Monkey Girl

Edward Humes talked about his book Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America’s Soul, published by Ecco. He described the 2005 court case Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District, in which teachers and parents sued the Dover, Pennsylvania, school district and school board for mandating the teaching of intelligent design, the theory that the existence of life on earth can only be explained as the handiwork of a designer. They argued that intelligent design is thinly-disguised creationism and that teaching it violates the constitutional separation of church and state. The school board argued that intelligent design is a scientific theory and should be taught alongside evolution. On December 20, 2005, Judge John Jones ruled the school board had violated the constitution and also that “intelligent design was a religious proposition, and not science.” After his presentation Mr. Humes responded to audience members' questions.

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