Timeline of Intelligent Design - Edwards V. Aguillard Ruling, Pandas

Edwards V. Aguillard Ruling, Pandas

• August 1986 Amicus Curae brief by scientific organisations and 72 Nobel Prize winning scientists set out argument that the Louisiana Act's definition of "creation-science" was religious dogma, including creation ex nihilo, created kinds of life, worldwide deluge and young earth, the legislation described conventional "creation-science" and not the "abrupt appearance" construct presented to the court which was ill-defined and "a post hoc invention, created for the purpose of defending this unconstitutional Act." They asserted that:

Science is devoted to formulating and testing naturalistic explanations for natural phenomena. It is a process for systematically collecting and recording data about the physical world, then categorizing and studying the collected data in an effort to infer the principles of nature that best explain the observed phenomena. Science is not equipped to evaluate supernatural explanations for our observations; without passing judgment on the truth or falsity of supernatural explanations, science leaves their consideration to the domain of religious faith. Because the scope of scientific inquiry is consciously limited to the search for naturalistic principles, science remains free of religious dogma and is thus an appropriate subject for public-school instruction.

• 1987 Supreme Court ruled in Edwards v. Aguillard that the Louisiana Creationism Act violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment: it lacked a clear secular purpose, did not protect academic freedom as claimed, and instead of encouraging "the teaching of all scientific theories about human origins... purpose of discrediting evolution by counterbalancing its teaching at every turn with the teaching of creationism.... endorses religion by advancing the religious belief that a supernatural being created humankind... primary purpose was to change the public school science curriculum to provide persuasive advantage to a particular religious doctrine that rejects the factual basis of evolution in its entirety." However, the statement that "teaching a variety of scientific theories about the origins of humankind to school children might be validly done with the clear secular intent of enhancing the effectiveness of science instruction." left a loophole for ID.
• 1987 FTE copyrighted draft retitled Of Pandas and People: The Central Questions of Biological Origins, reference to Edwards decision added in footnote, as in earlier drafts had definition "Creation means that the various forms of life began abruptly through the agency of an intelligent creator with their distinctive features already intact. Fish with fins and scales, birds with feathers, beaks, and wings, etc."