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November 07
As was decided in Kitzmiller v. Dover, Intelligent Design (i.e. Creationism) is not science, and it has no place in public science education. We who understand the difference between science and religious conjecture must be ever vigilant against the forces of ignorance who want to dismantle a 400-year-old tradition of rational skepticism and replace it with untestable hypotheses. Part trial drama, part science education, Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial exposes the Religious Right for the dangerous frauds they are and demonstrates that there might actually be hope for America. Imagine that!
Posted by: Klayton Elliot Kendall in Science | Permalink
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12 Responses to “The best NOVA ever!”
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i watched that last night for a few hours and on the whole i found it fascinating as hell but the renactments of the trials were absolutely horrible. i loved it when they went back and checked (subpoenaed) the edits of the Panda book (whatever the hell it was called) and found all those ham-handed, desperate, creationist’s blunders attempting to cover their bullshit. anyway, dangerous frauds is exactly right i do feel bad for them however as it is utimately the fear of death in my opinion that causes them to fear science. to be so scared. to create such denial. sad. they will someday all be exposed (that is unless jesus returns :•))
best parts were the “transitional fossil”/”missing link” in the textbook and the conservative judge’s smackdown about how we all benefit from science. brilliant.
Well, creationists aren’t smart. That’s what I learned. These people are insidious. Their absurdity is exposed on many levels, but especially when they talk about the “negative effects” of evolutionary theory such as the decline of the dignity of man, blah, blah, blah. Dignity is placed on man by man, and all of the scientific breakthroughs that have come from evolutionary theory, like vaccines, have had the effect of preserving the “dignity” of man. We can find plenty of dignity in our unique ability to pursue science if you really need that to be able to sleep at night. As my husband blurted out while we were watching the Buckingham guy talk about his belief in creationism: You (Buckingham) are proof that we did come from monkeys!
Unfortunately, sweet smackdowns such as what was handed down by the judge in the case don’t induce a sense of humility in these people, it only strengthens their resolve to develop more sophisticated methods of pushing their agenda. Gosh, it gets tiring to have to fight stupidity on so many fronts. Thank God for the judges who seem to be the last sane segment of public servants left in our government institutions…those quiet warriors for rationality and rule of law.
Two hours, mercy! But still I watched it all. I agree, the reenactments were kind of cornball and I was honestly surprised how much of a smackdown the judge’s ruling was. One thing I didn’t see discussed were the political fallouts and reactions from those who appointed him like Bush and [man-on-dog] Santorum. NOVA seemed to make a big deal of the expectations of those who appointed the judge but then only presented the reactions of the townspeople and then mentioned some threatening letters.
That tiny thing aside I loved the show.
“Thank God for the judges who seem to be the last sane segment of public servants left in our government institutions…those quiet warriors for rationality and rule of law.”
Don’t forget the science teachers! The ones, like my husband, who made watching this NOVA part of their students’ homework, and who is, at this very moment perhaps, actively discussing it with AP BIO students. I can only hope there are thousands upon thousands of similar conversations happening all around the country today in our public schools, with sane, informed SCIENCE teachers!
(Unfortunately, I have no comments/opinions of my own, as I didn’t watch it because I was busy helping our kids with their homework and putting them to bed…… In all fairness, I might add, he does the same when there is something I desperately want to watch!)
Starting Friday you can watch the entire show at the link I posted above.
I had anxiously waited for this show and was sooooo pleased at how concise and clear it made the facts known of the constitutionality issues.
To bring this closer to home, I attended a lecture at a Freethinker’s meeting last year that featured a biology teacher from Academy School District 20. He spoke about the constant vigil needed right here in Colorado Springs with a Capital C, based on his personal experiences, to keep various teachers from surreptitiously introducing the material of Intelligent Design ie. Creationism in their classrooms without approval of the school district. I recommend that you get involved with your child, their science teacher and administration to make sure this doesn’t happen in your child’s classroom. We carry a wonderful book, for those interested, called “Not In Our Classrooms”, that explains in even more detail than the wonderful Nova documentary why it is wrong to teach Intelligent Design in our schools. Do your homework.
it is wrong to teach Intelligent Design in our schools.
Scientifically wrong, morally wrong, or legally wrong?
Once we start ignoring the fact-value distinction, the creationists have already won.
Wrong because it’s not science, that’s why wrong. Science has nothing to do with morals or with the law. Teaching intelligent design would require that we throw out the tools that we currently use to conduct scientific inquiry and experimentation. It simply has no place in the science classroom for purely practical reasons. Teaching science has just as much to do with the acquisition of the tools with which we extract empirical data from the natural world as it does in bringing about the learning of theories and principles. It is the tools and methods that are fundamentally at risk. If we introduce “theories” that aren’t testable and present them as valid scientifically, then that completely throws the practice of science on its face. Nothing means anything anymore. These fucking obtuse assholes can’t see that because they are so blinded by their own ideology, meanwhile their fucking kids are being cured of sickness and vaccinated against illness as a result of these methods that they are attacking. When they get cured of cancer, they praise God but not the scientific methods that brought about the cure. The irrationality is beyond understanding.
Praise the science teachers too!
The most compelling scene in last night’s NOVA was when the ACLU lawyer asked the witness for the defense (a “scientist” who advocates Intelligent Design) if his broad definition of “science” included astrology — and he said yes! At least he was intellectually honest….
SS - That science teacher was my husband!
SM - I like how you paired “praise” with “science teachers”!
KK- Thanks for the link!
Scientifically wrong AND legally wrong. That’s what I loved about that show. It made it perfectly clear what our Constitution stands for concerning the legal separation of church and state, which to my mind is the biggest issue of all. I’m going to start handing out copies of it on street corners.