Intelligent Design and the Dover, Pennsylvania, Ruling

In Dover, Pennsylvania, Intelligent Design was ruled to not be a science, and that it could not be taught in the school system. This decisions is worth my making some comments.

First, I think it important for the reader to be familiar with the concept of Accam's Razor. This is a very important concept in science which says, "One should not increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything."¹ This concept is used in Evolution, as well as all of science.

In a practical sense, this means that the fact that evolution does not mention God does not mean it denies the existence of God, only that the observations made can be explained without mentioning God, if he does exist, or even if he was active in the formation of the universe.

I can give an example of what I mean. There have been many Space Shuttle launches. Each have had a number of people in them (and experiments, etc., but I want to concentrate on the people). At some point someone had to calculate (or program the computer to calculate) the exact thrust that was needed to put the shuttle into the proper orbit. In doing this the person did not take into consideration that perhaps a thousand pounds or more of the weight was from people. That is, in making his calculation he ignored the fact that the shuttle contained people. Does this mean he denied their existence? I think not, only that the calculations are simpler if he doesn't take the people into account (accept for their weight).

The same is true of evolution. The fact that evolution doesn't take God into account does not say that the people teaching it don't believe in God, only that that factor is not needed to explain the results.

At this point, and in this light, I would like to begin my comments on the Dover ruling. For my scriptural references, I have chosen to use the New American Bible throughout, although almost any version could be used.

The first reference is from Matthew 7:15-23, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?' Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.'"

With this scripture in mind I would like to ask the question, "Which theory, Intelligent Design or Evolution, is of God, and which is of the Devil?" And I will answer that. Evolution is a theory with is of God, and Intelligent Design is of the devil.

But, you will say, everyone knows that Christians back ID. To that I would say to read the quotation I've given above again. This time, reread the last two sentences. Not everyone who says they are of God have any claim to that honor, in fact, some who claim the honor, really don't deserve it. The trick is to know who to believe.

The trick is to look at the criteria given above, "By their fruits you will know them." So, let us take a look at the fruit, and you may judge for yourself who is of God, and who is of the devil.

Another scripture is Matthew 5:33-37, ""Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.' But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one."

What this means, of course, is that one should tell the truth, that to not tell the truth is the work of the devil, the fruit of one of his doings. It is reported after the trial that the judge in the case recommended contempt citations for two witnesses, that is, two members of the school board who pushed ID, including its main advocate.

Specifically what was at issue is two boxes of the book Of Pandas and People that were delivered to the Dover High School by an anonymous donor. The witnesses were asked what they knew about the donation of the books, and they said under oath that they didn't know anything about the books. Later it was revealed that the money for the books had been collected at a local church by one of the two, and had been given to the other for the expressed purpose of buying the books, using the father of one to actually make the purchase. Later, when the judge put one of them back on the stand, and grilled them on this point, they admitted to lying.

"By their fruits you will know them." That is, according to my second quote above, lying is the fruit of the devil. Therefore, we find that the main advocate of ID in Dover, Pennsylvania, is, in fact, bearing evil fruit.

Nor was this the only lie. The claim was made that the book Of Pandas and Peoples was about Intelligent Design, and legal. It was not about creationism. Yet the trial showed that the book had been about creationism, and authors had simply done a global replace, replacing the word "creationism" with the words "intelligent design." Again, this was the fruit of the ID community. Is this of God?

Similarly, there is a much better known quote. Exodus 20:19, "You shall not kill," and also Matthew 5:21-22, ""You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,' will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna."

Again, this is saying that murder, and even thinking about murder, is the work of the devil. During the Dover trial, it is reported that several members of the group that brought the lawsuit against ID received death threats, which were turned over to the FBI. After the trial was over, the Judge had to have twenty four hour police protection because of the death threats against him.

As far as I know, none of the people who advocated Intelligent Design was in fear of their life.

There is the scripture, Exodus 20:15, "You shall no steal." The lawsuit in Dover was sparked by a theft. That is, a student painted a mural which depicted people as evolving from an ape. (Actually not true - evolution says that man and ape evolved from a common ancestor.) This mural was stolen from the school, and burned, which brought evolution to the mind of the people. It was because of this theft (which was probably by one of the ID proponent, who said that he saw it burn) that the school born started to talk about adding ID to the curriculum.

Again, the statement needs to be said, "By their fruits you shall know them." And I can ask the question again, "Which theory is of God, and which of the Devil?" And again I will answer, "Intelligent Design is the work of the devil, and Evolution is the work of God."