Intelligent Design Theory: Science or Religion?

What's the difference, in principle, between arranging a party and arranging a hairstyle? Aren't they both expressions of ego and self-importance?

not quite five, not seven years.(1831 to 1836).

And what were Wallace's emotional delusions that lead him to independently come to the same conclusions as old Charlie.

Evelyn Waugh did a bit of hallucinating in a ship's cabin and he was only on a short trip in a cruise liner.

So seven years on The Beagle must have put a lot of funny ideas into Darwin's head.

One might have thought that the evolutionary distance between the Tierra del Fuegans he met and the social circle of his beloved's would have given him pause for thought. After all, the biological differences were not all that great.

Maybe it did but he might not have fancied the intricate subtleties of such a subject and so chose a thesis was was easily managed. And explained.

It is possible that he did more than pause. It is difficult to imagine any man of education not doing. But on thinking it out a bit he might have come up against the problem of having to eat some of his earlier pronouncements if he got too deeply involved.

The books, of anyone, are a pale shadow of what is walking around in the boots. Or pulling his nightshirt up. He was actually shagging during the period when he was devastated by the loss of a daughter.

The best way, in my opinion, to read a book like Origins is to read all the biographies of him first. Find out about the man. Then read it.

To take the kids into it with potted versions of bits and pieces chosen for various reasons and not explained or listened to all that well is to get arse about face.

The authors to read are those who survived against the odds and who have a lot of information about them published. So Darwin is a book to read. But my way round.

Try Proust my way round. You won't believe what you've missed.

HARRISBURG, Pa.-In what is sure to be the biggest courtroom clash since the last one, a class action suit had been filed in federal court against the Dover Area School Board for not allowing the teaching of Intelligent Design in school science classes. The twist? This time, it's the monkeys themselves bringing the suit.

In a startling and unprecedented move, several Bornean Orangutans from the Pittsburgh zoo have sued the school district, insisting that Intelligent Design not only be taught in science classes but the theory of evolution be stricken from textbooks

These Orangutans, or Pongo pygmaeus, are offended by the idea that they are related to people, and think Intelligent Design is the best alternative out there.

One of the plaintiffs, Cuddles, explained her position through a sign language interpreter: "That apes and humans descended from a common ancestor is just a disgusting thought. I'm appalled, frankly. I mean, look at you. Massive poverty, genocide, suffering, violence. Look how you treat your kind. People are horrible, horrible creatures."

She continued, "Have you seen some of the porn on your internet? I can't believe humans pee on each other. And don't get me started on the Tuesday night lineup on ABC. Only true barbarians would keep According to Jim on the air. That I'm related to people in any way should be rejected on face value, let alone be taught in science classes."

The details of the apes' replacement theory are still ambiguous. One version of Intelligent Design posits elements of nature are so complex that they must have been created by a higher force. Among some of the more controversial elements of the ape theory include the idea that this "intelligent designer" of the entire universe is actually a 50 foot tall super smart ape similar to King Kong.

Attorneys representing the school board have questioned the true motives of the apes. In a written statement, school board lawyers claimed the suit was just a cheap parlor trick to manipulate the public and avoid the fact that humans and apes are related through evolution.

But the primates remain undeterred. Bubba, another plaintiff in the suit, has similar thoughts- "Man did not come from apes. Gorillas, bonobos, chimpanzees, gibbons, we're all united. I mean, have you seen the contestants on American Idol? Ugh. You humans are just awful. Unlike evolution, Intelligent Design makes the case we're not associated with you at all!"

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1987 decried schools could not require creationism to balance the teaching of evolution. This new lawsuit brought on by the apes may eventually make it up to the conservative justices recently appointed by president George W. Bush. As a result the ruling may be different.

Bush even weighed in on the teaching of the possibility that a super intelligent, furry orangutan created the universe. "I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought," Bush said. "You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes."

Florida House open to legislative fix on evolution
(By JAMES A. SMITH SR., Florida Baptist Witness, February 21, 2008)

An evolution compromise approved on Feb. 19 by the State Board of Education was the best that could be achieved in that body but legislative action to protect academic freedom of teachers offering criticisms of Darwinian evolution is possible, House Speaker Marco Rubio told Florida Baptist Witness in a Feb. 20 interview.

