Judge Jones

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Photo by Chris Morgan, © Discovery Institute

Michael Behe: A Biography

Michael Behe (born 1952 in Altoona, Pennsylvania) is a biochemist and an influential intelligent-design theorist. A Professor of Biochemistry at Lehigh University and a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture, he received his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978. His dissertation was on aspects of sickle-cell disease, and his postdoctoral work Read More ›

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Art Deco ceiling of the National Academy of Sciences by Hildreth Meiere.
Art Deco ceiling of the National Academy of Sciences

The Facts about Intelligent Design

A 1982 poll found that only 9% of Americans believed that humans developed through purely natural evolutionary processes. Two years later, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) issued its first Science and Creationism booklet, stating that science and religion occupy "separate and mutually exclusive realms." 1Public skepticism of evolution remained high — a 1993 poll found that only 11% of Americans believed that humans developed through purely natural evolutionary processes.

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The Truth on the Dover Intelligent Design Trial

Myth #1: There are no peer-reviewed scientific papers supporting intelligent design. Judge Jones said that ID “…has not generated peer-reviewed publications.” FACT: Judge Jones is simply wrong. Discovery Institute submitted an amicus brief to Judge Jones that documented various peer-reviewed publications, which he accepted into evidence. This is a fact based question which is hard to get wrong. The fact Read More ›

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What NOVA Won’t Tell You about Dover

“Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial” is a special devoted to the Dover trial as Judge Jones saw it. While they promise to deliver the true story behind this dramatic trial, this program instead provides a lopsided, incomplete portrayal of the Dover trial based largely on Judge John E. Jones’ poorly argued and scientifically inaccurate ruling. Read More ›

Is Judge Jones an Activist Judge?

Over the next week or so, I plan to file several posts analyzing issues relating to Judge Jones’ decision in the Dover case. I start today by revisiting the question of whether Judge Jones is an “activist” judge. Some Darwinists are livid that I’ve applied this label to the Judge. Although I’ve explained my reasons for regarding Jones as an Read More ›

Judging Darwin and God

Issuing theological statements isn’t normally thought of as the job of a federal judge. Yet, this week when U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones III released the first federal ruling on intelligent design, there was at the core of his written decision an unambiguously theological ruling: that evolution as formulated by Charles Darwin presents no conflict with the God Read More ›

Did Judge Jones Accurately Describe the Content and Early Versions of the ID Textbook Of Pandas and People?

In his decision in the Dover intelligent design case, Judge Jones places great weight on the early intelligent design textbook Of Pandas and People published by the Foundation for Thought and Ethics (FTE). According to Judge Jones, early drafts of this textbook supposedly show that intelligent design is merely repackaged creationism. However, Judge Jones seriously misrepresents the facts about Of Pandas and People, Read More ›

Did Judge Jones Read the Evidence Submitted to Him in the Dover Trial?

It’s becoming glaringly apparent that Judge Jones was incredibly sloppy with the purported findings of “facts” in his lengthy 139-page judicial opinion. Time and again, Judge Jones makes assertions in his opinion that are unambiguously factually wrong – even though the correct information was a part of the official record before him. It is beginning to look like he didn’t Read More ›