In a strongly worded opinion a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled Tuesday that Intelligent Design is religion and not science. The Judge, John E. Jones, is a Republican appointed by George Bush.

Our forefathers, the framers of the constitution, understood so clearly the necessary bit of separation between Church and State. This was not done to ban God or Religion from our daily lives but to insure freedom of thought, freedom of belief. It was done to protect the the minority, so that no one group could say, 'It is my God or the Highway!' Many colonists came to this country to escape the tyranny of religious persecution. This includes the right of believers to believe, to practice their faith, Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu all of the world's religions, and it includes the right to not believe in religion.

Those great leaders who wrote our constitution spoke not one word about any one church Christian or otherwise, they spoke of freedom.

Yet now a few citizens are attempting tell us how we all are supposed to believe, as God is on their side. I cringe when I hear the President asking God to bless our troops, our way, our march to victory. Why? When I was a young boy, new to the world of competition at seven or eight, I loved my baseball team. I was not one of the best players, but I wanted us to win so bad. And I did know I could talk to God, so I would pray for us to win as hard as I could. One day, I was on third base, if two of us could score we would win a really big game. I said my prayer, that I should score and we should win. I heard the little guy playing third base for the other team next to me say a quick prayer that his team should win. I did not score we lost the game. I was confused was my prayer not heard, had we or I done something wrong. I thought about this a long while. What could God do if we were both good boys. I eventually on my own figured out I was praying for the wrong thing. So I still believe, and now I pray for all those in conflict in Iraq.

Albert Einstein, arguably the world's greatest thinker, was a deeply religious man. Within his magnificent brain he held and used the scientific method to expand our consciousness, to explain our world and beyond, while quietly asking for God's help. Is it too much for us to hold that way of thinking?

Our forefathers held Church and State in their hearts and minds, and what they spoke of was freedom. The freedom to think, the freedom to believe. Is it too much for us to hold that way of thinking?

It is up to us! You are 'free' to think about it.

The local Dover, PA paper has an article which notes the appearance of perjury in this case:

WILLIAMSPORT - A federal prosecutor said testimony in the Dover Area School District's intelligent design case is under review to determine if perjury charges should be pursued.

U.S. Middle District Attorney Thomas A. Marino said yesterday that decision will take time because there is "a lot of reading to do" to determine if the statements rise to the level of a crime.
...
During the trial, after questioning by Jones and lawyers, Bonsell and Buckingham acknowledged that Buckingham raised money for the books in his church, then wrote a check for $850 to Bonsell's father, who bought the texts and donated them to the school district. Neither man disclosed the transaction in their deposition.

"The inescapable truth is that both Bonsell and Buckingham lied at their Jan. 3, 2005, depositions about their knowledge of the source of the donation for Pandas. ... ," Jones said in his ruling. "This mendacity was a clear and deliberate attempt to hide the source of the donations by [Bonsell and Buckingham] to further ensure that Dover students received a creationist alternative to Darwin's theory of evolution."

"Pandas" is a pro-intelligent design book written by creationists.

Jones also questioned the "credibility" of statements by other school officials and former board members.