Rubio said the Board of Education's addition of "scientific theory of" before each reference to "evolution" in new science standards for Florida's public schools was "the best fix available" with "the way those votes were lining up."

Although he and other House leaders supported the theory compromise in a Feb. 19 letter to members of the Board of Education, Rubio said critics who believe explicit language protecting academic freedom is necessary "may be right."

At the Feb. 19 BOE meeting, opponents of the science standards uniformly opposed the theory compromise, arguing instead for an "Academic Freedom Proposal" which would have added a clause to the standards permitting teachers "to engage students in a critical analysis" of Darwinian evolution.

John Sullivan, executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention, in a Feb. 17 letter urged the BOE to oppose the theory compromise in light of the standards' "silence about teaching scientific criticisms of evolution."

Sullivan said both strengths and weaknesses of Darwinian evolution should be taught and said the standards should "honor and encourage the academic freedom of teachers and students on an issue of fundamental importance and ongoing scientific controversy."

Asked if the legislature would be open to academic freedom legislation, Rubio told the Witness, "I think so. Sure. Well, I think the Florida House would. I can't speak for the Senate."

Although a vote count had not been taken on the issue, "we may have sufficient votes on that in the Florida House," he added.

Rubio said there also could be activity in the legislature by evolution proponents who wish to remove the theory compromise language.

"I think there's still going to be folks out there talking about this - on both sides. … I think this will be a battle that will go on for quite some time," he said.

The "crux" of the disagreement, according Rubio, is "whether what a parent teaches their children at home should be mocked and derided and undone at the public school level. It goes to the fundamental core of who is ultimately, primarily responsible for the upbringing of children. Is it your public education system or is it your parents?"

Rubio added, "And for me, personally, I don't want a school system that teaches kids that what they're learning at home is wrong."

Rubio, a Cuban-American, made a comparison to the strategy employed by the Communist Party in Cuba where schools encouraged children to turn in parents who criticized Fidel Castro.

"Of course, I'm not equating the evolution people with Fidel Castro," he quickly added, while noting that undermining the family and the church were key means the Communist Party used to gain control in Cuba.

"In order to impose their totalitarian regime, they destroyed the family; they destroyed the faith links that existed in that society," he said.

Although the evolution issue is "obviously" on a "much smaller scale," both matters are related to the "fundamental question of who is in charge of the upbringing of children. Is it parents or is it the government? I believe it's parents. And we should do nothing in government that undermines that relationship.

"And there are parents that passionately believe in this and they should be given the opportunity to teach that to their children without someone undoing it," Rubio said.

"And there are parents that passionately believe in this and they should be given the opportunity to teach that to their children without someone undoing it," Rubio said.

FLORIDA UPDATE

Quote:

Florida House open to legislative fix on evolution
(By JAMES A. SMITH SR., Florida Baptist Witness, February 21, 2008)

The "crux" of the disagreement, according Rubio, is "whether what a parent teaches their children at home should be mocked and derided and undone at the public school level. It goes to the fundamental core of who is ultimately, primarily responsible for the upbringing of children. Is it your public education system or is it your parents?"

Rubio added, "And for me, personally, I don't want a school system that teaches kids that what they're learning at home is wrong."

Rubio, a Cuban-American, made a comparison to the strategy employed by the Communist Party in Cuba where schools encouraged children to turn in parents who criticized Fidel Castro.

"Of course, I'm not equating the evolution people with Fidel Castro," he quickly added, while noting that undermining the family and the church were key means the Communist Party used to gain control in Cuba.

And then there are those who passionately believe in racial prejudice, pedophilia, that atheists should not be considered American (including the current U.S. President), etc., etc.

It goes to the fundamental core of who is ultimately, primarily responsible for the upbringing of children. Is it your public education system or is it your parents?

Quote:
Rubio, a Cuban-American, made a comparison to the strategy employed by the Communist Party in Cuba where schools encouraged children to turn in parents who criticized Fidel Castro.

"Of course, I'm not equating the evolution people with Fidel Castro," he quickly added, while noting that undermining the family and the church were key means the Communist Party used to gain control in Cuba.

Yeh, right Of course he's not trying to equate those two things... what an idiot. This type of character attack on evolution is just pitiful.