ATTN: DU Scientists: Petition - "A Scientific Support For Darwinism, And

[kath]

and For Public Schools To Not Teach "Intelligent Design" As Science"

<[Cross-posted from GD>]

http://shovelbums.org/component/option,com_mospetition/... /

From the website:
This petition is in response to the Discovery Institute’s petition "A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism" signed, since 2001, by 400 scientists, as of July 2005. That petition is presented to the public as a scientific endorsement of the religion-based concept of Intelligent Design over Darwinism. Unfortunately, the majority, 83%, of these "scientists" are not schooled in the fields that utilize evolutionary theory in detail, nor even in science, and they are not qualified to present their ideas in a way other than personal opinion. We feel this petition is misleading the public, and we use this petition to show that:

"We, as scientists trained in fields that utilize evolutionary theory, do not believe Intelligent Design to be a fact-based science appropriate for teaching in public schools because it is theistic in nature, not empirical, and therefore does not pass the rigors of scientific hypothesis testing and theory development. As such, we petition that Intelligent Design not be presented in public schools as a viable science within the scientific curriculum."

This view does not represent an atheistic or exclusionary scientific school of thought, and we do not endorse Intelligent Design, or other religious subjects, being prohibited from discussion in the appropriate classroom setting. Indeed many of us belong to religious denominations, and we respect and support individuals’ rights to put evolution, the origins of the universe, and life, into a context that they understand as defined by their religion. Science, however, is not designed to explain or debunk religious concepts that are based in faith, and, as such, religion-based concepts should not be taught as science.

If you are a concerned scientist, anthropologist, archaeologist, etc., I appreciate you making the time to sign this petition.

Where will the petition go? After four days (as a metaphor for the four years it took for the Discovery Institute’s petition) I will print this off and be sending it to the judge of the Dover, PA ID case. If the case goes to the Supreme Court I will also be submitting it there. I am currently in the process of contacting media who are covering the Dover, PA case to let them know of this petitions existence. If you run a related web site you can help our by linking to this petition page.

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So, all you DU scientists, (especially biologists, anthropologists, archeologists, physicians, etc.) go to the site and sign up.
Signatures are coming in at the rate of several per minute right now, with 1614 so far. The petition was put up less than 55 hours ago. There are only 2 days left to go - act now.

[Ediacara]

1. Done!