Tuesday, June 26, 2007 | Reason : Political | print version

UK Gov boots intelligent design back into 'religious' margins

by Lucy Sherriff, The Register

Thanks to ranjani for the link.

Reposted from:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/06/25/id_not_science/

Not science, not likely to be science

The government has announced that it will publish guidance for schools on how creationism and intelligent design relate to science teaching, and has reiterated that it sees no place for either on the science curriculum.

It has also defined "Intelligent Design", the idea that life is too complex to have arisen without the guiding hand of a greater intelligence, as a religion, along with "creationism".

Responding to a petition on the Number 10 ePetitions site, the government said: "The Government is aware that a number of concerns have been raised in the media and elsewhere as to whether creationism and intelligent design have a place in science lessons. The Government is clear that creationism and intelligent design are not part of the science National Curriculum programmes of study and should not be taught as science. "

It added that it would expect teachers to be able to answer pupil's questions about "creationism, intelligent design, and other religious beliefs" within a scientific framework.

The petition was posted by James Rocks of the Science, Just Science campaign, a group that formed to counter a nascent anti-evolution lobby in the UK.

He wrote: "Creationism & Intelligent design are...being used disingenuously to portray science & the theory or evolution as being in crisis when they are not... These ideas therefore do not constitute science, cannot be considered scientific education and therefore do not belong in the nation's science classrooms."

The petition was signed by 1,505 people.

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1. Comment #52160 by chauvinj on June 26, 2007 at 11:39 am

Sounds like a step in the right direction.

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2. Comment #52164 by Rtambree on June 26, 2007 at 11:45 am

Not so much a step in the right direction, but preventing a step in the wrong direction.

One "success" all this ID nonsense has achieved is wasting a whole lot of scientists' time.

It's annoying that battles won in the Enlightenment have to constantly be refought.

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4. Comment #52191 by jonecc on June 26, 2007 at 12:54 pm

BicycleRepairMan:

You're welcome. One day soon, we may succeed in disestablishing the church, as the Americans managed in 1776.

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5. Comment #52240 by ranjani on June 26, 2007 at 2:48 pm

Hello all,
If anyone has the time, I would like to get some personal opinions from Brits on this site about their new prime minister Mr. Gordon Brown. Is he as religious as his predecessor? Does he have new initiatives to expand faith based schools? Thanks
Ranjani

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6. Comment #52248 by pewkatchoo on June 26, 2007 at 3:13 pm

Ranjani
I am one of Gordon Brown's critics, so to answer your question. Yes, he is a 'son of the manse'. This means that his father was a minister in the church in Scotland and he was brought up with religious principles. He keeps talking about his religious upbringing being his moral compass (not to mention his ethical sextant and his principle lodestone) and yet he still cannot find his way to telling the truth. He is, not to put to fine a point on it, a totally untrustworthy lying scumbag. So just like Tony Blair then. Here is a piece that I wrote about him that, to my surprise, actually got published on the opinions page of the Daily Telegraph today.

Why do people think that Brown is an intellectual giant? Has he suddenly discovered a cure for cancer? Has he written any mind expanding pieces of literature? Has he produced any enlightened philosophical treatises? Has he composed any towering pieces of classical music? I have been searching for evidence of Browns' supreme intellectual achievements and what have I found! Tax credits fiascos, pensions disasters, gold underselling, mind-numbing pieces of fiscal prestidigitation in the shape of unintelligible budget reports, the most complex and stultifying tax regime in the western world. In short, he has massively miscalculated the disastrous effects of nearly every piece of nonsense that you can put his name on. The only success he can claim, the very qualified (ie still under political control) independence for the Bank of England, is proving to be equally ineffective because of the targets he has set for maintaining low inflation and yet still keeping the economy on high burn.

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7. Comment #52279 by ranjani on June 26, 2007 at 3:58 pm

Thanks a lot Pewkatchoo
So not much change then. I wonder, in light of Bush's unpopularity in Britain, whether he will distance himself from Washington or do a Sarkozy.

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8. Comment #52426 by spanishatheist on June 27, 2007 at 2:30 am

It seems Spain alone in Europe has a prime minister known to be an atheist and certainly at odds with the Catholic church given his brave efforts towards secularism. Then the way public opinion sways I would be (pleasantly) surprised if he stayed in office next year when new elections take place.

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