Worldtraveller
28 Apr 2009, 02:15 PM
Brief filed (http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/04/pepper_hamilton_files_brief_in.php) in support of UC school system.
For those who haven't been following this case, a xian school with YEC based curriculum is trying to sue the University of California school system because they wouldn't grant transfer credit to thier biology courses. The YECers lost the first round, and are now appealing to the ninth circtuit. Yeah, the ninth circuit. They have to know it's a losing cause, and they are only, IMO, trying to use this as an excuse to drum the persecuted xians card and generate income for their churches and schools indoctrination centers.
The link to the actual brief is provided at the Dispatches link above.
It appears to be just as much of a slamdunk as Kitzmiller turned out to be. The brief borrows liberally from Kitzmiller, Cobb County and a few other more recent cases, of course, and it illustrates nicely the power of the previously made arguments against this sort of incursion.
The quotes from those xian textbooks are stupefying in their ignorance and anti-science attitude. Behe actually argues that those should be adequate? Is he sliding further into YECism, or just that willing to whore himself out for a few pieces of silver?
From the brief, which quotes some sections of the material from the biology books (let's hope Oolon doesn't read this while drunk! :p)
Plaintiff's expert, Michael Behe, purported to challenge UC's determination by simply counting the number of times the textbooks make reference to certain basic scientific concepts, but he conceded that he did not address the detail, depth, or accuracy of the textbooks' references to those scientific concepts. The District Court concluded that Behe did not refute UC's evaluation of the textbooks (as confirmed by Kennedy's and Ayala's testimony) or even raise any "genuine issue of material fact as to this issue."
(“[T]he Bible is the source of all truth, and everything, not just science, must be evaluated based on Scripture. If a hypothesis or scientific model seems to make sense and all of the evidence points to an answer that is contrary to the Bible, then the evidence, not the Bible, must be reevaluated and the conclusions changed.”).
The textbook states unequivocally: “Questions asking how or why are not measurable and are therefore beyond the scope of science. The scientific method cannot explain a phenomenon.” Biology for Christian Schools, supra, at 15.
[E]volutionism poisons biology textbooks and distracts from God’s glory in creation. . . . The Christian teacher will find that the unique A Beka Book approach to biology eliminates the conflict which results when
evolutionary philosophy is combined with truth. Evolution is presented for what it is—a retreat from science. Students and teachers alike will feel more
comfortable when they realize that it is not biology that is in conflict with Scripture, but rather the ungodly philosophy of some biologists.
Have you stopped laughing yet? This is what happens when religion keeps trying to push their agenda onto others. They will lose this case, and lose bad, but they'll keep coming...
This should be popcorn worthy. :D
For those who haven't been following this case, a xian school with YEC based curriculum is trying to sue the University of California school system because they wouldn't grant transfer credit to thier biology courses. The YECers lost the first round, and are now appealing to the ninth circtuit. Yeah, the ninth circuit. They have to know it's a losing cause, and they are only, IMO, trying to use this as an excuse to drum the persecuted xians card and generate income for their churches and schools indoctrination centers.
The link to the actual brief is provided at the Dispatches link above.
It appears to be just as much of a slamdunk as Kitzmiller turned out to be. The brief borrows liberally from Kitzmiller, Cobb County and a few other more recent cases, of course, and it illustrates nicely the power of the previously made arguments against this sort of incursion.
The quotes from those xian textbooks are stupefying in their ignorance and anti-science attitude. Behe actually argues that those should be adequate? Is he sliding further into YECism, or just that willing to whore himself out for a few pieces of silver?
From the brief, which quotes some sections of the material from the biology books (let's hope Oolon doesn't read this while drunk! :p)
Plaintiff's expert, Michael Behe, purported to challenge UC's determination by simply counting the number of times the textbooks make reference to certain basic scientific concepts, but he conceded that he did not address the detail, depth, or accuracy of the textbooks' references to those scientific concepts. The District Court concluded that Behe did not refute UC's evaluation of the textbooks (as confirmed by Kennedy's and Ayala's testimony) or even raise any "genuine issue of material fact as to this issue."
(“[T]he Bible is the source of all truth, and everything, not just science, must be evaluated based on Scripture. If a hypothesis or scientific model seems to make sense and all of the evidence points to an answer that is contrary to the Bible, then the evidence, not the Bible, must be reevaluated and the conclusions changed.”).
The textbook states unequivocally: “Questions asking how or why are not measurable and are therefore beyond the scope of science. The scientific method cannot explain a phenomenon.” Biology for Christian Schools, supra, at 15.
[E]volutionism poisons biology textbooks and distracts from God’s glory in creation. . . . The Christian teacher will find that the unique A Beka Book approach to biology eliminates the conflict which results when
evolutionary philosophy is combined with truth. Evolution is presented for what it is—a retreat from science. Students and teachers alike will feel more
comfortable when they realize that it is not biology that is in conflict with Scripture, but rather the ungodly philosophy of some biologists.
Have you stopped laughing yet? This is what happens when religion keeps trying to push their agenda onto others. They will lose this case, and lose bad, but they'll keep coming...
This should be popcorn worthy. :D