Intelligent Design gets federal smackdown

In heartwarming news a federal judge has ruled that Intelligent Design violates the Constitution.

You can also read about the decision at the National Center for Science Education's website here.

Here are some highlights from the decision:

In making this determination, we have addressed the seminal question of whether ID is science. We have concluded that it is not, and moreover that ID cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents.
Both Defendants and many of the leading proponents of ID make a bedrock assumption which is utterly false. Their presupposition is that evolutionary theory is antithetical to a belief in the existence of a supreme being and to religion in general. Repeatedly in this trial, Plaintiffs’ scientific experts testified that the theory of evolution represents good science, is overwhelmingly accepted by the scientific community, and that it in no way conflicts with, nor does it deny, the existence of a divine creator.

The citizens of the Dover area were poorly served by the members of the Board who voted for the ID Policy. It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy.

Those who disagree with our holding will likely mark it as the product of an activist judge. If so, they will have erred as this is manifestly not an activist Court. Rather, this case came to us as the result of the activism of an ill-informed faction on a school board, aided by a national public interest law firm eager to find a constitutional test case on ID, who in combination drove the Board to adopt an imprudent and ultimately unconstitutional policy. The breathtaking inanity of the Board’s decision is evident when considered against the factual backdrop which has now been fully revealed through this trial. The students, parents, and teachers of the Dover Area School District deserved better than to be dragged into this legal maelstrom, with its resulting utter waste of monetary and personal resources.

This is good news for science in general and also for those of us who see no contradiction between evolutionary explanations and our faith.

The Church-ization of Narnia

We had something unusual happen at church this weekend. As we walked in and took our kids to the children's depot we saw on one of the monitors that they have in the hallway what looked like a picture of a lion. I couldn't get a good look and our kids were running down the hallway and in danger of knocking old people over so I forgot about it for a bit. When we got them dropped off and entered the auditorium we were handed our usual Sunday bulletin. It's always a pretty snazzy deal, full color and high quality paper. There on the front was the lion again.

"No it can't be..." I began thinking with a dismayed feeling and then I saw the words printed right below our church's name on the bulletin: "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." Sure enough our church had an advertisement for the Narnia movie on the front of our bulletin.

We get into the service and there it is again on the big screen: Aslan the lion and several kids with swords forming a border around the screen while our church posted instructions in the center of the screen for people to please have a seat.

That wasn't all of course. No we had to have a skit with a young girl running down the aisle, up the stairs and onto the stage where a giant makeshift wardrobe stood and she opened it and walked inside. Then our minister preached his whole sermon on the movie and how it was clearly a "Christian movie" and a possible "evangelism tool" and how our church would be purchasing tickets and we could all go together.

The strangest thing was during communion. Up on the big screen was Aslan the lion and the kids with swords again and in the center of the screen was the message to please help ourselves to communion as it was passed down the aisle. Except in my mind it read "Communion tonight is brought to you by The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. A Walt Disney production coming to theaters December 9, 2005."

The whole thing struck me wrong. I've read a great deal of C.S. Lewis' writings and I can't imagine he'd be pleased with what's been done to his story. I do want to see the movie and I suspect I'll take my children but afterward I'm going to go on Christian Blackout so I don't have to have it beat into my head how "Aslan is Jesus!! He really is!! He's Jesus!!!! Don't you see it??"