Judgement Day : Intelligent Design

I. Acceptance of Creation is growing in spite of overwhelming evidence proving Evolution There is no easy resolution for whats true and evolution or creationism. It is a complex topic with profound scientific, religious, educational, and criticism. How can a student or parent come to grips with this issue? Evolution vs. Creationism provides a badly needed, comprehensive, and balanced introduction to the many facets of the current debates about what should be taught in a classroom or in reality itself. Evolution relies on scientific facts while creationism clings on biblical beliefs. But the legal and

The two-hour special documentary, Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial, features the Kitzmiller v. Dover School District case in 2004. It captures the turmoil that tore apart the community of Dover, Pennsylvania in one of the latest battles over teaching evolution in public schools. Some members of the community believed that not only Darwinism, but also a so called theory, Intelligent Design, should be taught in their public high school. It was a battle between the two theories. It forced neighbor against neighbor and friend against friend. The community itself was broken half and half on the controversial issue.

After reviewing the film Expelled no intelligence allowed I was taken back by the whole idea of people being terminated from their jobs for mentioning intelligent design. When Ben Stein would question people about the subject of intelligent design they would say they are no such thing and reply with if people want to educate their children they will not mention this again. They would reply it is nothing but a waste of time and energy. It was like they were pushing God away from the subject as well as the schools. This to me is so very wrong. I do not agree with it nor understand why people are acting this way toward the subject in a public settings when there is supposed to be free speech and free will, but this film has proved otherwise. It not only proved it, but it showed how people who do speak their minds are being treated after they do, and it is not fair nor is it right.

One way to address the question is whether or not creationism, in itself, is a valid idea to be taught in public schools. The answer to this can be yes. Not only should a student in American public schools learn

Thesis: It is patently absurd to argue that creationism and / or intelligent design deserve a place in public school textbooks in the "science" chapter or in any way near to the chapter on evolution. The United States Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and freedom of expression, so all faiths and denominations have the absolute right to worship and believe as they

The Court is now confronted with the responsibility of determining if Dover?s proposition, and the implications of its implementation are constitutional, or whether they would violate fundamental personal freedoms. In order to make its decision, the court must contemplate many facets of the issue, including: if the religious origins of intelligent design permeate the theory too strongly, if teaching I.D. in schools would violate statutes regarding state funding for public schools, and even if the theory provides sufficient factual scientific evidence to be taught as a scientific theory in a school?s biology curriculum.

The study of science is defined as that which deals with the workings of the physical world we are able to observe and measure. The origin of life, however, is a topic that science has long grappled with, despite the impossibility of observing or proving any origins theory in a strictly scientific manner. Today, the widely accepted theory of life’s beginning is the theory of Evolution by mutation and natural selection, or Neo-Darwinism. Most people in our modern society accept this theory at face value because it is popular with the majority of scientists, but it must always be taken into account that our origins cannot be proven scientifically and that, in fact, the theory of Evolution is not the only or even the most logical theory

The argument has been going on for years and years. Should schools be allowed to teach evolution without teaching creationism? The courts have ruled, the answer is no, the theory of creationism cannot be included in a public school’s academic curriculum. With the court’s decision, it has been made clear there is no place for faith based theories to be taught in our public schools. What if there was a different approach that took God out of the equation? Public high schools should allow a course in intelligent design to be included in the curriculum as a way of teaching both evolution and creationism without violating the separation of church and state. This is certainly easier said than done.

The feud between creationist and scientist about the origins of the universe dates back to the 20’s during the Scopes trial. Scientist are against creationism because there is no evidence to support the theory. Scientist support Charles Darwin’s theory Darwinism, the theory that organisms evolve from simple to complex through minor adaptations over time, because it has held up for more than a century. Rowe’s article expresses how he believes that creationist created intelligent design to take the place of creationism in public schools after the Supreme Court ruled that

In taking close at philosophy, it is the study of problems linked with existence, values, knowledge, mind, language and reason. This implies that, philosophy is the study that involves addressing problems based on the rational argument. It is a well-documented fact: the word philosophy is a Greek word that means love of wisdom. Just like the name entails, philosophy is linked with many subjects such as politics, religion and ethics among others that involve absolute wisdom. In this regard, there are various concepts under philosophy subject including intelligent design claim, science and faith. For the past years, researchers have raised continuous issue regarding the subjects outlining various criticisms emerging under the subject of

The Dover Area School Board passed a resolution offering Intelligent Design as an alternative theory to Darwin’s theory of evolution in public school. Tammy Kitzmiller sued the Dover school board in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The federal question brought to the court by the plaintiff was whether Intelligent Design was an offshoot policy of creationism. Moreover, does Intelligent Design constitute an establishment of religion, prohibited by the First Amendment, made applicable by the Fourteenth Amendment? Judge Jones presided over the case and held that Intelligent Design was not science, but religion. The Judge also ruled that the Dover School Board violated the Establishment Clause by implementing religion in public

Intelligent design is not an alternative theory to evolution. Intelligent design is the belief that organisms or other things did not evolve, but were created just as they are now. In the video, the science teachers of Dover High School refuse to read a one minute statement to their classes explaining that intelligent design is an alternative theory to Darwin’s theory of evolution. Their refuting argument were as follows,

However, to truly grasp the essence of the controversy, one must understand the terminology of what school boards consensus as guiding definitions for science, the theory of evolution, and intelligent design. The common generalization shared by most Americans about science is that it’s a systematic and logical approach to discovering how things work in the natural world. This is correct, however, it is worth mentioning that this is based on fact – not on opinion or preference – and all research is held accountable to the scientific method; a rigorous process that begins with a hypothesis (an educated guess), followed by the formulation of an experiment to test the relationship of the variables in question, and ultimately an analysis, conclusion and critique of what the results yield. Darwin’s theory of evolution describes the biological processes of the

Teaching Creationism or Intelligent Design to our youth can be done in a way that is neither opinion based nor completely fact based, but may hold some risk of personal interpretation. The first thing needed to be considered is how can children of the middle school age range grasp such a deep subject and have the capacity to reach their own conclusion. Information found regarding the development of children in this developmental range was found in the book titled "Characteristics of Middle Grade Students,” Caught in the Middle by the Sacramento Department of Education. It was found that students of this age hold a variety of learning attributes that support the belief that children can handle both sides of this controversial issue. Some

Public schools are a place to learn proven facts and some very well—known and accepted theories. These schools have been led this way for a long time and show no signs of changing. Many states around the country have rejected the teaching of creationism in public schools, since the subject is so controversial among teachers and parents. In Ohio, a bill to develop new science content standards was not successfully passed. Many creationists were upset when they discovered that the first drafts of the standards were filled with evolutionary content, without any allowance for alternative explanations of life’s origins. In the uproar, the state board held a special meeting to investigate the process that the writing team and advisory committee used to draft the science standards (Matthews, Answering Genesis). This is why learning the facts about evolution should be taught at school. By doing this, there would be much less confrontation between teachers, students, and parents. If one has the desire to learn about creationism or any other beliefs of how the world came to be, one should learn it at a place outside of school, such as church or at home.