Darwin: 1, Diseño Inteligente: 0
Practically every blogger with an interest in science reported on the Kitzmiller decision before I even got to work on Tuesday, so I didn't feel it necessary to weigh in, as every possible reaction had already been set to print. Nevertheless, I'd like to share this tidbit from our scientific friends across the Atlantic.
I was delighted to read this article in the Spanish newspaper El País about Judge Jones's ruling. The subtitle reads, "Un juez prohíbe que se enseñe el creacionismo en la escuela del pequeño pueblo de Dover." In English: "A judge prohibits teaching creationism in schools in the small town of Dover." Not ID. Creationism. The article goes on to mention ID by name, but nowhere in the entire article is any doubt raised that ID and creationism are equivalent. No smokescreen of bullshit to placate the religious Right. No blathering about the role of God in public school classrooms. They go right out and tell the facts.
Nowhere is the blunt truth more simply stated than in the second sentence: "Un juez federal ha decidido prohibir la enseñanza de la teoría del diseño inteligente-el nuevo disfraz del viejo creacionismo-que se impartía desde 2004 en el pequeño pueblo de Dover (Pensilvania)." Translated: A federal judge has decided to prohibit the teaching of the theory of ID-the new disguise of the old creationism-that has been administered since 2004 in the small town of Dover (PA). Well, whaddaya know, that's exactly what every biologist in America worthy of the name has been screaming for years now.
And note well that El País is not a fringe newspaper; it is the most widely read newspaper in Spain-the New York Times of that country. Except that recently, the Times has been leading the pack in pandering to the right wing, so maybe the analogy isn't perfect.
Y'know, this reminds me of foreign news reporters in the 1980s talking about how President Reagan lied to the American public about his role in the Iran-contra scandal, in exactly those words. Again, reporting from outside the US allowed the foreign news media to go right out and say what everybody knew was true. The Emperor really wore no clothes, and no amount of obfuscating by the popular press was going to change the truth.
One amusing side note: I found the El País article through this entry in an evolution-centered Spanish 'blog in which the author refers to ID advocates as "IDiotas." Heh-heh-don't think I have to translate that one.
I was delighted to read this article in the Spanish newspaper El País about Judge Jones's ruling. The subtitle reads, "Un juez prohíbe que se enseñe el creacionismo en la escuela del pequeño pueblo de Dover." In English: "A judge prohibits teaching creationism in schools in the small town of Dover." Not ID. Creationism. The article goes on to mention ID by name, but nowhere in the entire article is any doubt raised that ID and creationism are equivalent. No smokescreen of bullshit to placate the religious Right. No blathering about the role of God in public school classrooms. They go right out and tell the facts.
Nowhere is the blunt truth more simply stated than in the second sentence: "Un juez federal ha decidido prohibir la enseñanza de la teoría del diseño inteligente-el nuevo disfraz del viejo creacionismo-que se impartía desde 2004 en el pequeño pueblo de Dover (Pensilvania)." Translated: A federal judge has decided to prohibit the teaching of the theory of ID-the new disguise of the old creationism-that has been administered since 2004 in the small town of Dover (PA). Well, whaddaya know, that's exactly what every biologist in America worthy of the name has been screaming for years now.
And note well that El País is not a fringe newspaper; it is the most widely read newspaper in Spain-the New York Times of that country. Except that recently, the Times has been leading the pack in pandering to the right wing, so maybe the analogy isn't perfect.
Y'know, this reminds me of foreign news reporters in the 1980s talking about how President Reagan lied to the American public about his role in the Iran-contra scandal, in exactly those words. Again, reporting from outside the US allowed the foreign news media to go right out and say what everybody knew was true. The Emperor really wore no clothes, and no amount of obfuscating by the popular press was going to change the truth.
One amusing side note: I found the El País article through this entry in an evolution-centered Spanish 'blog in which the author refers to ID advocates as "IDiotas." Heh-heh-don't think I have to translate that one.