The Devil in Dover: An Insider's Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-town America

About this book

The page-turning story behind the 2005 intelligent design case in Dover Pennsylvaniathe case that made front-page news around the world. "What happened in Dover is a tiny sliver a broken shard of glass mirroring what plays out across the country. A war of fundamentalist Christian values versus secularism. A battle between evangelical fanaticism and tolerance."from The Devil in Dover In December 2004 following the Dover area school boards decision to teach intelligent design in ninth-grade biology classrooms eleven parents sued sparking a federal constitutional challenge. Lauri Lebo a small-town reporter who covered the trial knows not just the legal case and science but the people on all sides of the divisive battle. In The Devil in Dover Lebo traces the compelling backstory of this pivotal case described by some as a perfect storm of religious intolerance First Amendment violations and an assault on American science education. In a community divided across unexpected lines the so-called activist judge a George Bush-appointed Republican eventually condemned the school boards decision as one of "breathtaking inanity." Lebo follows the story through its surprising twists pondering whether this was a national war playing out in a small town or a small-town political battle playing out on the national stage. As a "local girl" with a fundamentalist Christian father Lebo provides an account that is both fascinating and moving as she thoughtfully probes one of Americas most divisive cultural conflictsand the responsibility journalists have when covering such a controversial story.