Intelligent Decision

I actually have a bunch of stuff to get done today, but I just saw this and wanted to put it out there for everybody. According to CNN.com, a federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that "Intelligent design" cannot be mentioned in biology classes, ruling in "one of the biggest courtroom clashes on evolution since the 1925 Scopes trial".

"We find that the secular purposes claimed by the Board amount to a pretext for the Board's real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom," he wrote in his 139-page opinion.

The Dover policy required students to hear a statement about intelligent design before ninth-grade biology lessons on evolution. The statement said Charles Darwin's theory is "not a fact" and has inexplicable "gaps." It refers students to an intelligent-design textbook, "Of Pandas and People," for more information.

Jones wrote that he wasn't saying the intelligent design concept shouldn't be studied and discussed, saying its advocates "have bona fide and deeply held beliefs which drive their scholarly endeavors."

But, he wrote, "our conclusion today is that it is unconstitutional to teach ID as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom."

No word yet on when the judge will rule on the rest of Sen. Bill Brady's platform for Governor :)