A voice of reason is heard in a federal courtroom.

From The Morning Call (Allentown, PA) website:


Professor Michael Behe attempts to slay the neo-darwinist dragon with some straight talk and a whole lot of real science. Pay close attention to this man's words, kiddies.

Major scientific organizations and even his own colleagues have rejected "intelligent design," but a leading proponent of the concept testified in a trial over its place in public schools that their objections aren't supported by scientific evidence.

"Intelligent design is certainly not the dominant view of the scientific community, but I'm very pleased with the progress we're making," Lehigh University biochemistry professor Michael Behe said Tuesday.

Amen to that, Brother.

Behe countinued testifying Wednesday -- his third day as the first witness called by a school board that is requiring high-school biology students to hear a statement about the concept of intelligent design. The landmark federal trial could decide whether the concept can be mentioned in public school science classes as an alternative to the theory of evolution.

Behe contends that evolution cannot fully explain the biological complexities of life, suggesting the work of an intelligent force. The intelligent design concept does not name the designer, although Behe, a Roman Catholic, has testified that he personally believes it to be God.

AH HA! He's a ROMAN CATHOLIC! He must be taking his orders directly from that evil nazi, Pope Benedict XVI! And we all know how The Church hates science!

During cross-examination of Behe, Eric Rothschild, a lawyer for eight families suing to have intelligent design removed from the Dover Area School District's curriculum, cited a resolution from the American Association for the Advancement of Science as an example of opposition from mainstream scientists.

The resolution passed by the association's board in 2002 urges "citizens across the nation" to oppose policies that would allow the teaching of intelligent design as science in public schools.

"This is a political document," Behe said. "What scientific paper do you know where it says, 'whereas'?"

Heehee! Take that, you shyster pinhead!

Similarly, Behe said Lehigh's biology department cited no scientific evidence in a statement posted on its Web site in August that says intelligent design "has no basis in science."

"It doesn't carry the weight of a single (scientific) journal paper," Behe said.

Exactly.

On Wednesday, Behe continued under cross-examination, defending his 1996 best-seller "Darwin's Black Box" and backing the educational usefulness of discussing intelligent design.

The school board is defending its decision a year ago to require students to hear a statement on intelligent design before ninth-grade biology lessons on evolution. The statement says Charles Darwin's theory is "not a fact," has inexplicable "gaps," and refers students to a textbook, "Of Pandas and People," for more information about the concept.

Read that last paragraph again. A "statement" is to be read to the students and they are to be referred to a book that is NOT taught in class. Oh, I'm positively swooning at the religious fascism under which those poor children will be suffering!

The real crime (from the point of view of the anti-God forces) is telling the impressionable the truth: Neo-darwinism in not fact. If you listen carefully, you may still hear the lysenkoists refer to it as "the theory of evolution". George Whackoff should tell them to start calling it "The Law of Evolution".

The families argue that the policy essentially promotes the Bible's view of creation, and therefore violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

In earlier testimony Tuesday, Behe said intelligent design relies on observing the natural world, not on religious belief.

"Intelligent design requires no tenet of any specific religion," Behe said, "It does not rely on religious texts, messages from religious leaders or any such thing."

Scientists who try to use the theory of evolution to explain complex biological processes, such as blood-clotting and the immune system, don't adequately support their claims, Behe testified.

Nope.

Behe said he analyzed nearly a dozen scientific articles on the processes and found the authors didn't make reference to random mutation or natural selection, concepts he said he expected to find.

"Much of these studies, in my view, are speculative. They assume a Darwinian framework," he said.

YES! The assumptions are blinding them to the truth.

Behe testified that teaching intelligent design would help clear up what he said were many students' misconceptions that evolution is fact and not a theory. Intelligent design, he said, provides students with another way of looking at the facts.

Exactly.

What do the pseudoscientists and the anti-God squad fear? If their monkey-ancestor fetish is objective fact, then prove it empirically. Don't just scream "Its true! Its true!" at the top of your lungs while bullying anyone who disagrees with you. I have news for you. That's not science.

The trial began Sept. 26, and it could last through early November.

The plaintiffs are represented by a team put together by the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The school district is being represented by the Thomas More Law Center, a public-interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich., that says its mission is to defend the religious freedom of Christians.