Intelligent Design: A New Angle

Frazier Mountain High School in Lebec, California is trying a new angle to get intelligent design into the class room. They are proposing, actually they have already starting teaching the class as a philosophy course, although I've never taken a philosophy course in which physical and chemical evidence were presented to "prove" any certain philosophical viewpoint. From the LA Times:

An initial course description, which was distributed to students and their families last month, said "the class will take a close look at evolution as a theory and will discuss the scientific, biological and biblical aspects that suggest why Darwin's philosophy is not rock solid. The class will discuss intelligent design as an alternative response to evolution. Physical and chemical evidence will be presented suggesting the earth is thousands of years old, not billions."

The course, which began Jan. 3 and is scheduled to run for one month, is being taught by Sharon Lemburg, a special education teacher with a bachelor of arts in physical education and social science, according to the lawsuit.

The suit adds that Lemburg "has no training or certification in the teaching of science, religion or philosophy," and is "the wife of the minister for the local Assembly of God Church, a Christian fundamentalist church, and a proponent of a creationist world view."

So, they got the special ed teacher to head up the ID department. I'd say that's apropos, wouldn't you? A fair amount of the proponents of ID belong her regular class anyway, so she'll be used to them.

The article doesn't mention whether or not this class is mandatory or an elective, or if it is an elective how many students signed up for it. I myself would have probably avoided this snoozer like the plague in my formative years. Then again, I might have taken the class to repeated proclaim the whole premise is bullshit and that Flying Spaghetti Monsterism is the only true path, which it is.