Science and Culture Today | Page 1429 | Discovering Design in Nature

Nick Matzke and Kevin Padian have posted a celebratory rant at the NCSE website against ID and the Discovery Institute. But their rant is so extreme that it gives me reason to leap for joy. If there were any doubts that some people get over emotionally involved with this issue, Padian and Matzke’s gloat-parade makes it clear. With the lights shining brightly this rainy afternoon in Seattle, I offer the following comments: Thanks for Your Support! I’ll start with a short e-mail I received recently from a professor at a large state university, and also a movie quote. Recently a professor responded to question about why he recently chose to join Discovery Institute: “Actually, if you must know, after reading Read More ›

I’m pleased to announce a new member of the Evolution News and Views blogger team! Michael Francisco is a second year law student at Cornell Law School. Raised in the science town of Los Alamos, New Mexico, he has been interested in the intelligent design movement since the 1990s. Michael is happily married to his wife, Christina, who is also from Los Alamos. Before attending Cornell Law School, Michael earned a B.A. in History & Philosophy from Hillsdale College, where he was manager of the debate team, a freelance journalist, and the founder of an IDEA club chapter. Michael currently serves at president of the Cornell Federalist Society chapter. He’ll be a semi-regular contributor to ENV over the coming months.

A California high school has settled out of court with Americans United for Separation of Church and State who had complained and sued over the school’s teaching of an elective philosophy class called “Philosophy of Design.” The settlement orders the district to cancel the class by Friday next week and says: “No school over which the School District has authority, including the High School, shall offer, presently or in the future, the course entitled “Philosophy of Design or “Philosophy of Intelligent Design” or any other course that promotes or endorses creationism, creation science, or intelligent design.”

Clearly, Americans United for Separation of Students from Science is singing a different tune now than they did last year during the Dover trial.