An Intelligent Court Decision

Good news out of Dover, PA today as a Republican, Bush-appointed judge laid the proverbial "smack down" on intelligent design advocates.

"The overwhelming evidence is that Intelligent Design is a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism and not a scientific theory," [Judge John E.] Jones wrote in a 139-page decision. "It is an extension of the Fundamentalists' view that one must either accept the literal interpretation of Genesis or else believe in the godless system of evolution."

In his decision, Judge Jones explicitly stated that "intelligent design is not science" nor should it replace science because of its reliance on the existence of an unprovable supernatural creator. The Post's David Brown and Rick Weiss have written an excellent analysis of Jones' ruling. While anti-science Luddites will no doubt be back soon with yet another assault, I hope the forcefulness and scope of this week's Dover decision will set the precedent for future such cases.

CB Archive: "An Evolving Understanding of Our Origins" (Aug. 13 2005)