Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong for Our Schools

Bys: Scott, Eugenie and Branch, Glenn

Book Overview

The book . . . is an excellent resource to deal with the attack on evolution, which is a surrogate, and indeed a wedge, for a wide-ranging crusade against the scientific integrity of the public education system in America."--Rev. Barry W. Lynn from the Foreword

More than eighty years after the Scopes trial, creationism is alive and well. Through local school boards, sympathetic politicians, and well-funded organizations, a strong movement has developed to encourage the teaching of the latest incarnation of creationism--intelligent design--as a scientifically credible theory alongside evolution in science classes. Although intelligent design suffered a serious defeat in the recent Kitzmiller v. Dover trial, its proponents are bound to continue their assault on evolution education. Now, in Not in Our Classrooms, parents and teachers, as well as other concerned citizens, have a much-needed tool to use in the argument against teaching intelligent design as science.

Where did the concept of intelligent design originate? How does it connect with, and conflict with, various religious beliefs? Should we teach the controversy itself in our science classrooms? In clear and lively essays, a team of experts answers these questions and many more, describing the history of the intelligent design movement and the lack of scientific support for its claims. Most importantly, the contributors--authorities on the scientific, legal, educational, and theological problems of intelligent design-speak specifically to teachers and parents about the need to defend the integrity of science education by keeping intelligent design out of science curriculums. A concluding chapter offers concrete advice for those seeking to defend the teaching of evolution in their own communities.

Not in Our Classrooms is essential reading for anyone concerned about defending the teaching of evolution, uncompromised by religiously motivated pseudoscience, in the classrooms of our public schools.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807032786
• ISBN13: 9780807032787
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Length: 186 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.6" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Praise for the book...

...and a rebuttal to "The Professor" This book nails the debate on the head of the nail. Ms. Scott and Mr. Branch have done a wonderful job of laying out the factual reasons why I.D. is false as science. But even better, in an attempt to counter-point the books contents, we actually are allowed to see another reviewer lay out the very arguments that have no merit. Normally, I ignore such attempts at blatant falsehoods, but I think in this case it is worthwhile in order to better underscore why - and why the book he attempts to slander causes him to engage in this rather blatant exercise. The "professor" starts his argument by claiming the book contains misleading and flat-out wrong information by claiming "the oft cited claim that ID has not produced any science or has not published in the peer reviewed literature ". The truth is there is no peer reviewed material available to be found, except wherein it is pointed out that ID has no merit. Further, ID has contributed NOTHING to science. Even the Discovery Institute- where modern I.D. got its start - has publicly admitted it has produced nothing. The Professor goes on to show how transparent his false argument is by adding: "In my work in the area of cell biology research, we in fact proceed on the assumption that the cell was designed and asked the question "how was it designed, i.e. how does it work" often assuming that the mechanisms we are researching are ingeniously designed." This is a blatant falsehood...nowhere in biology will you find a scientist who will make this claim - it is counter to the basic premise of the scientific method, where EVERYTHING is in question. Such an assumption would never happen, because it demands that you make a conclusion before you examine the phenomena! I could go on, but the real point is "the professor" makes a number of unsubstantiated claims that anyone with a passing understanding of science can understand to be false. He offers nothing factual, cites to nothing published (because, as I pointed out above, there has been NOTHING of a peer reviewed nature published) and essentially engages in hand waves to support his claims. He finishes with the claim that ID advocates are in the closet. This is the most transparent of falsehoods: scientists love nothing better than proving other scientists wrong. If there were any merit to ID, you would see many scientists out there showing why. To close, I apologize to any who find my response outside of the norm for a book review, but I feel very strongly about letting people such as "the professor" spread these falsehoods without some objection. The real bottom line: educate yourself. Learn why science works as it does. Once you do, it becomes rather easy to understand why these people are selling you snake oil.

A Good Primer For Any Concerned Citizen

"Not In Our Classrooms" is a concise (152 pages) and thorough collection of essays explaining why pseudoscience based on religious beliefs has no place in public science education. Eugenie Scott begins by showing the ironic evolution of creationism to "intelligent design" within the fundamentalist community, but the book does not concern itself merely with court defeats incurred by the religious right in the U.S. Including writings from theologians like Ted Peters and noted science writers Nick Matzke, Glenn Branch and Dr. Paul Gross, "Not In Our Classrooms" ends on a positive note, showing how citizens can become involved in protecting the integrity of science education in public schools.

Vital need to educate students and the public about anti-evolutionary propaganda

If it IS NOT obvious to you that the teaching of "intelligent design" doesn't belong in public schools in the U.S., you should read this book: it will help you to understand what a big mistake you would be making if you support the "intelligent design" movement and how you are being manipulated. If it IS obvious to you that the teaching of "intelligent design" doesn't belong in public schools in the U.S., you should read this book: it will help you understand how well-organized and persistent the misguided effort is to undermine science education. The trickiness of the anti-evolution forces is very high. This book will guide you so you may be fooled by phony arguments such as about "fairness". "Intelligent design" efforts are also just one step toward undermining religious freedoms in this country. People with good intentions are being manipulated by their religous leaders to believe that evolutionary theory and facts are inconsistent with religous truths. The level of manipulation is very high. Most of us are not scientists and may be fooled by carefully constructions scientific-like arguments. Accepting evolutionary theory and facts DOES NOT make someone an atheist or immoral. As you will find in this book, it is not only possible to be a good Christian and accept evolution, it is the only way to be a healthy Christian and American. This short book explains the scientific basis of the theory and facts of evolution, how some religous organizations are consciously attempting to subvert the U.S. Constitution in order to play on people's good intentions to make them believe that evolutionary teaching is contrary to healthy religous faith, what legal decisions have been made to date and how you can join in acting to stop this ongoing threat to our nation's future.

Excellent Counter to the Immediate Attack

The orthodox fundamentalist Christians have a problem. If the story of the creation of the Universe as described in Genesis isn't exactly to the letter accurate, then that begins to open to question anything else that is written in the Bible. As such they cannot accept evolution. They have to believe that the universe was created about 6,000 years ago, the dinosaur bones were just put there as a test of faith. The red shift of the light of distant galaxies comes from light that God generated out there somewhere, and not possibly from a universe that's more than 6,000 years old. If the story in Genesis is wrong, then there may be other errors in the bible. Perhaps it is not the inerrant word of God (even though it was written in a far away language - Aramaic - and translated many times, usually by people with ulterior motives). And if there are other errors, then personal salvation, heaven, and all the rest may be wrong. There seems to be no way these people can be convinced that perhaps the story in Genesis is allegory. That a day (24 hours of dark and light) had no meaning before there was light, that it could have been an awfully long time, perhaps 13.5 billion years. What's the word for day in Aramaic anyway? There doesn't seem to be a way to convince these people that there is enough mystery in the universe, enough room for God, without a literal interpretation. What, for instance, was going on a second or two before the big bang? Oh well, the fundamentalists must keep trying to impose their view. In turn, we must keep showing that there are scientific proofs which perhaps reflect the way God set up the rules of the universe. This book deals with the current way the arguments against evolution are going. It's very interesting and rather clearly points out the errors, the deliberate mis-information in their teaching. If the fundamentalists have their way, the rest of science is at risk as well. Indeed the whole scientific method. The world will head back to the world that Islam seems to want to create, a new Dark Ages.