Editing Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District

From Religions Wiki

Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.

Contributing to Religions Wiki requires agreement with the privacy policy. Please review it before posting.

The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then publish the changes below to finish undoing the edit.

Latest revision Your text
Line 9: Line 9:
On October 18, 2004, the Dover Board of Education voted 6-3 to compel science teachers to inform students that [[evolution]] was "just a theory" and that resources containing alternate views on the development of life (including [[Intelligent Design]]) were available in the school library. The three board members who voted against the measure resigned in protest. Science teachers refused to comply, citing the Pennsylvania Code of Education which restricts teachers from teaching information they believe to be false. School administrators eventually fulfilled the School Board's requirement by reading the following statement:     
On October 18, 2004, the Dover Board of Education voted 6-3 to compel science teachers to inform students that [[evolution]] was "just a theory" and that resources containing alternate views on the development of life (including [[Intelligent Design]]) were available in the school library. The three board members who voted against the measure resigned in protest. Science teachers refused to comply, citing the Pennsylvania Code of Education which restricts teachers from teaching information they believe to be false. School administrators eventually fulfilled the School Board's requirement by reading the following statement:     


     <blockquote>''The Pennsylvania Academic Standards require students to learn about [[Darwin]]'s theory of evolution and eventually to take a standardized test of which evolution is a part.''
     <blockquote>The Pennsylvania Academic Standards require students to learn about [[Darwin]]'s theory of evolution and eventually to take a standardized test of which evolution is a part.


     <p>''Because Darwin's Theory is a theory, it is still being tested as new evidence is discovered. The Theory is not a fact. Gaps in the Theory exist for which there is no evidence. A theory is defined as a well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations.''</p>
     <p>Because Darwin's Theory is a theory, it is still being tested as new evidence is discovered. The Theory is not a fact. Gaps in the Theory exist for which there is no evidence. A theory is defined as a well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations.</p>


     <p>''Intelligent design is an explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin's view. The reference book, Of Pandas and People is available for students to see if they would like to explore this view in an effort to gain an understanding of what intelligent design actually involves.''</p>
     <p>Intelligent design is an explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin's view. The reference book, Of Pandas and People is available for students to see if they would like to explore this view in an effort to gain an understanding of what intelligent design actually involves.</p>


     <p>''As is true with any theory, students are encouraged to keep an open mind. The school leaves the discussion of the origins of life to individual students and their families. As a standards-driven district, class instruction focuses upon preparing students to achieve proficiency on standards-based assessments.''</p></blockquote>
     <p>As is true with any theory, students are encouraged to keep an open mind. The school leaves the discussion of the origins of life to individual students and their families. As a standards-driven district, class instruction focuses upon preparing students to achieve proficiency on standards-based assessments.</p></blockquote>


The school board claimed that it did not teach intelligent design, it only made students aware of it as an alternative to the theory of evolution, which the board members believed to be flawed. The board further stated that intelligent design was not "religion in disguise." Despite its insistence that its decision was not religiously motivated, the board was represented in court by the [[Thomas More Law Center]], a not-for-profit Christian law center that is the self proclaimed "...sword and shield of people of faith."
The school board claimed that it did not teach intelligent design, it only made students aware of it as an alternative to the theory of evolution, which the board members believed to be flawed. The board further stated that intelligent design was not "religion in disguise." Despite its insistence that its decision was not religiously motivated, the board was represented in court by the [[Thomas More Law Center]], a not-for-profit Christian law center that is the self proclaimed "...sword and shield of people of faith."
Please note that all contributions to Religions Wiki are considered to be released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 (see Religions Wiki:Copyrights for details). If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource. Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!

To edit this page, please enter the words that appear below in the box (more info):

Refresh
Cancel Editing help (opens in new window)