AP Wire | 03/01/2005 | State school board mem­bers to take writ­ten essays in evo­lu­tion debate:

Abrams sug­gest­ed one essay from each point of view be sub­mit­ted for each of eight ques­tions. Board mem­bers would review the essays, which would be made avail­able for pub­lic debate.

This is sim­i­lar to what Steve Case pro­posed, but with fatal flaws. Hav­ing writ­ten essays pro­vides the pub­lic with an oppor­tu­ni­ty to review the field of bat­tle. That’s good. That lets this debate be pub­lic, and lets peo­ple respond from all over. I’m still not clear who will ask ques­tions in these hearings.

The ide­al arrange­ment would be for a pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al sys­tem, with oppos­ing inter­roga­tors, each seek­ing the oth­er side’s flaw, each defend­ing its own case. The sub­com­mit­tee could hear the tes­ti­mo­ny and sit as an admit­ted­ly biased jury. That would ensure that each side is held to the same stan­dards of proof, even if that’s not how they’re judged.

It’s clear that the pub­lic atten­tion and pres­sure is forc­ing Abrams to toe the line. Make sure the ques­tions to be asked are fair, and that the process is honest.

Keep up the pressure.

The com­mit­tee:

Dr. Steve Abrams
Mrs. Con­nie Mor­ris
Mrs. Kathy Martin

Update: The Chris­t­ian Apol­o­gists think this debate isn’t about sci­ence, it’s about reli­gion. Duh!