On February 14, Judge John E. Jones 3d addressed a crowd at the Lutheran Theological Seminary. Jones presided over the Dover “intelligent design” trial, eventually ruling that the Dover School Board could not order teachers to read a statement referring to intelligent design in classes discussing evolution. During his address, Jones, a Lutheran, said he diverged from those who insisted that either the Bible or the U.S. Constitution should be read literally. He spoke of the excitement and pride with which he conducted the trial: “Most federal judges will tell you they assume their positions to decide important cases.” Before his talk, Jones spoke with The Inquirer about when he first heard of intelligent design, and what it was like to be a part of judicial history.

What if God spoke, and said: What’s this intelligent design stuff? That ain’t science!? Would ID proponents keep on talking? Well, not if you redefine science… There’s too many holes in the theory of evolution… Life is too complex for it to be the product of random mutation… This is academic censorship!!! Rather than hurling down serpents, frogs, and thunderbolts, The Divinity might clear the throat and politely restate: Sorry, one more time: Intelligent design is not science.

The long-awaited ruling on the Dover “intelligent design” trial came yesterday, and the results were bad for ID—and good for democracy. They were good for those who read the Bible, those who read Darwin, and those who never read anything. This was a triumph for the Constitution, so it is one we all can share.

Chance is one thing, necessity another. That’s what they say. Right? Chance is what happens for no reason. It just happens to happen. It’s happenstance. Coincidence. Necessity happens for a reason. It’s cause and effect. It’s consequence. But what if these distinctions really don’t hold up? What if chance and necessity aren’t that different? What if they are so intimately knotted we can’t undo them? What if—yikes—what if they’re just about the same thing?

For the last few weeks, the ID folks have been having their say in the Dover, Pa., “intelligent design” trial. U.S. District Judge John E. Jones 3d may rule as early as mid-month. At issue is whether the Dover school board can order teachers to read a statement about “intelligent design” (ID) before they teach ninth-grade biology classes on evolution. ID argues that life’s complexity did not arise by chance (as in Charles Darwin’s view) but rather is the work of a knowing, planning designer. Judge Jones should rule against the Dover board. ID deserves passing mention - sidebars in textbooks, perhaps, and some class discussion - but not mandated inclusion in science classes. Why? Because as science, ID just doesn’t cut it.

It’s the end of absolutes for both religion and materialist unbelief. Neither has the knockout card, the open-and-shut, slam-dunk, airtight case. And that should knock both of them back a step. Each has something to say to the other, indeed the same thing: Give up your fundamentalism—it’s toxic, and it’s hurting you. Healthful words now, when evolution and intelligent design are being debated in Dover, Pa.

It’s hard to overstress the importance of the “intelligent design” trial going on now in Dover, Pa. Science is watching. So are teachers, judges, students, believers, lawyers and political leaders all over the world. The result of Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District et al. could change how science is taught in schools throughout the land. In October 2004, the board of the Dover Area School District voted 6–3 to reword the ninth-grade biology curriculum. Before beginning to teach evolution, science teachers must now read students a four-paragraph statement on a theory called “intelligent design” or ID.

In 2001, scientists announced they'd mapped the human genome _ the string of genetic instructions woven into our DNA. That map has led scientists to buried treasures of understanding. Now the same thing has happened for the chimp genome. The Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium, a huge international scientist cooperative, announced the sequence in the Sept. 1 issue of Nature. So we're about to know our closest cousins better. And ourselves. This new map may help us answer one of the biggest of all questions: What makes us human?

On Monday, in a round-table discussion with journalists from five Texas newspapers, President Bush said he thought intelligent design should be taught to students alongside evolution. "Intelligent design" is the belief that the universe and the Earth show evidence of a thinking, purposeful plan. That belief is thousands and thousands of years old; the phrase is of fairly recent coinage. President Bush made his remarks in the broadest, blandest terms: "I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought."