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December 28, 2005
Liberal Orthodoxy & Intelligent Design
An excellent article by Colorado University Law Professor Paul Campos in Rocky Mountain News
Orthodoxy of a liberal sortA sure sign that a belief system has triumphed over its opponents is that it stops thinking of itself as a belief system at all. Instead it becomes "what every rational person knows to be the case," or "simple common sense," or, more concisely still, "the truth." In other words, the truly orthodox never think of themselves as orthodox. This allows them to crush all dissent to their orthodoxy with a good conscience, since what reasonable objection could there be to sincere attempts to stamp out self-evident falsehoods? Thus we have just been treated to the remarkable spectacle of liberals shouting hosannas to the heavens in praise of a federal court ruling that makes it illegal to even mention the existence of a dissenting point of view in a public school classroom. The court held that a Dover, Pa., school board violated the Constitution when it mandated that a short statement be read at the beginning of the school year to ninth-grade science classes.
The statement noted that students are required to learn Darwin's theory of evolution; that there are gaps in the evidence for this theory; that an alternative theory called intelligent design exists; that the school library contains a book that students may consult if they wish to learn about this dissenting point of view; and that they are encouraged to keep an open mind about theories in general.
Judge John E. Jones ruled that reading this statement violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because doing so advances "a particular version of Christianity." Let's be clear about what this ruling means. According to Jones, it's against the law for a public school science teacher to mention that intelligent design theory exists, except, one supposes, for the purpose of immediately declaring it to be "not science, but religion."
Another interesting feature of orthodoxy is that it tends to cause a species of mental retardation in otherwise intelligent people. Consider some of the justifications put forward for the proposition that it's a great day for truth, justice and the American way when a federal court makes it illegal for teachers to mention the existence of a dissenting point of view to their students:
• Science has refuted theories such as intelligent design, because science is based on the postulate that theories such as intelligent design cannot be true. It says a great deal about the power of orthodox thought that many people of normal intelligence are apparently incapable of seeing what's wrong with this argument. To quote the philosopher Bertrand Russell: "The method of 'postulating' what we want has many advantages. They are the same as the advantages of theft over honest toil."
• Intelligent design is not a scientific theory, because it cannot be refuted. This claim is true only in the trivial sense that no scientific theory can be refuted from within the theory itself. Consider the theory of naturalism, which undergirds the argument in the previous paragraph. Naturalism assumes that all events have natural causes. Is there any evidence that could refute this theory in the eyes of someone who adheres to it? Obviously not, since any evidence such a person examines will always and already be interpreted within a framework that excludes the possibility of a supernatural cause.
• Metaphysical orthodoxies about the origins of life, the universe, and everything become something other than a form of religious belief when you use the word "science" instead of the word "God." Even more preposterously, it's asserted that requiring one particular form of metaphysical orthodoxy to be presented in public schools as The Truth allows the government to maintain "neutrality" toward religion.
But, as has been noted in another context, no one ever expects the Spanish Inquistion
Posted by sdf at December 28, 2005 01:40 AM
Comments
Hello,
To a very real extent, this must come to pass of course. The People in the world, must become all knowing without knowing - - otherwise they can not truly be good honest scoffers.
Posted by: Bert at December 31, 2005 12:21 PM
When the West denied their children the access to God in their public schools; their children had no one to account to. Each did what was best in their eyes. The West without God has become a society without restraint. The rest of the world wonder in pain. Science has many theories that has been disproved and discarded. Science is dynamic and proves that theories can be thrown away for better ones. One wonders why the West feels that Dwarnism cannot be prone to any test. If it is the truth why defend it. It is clear that most of what the West has tenaciously held to like abortions, same-sex marriages, euthanasia, etc can only be forced on humans through unjust courts. Every human being knows these things are not worth their salt. It is a tragedy that the West is viewed as Christian despite all these deviations from the beliefs of the Bible. The absolute powers of the courts, with men who seek every opportunity to oppose the truth as the leaders, may undo all the good the West has ever received if good men live on without challenging these judgments.
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Posted by: Carderro Nwoji at September 6, 2007 04:47 PM
