NOVA will air a special called “Judgement Day – Intelligent Design on Trial” November 13th at 8PM. The show will unpack the important case of Kitzmiller v. Dover School District which was reported to be a 6 week trial of testimony regarding evolution and intelligent design. Here are a few excerpts from the transcription which is also available online.

Q: Why is this topic—and the teaching of evolution—so important?

Paula S. Apsell[Senior Executive Producer of NOVA]: Recent polls tells us that 48 percent—almost half of all Americans—still question evolution and still believe that some kind of alternative should be taught in the public schools. What happens when half of the population doesn't accept one of the most fundamental underpinnings of the sciences? Evolution is the absolute bedrock of the biological sciences. It's essential to medical science, agriculture, biotechnology. And it's critical to understanding the natural world around us.

We're a country built on our command of the sciences and technology. But we now face a crisis in science literacy that could threaten our progress in these areas and ultimately threaten our quality of life. So, at NOVA and at Vulcan, we feel that understanding the importance of evolution, and enhancing science literacy in general, are more crucial than ever.

Dr. Kenneth Miller [A biologist testifying on behalf of evolution]:The whole idea of intelligent design is a confession on the part of its advocates that they actually can't get any evidence at all in favor of a designer. So what they resort to is the notion that it's either evolution or it's design. And if evolution right now, today, cannot explain everything, that lack of a complete explanation amounts to evidence for the other side.

Thank you Michael Westmorland-White for posting information about the show. Michael is a Baptist minister in Kentucky who has just made a series of well written posts about Creation and Evolution that includes a detailed exegesis of both Genesis creation myths (you did know there were 2 right?). His blog represents all the best qualities of the Baptist faith tradition.