The Devil in Dover: An Insider's Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-town America | 
 enlarge | Author: Lauri Lebo
Publisher: New Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 10011
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1
ISBN: 1595582088
Dewey Decimal Number: 345.730288
EAN: 9781595582089
ASIN: 1595582088
Publication Date: May 13, 2008
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Product Description
The page-turning story behind the 2005 intelligent design case in Dover, Pennsylvania—the 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 board's 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 board's 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 America's most divisive cultural conflicts—and the responsibility journalists have when covering such a controversial story.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Lauri Lebo brought the Dover Trial home and made it personal to me! July 21, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
For those of you who like a quick and dirty review -- Excellent Book!
For those who like a little more, I'll get the praise out and then head more into the meat. I enjoyed Ms. Lebo's first hand account of the what happened in Dover. Not only is it well written, but it offered perspectives that you cannot get from reading trial transcripts or even reading the local papers before, during, and after the trial. The only way I think you could get any better picture is if you are a Dover resident and were in the middle of the action yourself. I recommend anyone interested in the Trial read this book. You will get a much more personal view of all that happened and a deeper appreciation for the personalities involved.
As you might be able to tell, I did enjoy this book. At times heart-rendering and at other times infuriating. Once the trial started I had trouble putting it down. I finished it at about 4AM, which might give you a clue how good it is!
It's not a very long book, only about 250 pages, but what she says doesn't require more. She dives briefly into the people involved, some personality and some education and background. She could have written so much more, but it wasn't really needed. She managed to give you a feeling for the personalities involved that went beyond the normal brief blurb in a newspaper. She get you insight into the workings of the Thomas More Law Center and the Discovery Institute, in addition to the obvious subject, the Dover Area School Board.
She also added a very human element, something you don't get in newspapers, how she herself felt and how the trial impacted her personally. It helped bring the story together on a level that nothing had for me previously. I mean there have been very good, factual books on the case, but this book made it personal.
She laid bare not only the actions of the school board members, but their motivations. She showed us some of the weaknesses journalistic coverage and also its strengths. When the two journalists were accused of lying! That part of the book had me riveted! They handled it with such professionalism, that she made me proud to know such people exist in a trade that doesn't get much positive press itself. Her own efforts against an editor trying to get her to 'balance' her coverage more was spot on! As was her recollection of the trial, it was fascinating without being as long winded as the trial itself certain was -- I did read the transcripts, all the transcripts! She also took us past the trial and saw some of the aftermath, for herself personally and also the others involved.
It's that understanding of character that has me place this book well above the other two I have read on the trial. I enjoyed the legal machinations in "40 days and 40 nights"by Matthew Chapman and the more extensive coverage of how Dover fits into the larger Evolution/Creationism debate in Edward Humes "Monkey Girl", but the personal nature of the characterizations Lebo describes really brought the trial home for me.
I recommend this book to anyone!
The Effects of Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, et al, before and after July 19, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The Devil in Dover: An Insider's Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-town AmericaIf you wish to understand the effect of a fight between Creationists and Science Defenders all you have to do is read local journalists book The Devil in Dover. Then, if you haven't yet watch the DVD of Nova's report called JUDGEMENT DAY.
I have learnt from this book the emotional effects on all those in 2005, with the Lies for Jesus being used by so called Christians. Their behaviour was not Christian and they know it, yet they deny it. They cames so close to a separate charge from Judge Jones III, that I thought it may have continued.
Science is science and Religion is Religion. Under the US Constitution, any government body cannot install a religious subject into the curriculum of Science.
So read it and learn how fundamentalist evangelical christians wish to set up a Dominion just as al Quadia does in Arabia. Are they terrorists, not yet, but the mold is being set.
Pointed, endearing, and dead-on accurate July 18, 2008
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
As a local Pennsylvanian reporter who covered the Dover trial, Lebo was an ideal person to write this book. She already knew many of the people involved in the trial (on both sides) and was able to give each "character" a personal background that made the story even more compelling. Equally important is the fact that Lebo considers in the book what it means to be objective, both in science and in journalism. She argues that in science objectivity is not simply "presenting both sides," and neither should it be in journalism. Presenting two sides of an issue is not balance if A) there are more sides than that, or B) it gives the impression that both sides are equally right, and equally represented. In the case of evolution, this mistake is made all of the time. The whole "teach the controversy" premise appeals to our sense of fair play by demanding that dissenting voices be heard-- no matter how wrong and rare those voices may be. But just like you can't vote on the sex of a rabbit, you can't vote on whether evolutionary theory is accurate or not. Lebo's editor put pressure on her to make the ID proponents look better when covering the trial for the sake of "objectivity," but in fact doing so would have required her to be dishonest about what was happening. In actual fact, members of the Dover school board lied on the stand. Their "expert" testimony was absolutely shredded by the prosecuting attorneys, and Judge Jones referred in his decision to the "breathtaking inanity" of the decision to try and insert Intelligent Design into a science class in the first place.
