Cooper, Nelson, Saletan

By Jason Rosenhouse

Reaction to the Dover decision keeps coming in. Former Discovery Institute Attorney Seth Cooper has posted <a href=http://www.evolutionnews.org/2005/12/statement_by_seth_l_cooper_con.html>this essay</a> claiming that Judge Jones mischaracterized Cooper's actions on behalf of the DI in the Dover case. Golly! That sounds serious.

Meanwhile, Paul Nelson offers <a href=http://www.idthefuture.com/2005/12/la_vie_continue_and_somewhere.html#more>these thoughts</a> on why ID folks shouldn't be mired in despair. Along the way he offers up a single sentence of the decision which, in Nelson's opinion, shows the Judge being something less than meticulous.

And over at Slate, William Saletan <a href=http://www.slate.com/id/2132807/>takes up</a> the thankless task of trying to poke holes in Jones' masterful opinion. He accuses Jones of relying on a false dichotomy between science and religion.

Short reply: Cooper is wrong, Nelson is desperate and Saletan is being silly.

I have posted longer replies to all three over at EvolutionBlog. Cooper <a href=http://evolutionblog.blogspot.com/2005/12/cooper-protests-too-much.html>here</a>. Nelson <a href=http://evolutionblog.blogspot.com/2005/12/nelsons-desperation.html>here</a>. Saletan <a href=http://evolutionblog.blogspot.com/2005/12/saletans-silliness.html>here</a>.