systems which appear irreducibly complex) is controversial. These kinds of macroevolutionary changes generally are not based on direct observations and often reflect historical narratives based on inferences from indirect or circumstantial evidence."
_ New: The language is deleted.
_ Reasoning: The 2005 statements don't reflect mainstream science. Also, the idea that some systems are irreducibly complex is a key intelligent design argument.

ORIGIN OF LIFE
Standard 3, Benchmark 2, grades 8-12, the requirement that a student be able to explain both theories on the origin of life and criticisms of them.
_ 2005: "Some of the scientific criticisms including: a. the lack of empirical evidence for a 'primordial soup' or chemically hospitable pre-biotic atmosphere. b. the lack of adequate natural explanations for the genetic code, the sequences of genetic information necessary to specify life, the biochemical machinery needed to translate genetic information into functional biosystems and the formation of proto-cells. c. the sudden rather than gradual emergence of organisms near the time the Earth first became habitable."
_ New: This language is deleted.
_ Reasoning: Many scientists view the 2005 language as a restatement of long-standing creationist arguments against evolution and contend they misstate the questions at the heart of the debate over the origins of life.

HISTORY OF SCIENCE
Standard 7, Benchmark 3, grades 8-12, the additional specificity meant to flesh out a requirement that a student understand the history of science.
_ 2005: "Modern science has been a successful enterprise that contributes to dramatic improvements in the human condition. Science has led to significant improvements in physical health and economic growth; however, modern science can sometimes be abused by scientists and policy makers, leading to significant negative consequences (e.g., the eugenics movements in America and Germany; the Tuskegee syphilis experiments, and the scientific justifications of eugenics and racism."
_ New: The second, long sentence is deleted.
_ Reasoning: Those seeking the deletion argue that the second sentence singles out evolution because equally valid observations about how other scientific theories have been misused weren't included.

_ New: "Science is a human activity of systematically seeking natural explanations for what we observe in the world around us."

They are serious people and if you don't know what they are fighting for they surely do and it means a lot to them in lots of ways. It's the same for your side but you have no higher ideal as they have. All the ideals on your side can be traced back to something self-serving. And could that have made America great.

You're about as far from science there wande as it is possible to get short of a rain dance.

Just cause they have "religion" doesnt mean that theyact ethically and posses a moral "guide-on".

What you dont know about what made America great, would fill your mythical ark.

I know damn well what theyre fighting for, cause they once had it, CONTROL

Coming from spendi, Id consider that a "pat on the back" since spendi has no idea in hell what constitutes science or good writing. (might I mention art? without his throwing another tantrum?)