Source: Catholic News Agency
Mr Coppedge claims that he was demoted after he voiced his beliefs about intelligent design, the theory that the organisation of biological life and the universe indicates the existence of an intelligent cause.
However, his former supervisor, Gregory Chin, said that co-workers complained about his actions, and he was given a written warning describing his actions as harassing in nature and disruptive to the workplace. He was then removed from the “team lead” position on the Cassini mission.
"The written warning against Coppedge that was issued last April (2009) was expunged from his personnel file this year after his supervisors and manager revisited the matter. But he was not restored to the team lead position because the company continued to believe that his conduct in distributing the DVDs and advancing his views on intelligent design was inappropriate."William Becker, of The Allied Defence Fund, claimed;
"Mr. Coppedge has always maintained that intelligent design is a scientific theory, but JPL has illegally discriminated against him on the basis of what they deem is 'religion."It is hard to support this claim when in 2005, Judge John E.Jones III, in the famous Kitzmiller vs. Dover, came to the following conclusion;
Teaching intelligent design in public school biology classes violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (and Article I, Section 3 of the Pennsylvania State Constitution) because intelligent design is not science and "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents."Whilst this federal court case was specifically related to Intelligent Design (ID) being taught in schools, the legal status of ID has been clearly outlined as;
The overwhelming evidence at trial established that ID is a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism, and not a scientific theory. (page 43)
