Breathtaking Inanity

Striking while the iron is still room temperature...

The Dover ID case has been decided for the plaintiffs and (between the lines) against intelligent design. Judge Jones slapped down the defendants with characteristic jollity--see the title of this post for his summation of their position. (It's not the "i" word I'd have used, but a good one nonetheless.)

Thick as it is, the ruling won't stop the court cases, including one mounting in Michigan as you read this. Nor will it blunt the wedge tactics. Districts in 42 states are getting into the sticky subject of science curricula.

I say "Bring it on!" It's great spectator sport, if nothing else. The brouhaha over ID also helps get some important epistemic and civic issues into the spotlight. Yes, something even more important than Tom Cruise's fractured compound or Nick-n-Jessica's compound fracture. Like, oh, I don't know:

1. where the line needs to be (re)drawn between secular and religious in US institutions;
2. where and why lines are drawn between science and nonscience (including pseudoscience) and who's doing the drawing;
3. parents getting involved in their kids' educations, if only for or against one issue (and it's not condoms for a change);
4. basically the pressures and deficiencies under which schools have to operated.

We just need someone to keep the rhetorical fan going to dispel the heat and smoke all sides keep on generating. Who could that be...?