Of course it's interesting for journalists to record in their stories that there are people who think that evolution is wrong, and shouldn't be taught in schools. But there should be no requirement to present these people as having scientific authority, because they do not. The media is a great tug of war, but when it comes to science much reporting simply falls on its face because of the pretense of "presenting both sides." Lebo, thank goodness, does not fall for this trap, and she eloquently explains why-- even while playing out the story of the Dover trial, and making the reader fully understand what kind of people it took for this whole event to happen.
 irresponsible July 16, 2008
4 out of 63 found this review helpful
The Devil in Dover: An Insider's Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-town America, was a easy read that at times tells much more about the author than the trial. It was more of an autobiographical account than an examination of the trial. She clearly does not like theists and relished making fun of them, partly, as she made clear, in reaction to her love-hate relationship with her father. She describes him as a very good man, generous to a fault, but yet seemed to resent him only because he was, in her words, very religious. When he died she said little more than "I woke up on New Years Day, realizing that I, along with the rest of my agnostic family, had inherited a fundamentalist Christian radio station" (p. 206). No kind words, regrets, or I miss him, he was a good father. Not even some words about his funeral. After all, most everyone when they die have good things said about them. This was surprising in that so much of the book was about him. She did, mocking Christians, thank the "Flying Spaghetti Monster, without whose spiritual guidance this book would not be possible" (p. 226). The "Flying Spaghetti Monster" is an attempt to mock those who believe in God, an attempt that many people find beyond very offensive, but openly hateful. Having the "Flying Spaghetti Monster tattooed on her body in an embarrassing place hardly showed much professionalism. She had endless unkind words for, often mocking, theists who took their religion seriously, and endless kind words for most everyone else, especially ID opponents who could do no wrong according to her book. Her account of the trial testimony was very inaccurate, as anyone who takes the time to read the transcript will soon determine. One gets the impression that she believed people who need faith are weak, and those who don't are strong. Last, accusing people of things for which the evidence was flimsy was irresponsible.
reporting at its best July 11, 2008
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
This is a powerful and wonderfully-told story--but in many ways it's a very sad story. Lebo points out that Pennsylvania has one of the strongest religious freedom constitutional guarantees in the country. This states (in part) "no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience, and no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious establishments or modes of worship." After the decision, the right and the Christian right--or rather, I should say, those who like to call themselves the Christian right--bitterly assailed the judge as an "activist" working against the constitution, and the plaintiffs and much of the media for being anti-God.
Lebo was a local person: she knew many of the people. She has integrity, which as she relates, often worked to her detriment in the trial. Her boss seemed very concerned at times: he wanted Lebo's reporting to make it seem as if the drama that was playing out in the courtroom was going equally well for both sides, when clearly such was not the case. Maybe the sports section would have had a headline "Penn State Slips Past Dover State 92-0", although the Dover trial was not quite that lopsided [63-3 is more realistic, perhaps]. Lebo describes her father, a fundamentalist, who often makes the same joke about the ACLU being the "American Communist Lawyers Union", a minister who believes that anyone who does not accept the entire Bible literally cannot ever be called a Christian, and others on both sides. Many of the plaintiffs showed great courage--vituperative attacks on their children at school, death threats, and the like. So what you get is a very personal view of the case--something virtually impossible for an outsider to achieve.
There's a lot of disillusionment for Lebo--seeing reporters she knows and respects accused of lying about what was said at school board meetings and threatened with jail--defamation by supposedly Christian people who claimed the Bible as their guide, but who showed no hesitation in committing perjury for their cause. Lebo remembers asking herself plaintively "How can they lie like that in Christ's name?" When videotape contradicts sworn testimony, you have a problem, as Judge Jones certainly did. There's a wealth of detail about the testimony on both sides, and the view of the community is compelling reading. A fine book, powerfully told!
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