LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY alobar)
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UK Gov boots intelligent design back into 'religious' margins
By Lucy Sherriff
Published Monday 25th June 2007 12:35 GMT
The government has announced that it will publish guidance for schools on how creationism and intelligent design relate to science teaching, and has reiterated that it sees no place for either on the science curriculum.
It has also defined "Intelligent Design", the idea that life is too complex to have arisen without the guiding hand of a greater intelligence, as a religion, along with "creationism".
Responding to a petition (http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page1
It added that it would expect teachers to be able to answer pupil's questions about "creationism, intelligent design, and other religious beliefs" within a scientific framework.
The petition was posted by James Rocks of the Science, Just Science (http://www.justscience.org.uk/wiki/tiki-i
He wrote: "Creationism & Intelligent design are...being used disingenuously to portray science & the theory or evolution as being in crisis when they are not... These ideas therefore do not constitute science, cannot be considered scientific education and therefore do not belong in the nation's science classrooms."
The petition was signed by 1,505 people.