Discovery Institute?s Silver Lining

The Discovery Institute, a well funded Intelligent Design mouthpiece, offered a scathing review of Judge John E. Jones III?s decision in Kitzmiller vs. The Dover Area School District. This is the same Discovery Institute that had all but deserted the school board in an effort to distance themselves from proceedings admonishing the board for stepping so early into the fray of teaching their fledgling hypothesis to minors. The distance and static they put up indicated that they expected the Dove

Written byBrendan Maher
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The Discovery Institute, a well funded Intelligent Design mouthpiece, offered a scathing review of Judge John E. Jones III?s decision in Kitzmiller vs. The Dover Area School District. This is the same Discovery Institute that had all but deserted the school board in an effort to distance themselves from proceedings admonishing the board for stepping so early into the fray of teaching their fledgling hypothesis to minors. The distance and static they put up indicated that they expected the Dover school board to lose. So, why are they so angry at this so-called ?activist judge?? Basically because he went beyond the bounds of simply ruling whether or not the school board had religious motivations for injecting ID into the curriculum and stated quite clearly in his opinion that ID is not science and is clearly a derivative of creationism, creation science, and any other hypothesis that dispatches with the rules of engagement in the natural sciences.The Institute once again impugned the American Civil Liberties Union (which represented the plaintiffs) for trampling First Amendment rights of free speech even as they defended the First Amendment Establishment clause. They further chastised Jones (the so-called ?activist judge? appointed by George Bush) for confusing the Dover school board?s position with the ideals of ID. One would think Michael Behe and Scott Minnich, star witnesses for the defense and both fellows at the Institute could have cleared up the disparities. And they argue that Jones? ruling puts a federal gag order on voluntary discussion of ID. Voluntary discussion is a far cry from mandating a statement discrediting a foundational aspect of biology. But that?s no matter. As angry as they appear, the Institute has found the silver lining to this December cloud. In a prepared statement Discovery?s John West is credited as saying, ?Americans don?t like to be told there is some idea that they aren?t permitted to learn about? It used to be said that banning a book in Boston guaranteed it would be a bestseller. Banning intelligent design in Dover will likely only fan interest in the theory.?
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