It was evident from the start that Intelligent Design was doomed to the fate of Creationism; being a religious doctrine it would be a gross abnormality to consider it as ‘science’ and to teach it as such. Four days ago, the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial came to its conclusion and Judge Jones, in his 139-page opinion, issued the following:

1. A declaratory judgment is hereby issued in favor of Plaintiffs pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201, 2202, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 such that Defendants’ ID Policy violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States and Art. I, § 3 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
2. Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 65, Defendants are permanently enjoined from maintaining the ID Policy in any school within the Dover Area School District.
3. Because Plaintiffs seek nominal damages, Plaintiffs shall file with the Court and serve on Defendants, their claim for damages and a verified statement of any fees and/or costs to which they claim entitlement. Defendants shall have the right to object to any such fees and costs to the extent provided in the applicable statutes and court rules.

What is more interesting is that, during the latest elections, the 8 school board members, that backed the ridiculous decision to teach ID in biology classes, were voted out. The new school board had stated that they would respect the court’s decision and would not appeal it.

The Christian right insists that the battle was lost but the war is not over (yet); they are determined to persuade everybody that Evolution is controversial and should be taught as theory not fact. There is no clearer proof, for me at least, that these people do not understand at all what science is about. Of course Evolution is a theory, you fools. There are no Facts in science, only theories. We tend of course to call ‘facts’ the theories that are strongly supported by evidence and are not (yet) successfully falsified, to separate them from theories that are still under consideration, theories that are proven to be false (this we can do) and pseudo-scientific claims (such as ID). It is of course no wonder that religious fundamentalists cannot understand this attitude, being ‘programmed’ to see everything in black-and-white, true-or-false, good-or-evil terms.

This battle was won, but the war is indeed not over yet. When there are more people out there that believe in ghosts than are willing to even try to understand how evolution works, then the war is indeed not over yet.

For further reading

• The ACLU’s Challenge To Intelligent Design
• ACLU of Pennsylvania: Dover Trial Transcripts
• Kitzmiller v. Dover, Judge Jones’ Memorandum Opinion (filetype: pdf, 139 pages)
• Cato Daily Dispatch for December 20, 2005: No “Intelligent Design”
• Cato Institude: Why Fight Over Intelligent Design?, by Andrew J. Coulson
• Cato Institute: Unnatural Selection, by David Boaz (11-07-05)
• Evolution, Science, and Society - a “White Paper” defining the challenges and opportunities facing the study of evolution. (filetype: pdf, 51 pages)
• Guardian: US school’s evolution teaching goes on trial (26-09-05)
• San Francisco Chronicle: Teaching evolution as theory not fact Intelligent design booster speaks out, by C. Burress (12-12-04)
• Teaching about Religion: Regarding Public School Science Classes and Intelligent Design Creationism