US: In the beginning, members of the Dover Area School Board wrangled over what should be required in their high school biology curriculum.
Some were adamant that science teachers should stick with the widely taught theory of evolution and random selection. Others said teaching the theory of intelligent design should also be required, saying certain elements of life such as cell structure are best explained by an intelligent cause.
The debate had strong religious overtones.
"Nearly 2,000 years ago, someone died on a cross for us," said board member William Buckingham, who urged his colleagues to include intelligent design in ninth-grade science classes. "Shouldn't we have the courage to stand up for Him?"
A trial began yesterday over the board's decision last year ordering that students be taught about intelligent design and flaws in Charles Darwin's teachings.
Several parents, fearing the intrusion of religion into public schooling, filed a lawsuit to block the policy, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Both sides believe the stakes are high in the case, which has divided this small rural town 100 miles west of Philadelphia.
The proceedings in a Harrisburg federal court will be the first legal challenge to the mandatory teaching of intelligent design, which is championed by a growing number of Christian fundamentalists. The verdict, to be rendered by Judge John E. Jones, could have a profound impact on America's cultural wars over religion and its role in public life.
Witnesses are expected to debate whether the theory is scientifically valid or a Trojan horse designed to subvert the theories of Charles Darwin.
"We're fighting for the First Amendment, the separation of church and state and the integrity of schools," said Philadelphia lawyer Eric Rothschild, who is teaming up with a battery of Pennsylvania ACLU lawyers to argue the case. "This trial should decide whether a school board can impose its religious views on other students."
The statement on intelligent design approved by the board was read to ninth-grade science students in January and will be read again this year.
It reads in part: "Because Darwin's theory is a theory, it continues to be tested as new evidence is discovered. The theory is not a fact. Gaps in theory exist for which there is no evidence . . . Intelligent design is an explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin . . . With respect to any theory, students are encouraged to keep an open mind."
Several days after the Dover school board's 6-3 vote approving the intelligent design resolution, the three dissenting members resigned in protest. In November, two opposing slates will vie for seven open seats on the Dover school board: one backing the teaching of intelligent design, the other strongly opposed.
Eighty years ago the Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee, tested the legality of a state law banning the teaching of evolution. Although teacher John Scopes was convicted of violating the law, the state Supreme Court later overturned the verdict.
In a landmark 1987 case, the US Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana could not require schools to balance the teaching of evolution with creationism, a Bible-based view of natural history. Lawyers for the school board, however, say intelligent design is different from creationism, because it does not mention religion.
Some students seemed focused on the dispute. Ninth-grader Giovanni Herman said he was glad to learn about any biological theory. "I know there are a lot of people fighting over this, what we should be taught," he said, "but it's all okay with me. In the end, I think I'll make up my own mind."
Meanwhile, creationists have said they plan to open a new museum dedicated to biblical interpretation in Petersburg, Kentucky.
The country's largest museum devoted to the alternative reality that is biblical creation science is being built just outside Cincinnati. Set amid a park with an artificial lake, the museum features animatronic dinosaurs, state-of-the- art models and graphics and a half-dozen staff scientists.
It holds that the world and the universe are only 6,000 years old and that baby dinosaurs rode in Noah's ark.
The €20.7 million ($25 million) Creation Museum stands much of modern science on its head and might cause a palaeontologist or three to rend their garments. Officials however expect to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors when the museum opens in early 2007. - (Los Angeles Times-Washington Post service)