Judge gives 'Intelligent Design' the heave-ho

ASSOCIATED PRESS: A federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled today that "intelligent design" is not a science, and therefore cannot be a mandated part of the state's high school curriculum...

Thank goodness. Reports the BBC:

Judge John Jones ruled the school board had violated the constitutional ban on teaching religion in public schools. The 11 parents who brought the case argued that teaching intelligent design (ID) was effectively teaching creationism, which is banned.

They complained the theory - which argues life must have been helped to develop by an unseen power - is tantamount to religious education. The separation of church and state is enshrined in the US constitution.

"We find that the secular purposes claimed by the board amount to a pretext for the board's real purpose, which was to promote religion," said Judge John Jones... ID was not science, he said, and "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents."

Good news. Now to get the state out of education altogether. :-)

Linked News: Intelligent Design Teaching Ban - BBC
Court rejects 'intelligent design' in science class

Related Articles: Unintelligent Design Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Closing of 'Intelligent Design' trial