Intelligent design in politics
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intelligent design movement has conducted a far-reaching organized campaign largely in the United States that promotes a Neo-Creationist religious agenda calling for broad social, academic and political changes centering around intelligent design. Intelligent design is the controversial conjecture that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not a naturalistic process such as natural selection.
A number of specific political strategies and tactics have been employed by intelligent design proponents. These range from attempts at the state level to undermine or remove altogether the presence of evolutionary theory from the public school classroom, to having the federal government mandate the teaching of intelligent design, to 'stacking' municipal, county and state school boards with intelligent design proponents. The Discovery Institute has been driving force in most cases, providing a range of support from material assistance to federal, state and regional elected representatives in the drafting of bills to supporting and advising individual parents confronting their school boards.
These efforts are focused on two efforts: the Teach the Controversy and Critical Analysis of Evolution campaigns. These campaigns gained prominence after the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial where Judge John E. Jones III ruled that teaching intelligent design or presenting it as an alternative to evolution was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because intelligent design is not legimate science but essentially religious in nature.[[Wikisource:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District 6: curriculum, conclusion#H.|Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, Conclusion]] (pages 136-138)
Both the Teach the Controversy and Critical Analysis of Evolution strategies and resources for them come from the Discovery Institute and its Center for Science and Culture, the hub of the intelligent design movement. Teach the Controversy and Critical Analysis of Evolution strategies are seen as another iteration of the Discovery Institute's campaign to "defeat [the] materialist world view" represented by the theory of evolution in favor of "a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions"The [Wedge Document] (PDF file), a 1999 Discovery Institute fund raising pamphlet. Cited in Handley P. [Evolution or design debate heats up.] The Times of Oman, 7 March 2005. According to the Center for Science and Culture's weblog [link], at least 10 state legislatures are now considering legislation reconsidering how evolution is taught. Many of these initiatives benefit from significant legal assistance from a number of conservative legal foundations including the Thomas More Law Center, the Alliance Defense Fund, and Quality Science Education for All (QSEA). All have litigated extensively on behalf of the movement.
- 1 Specific cases
- 1.1 1999 & 2005 Kansas Board of Education
- 1.2 2000 Congressional briefing
- 1.3 2001 Santorum Amendment
- 1.4 2001 Louisiana, House Bill 1286
- 1.5 2001 Michigan, House Bill 4382
- 1.6 2001 Georgia, House Bill 391
- 1.7 2001 West Virginia, House Bill 2554
- 1.8 2001 Kanawha County, West Virginia
- 1.9 2001 Arkansas, House Bill 2548
- 1.10 2001 Montana, House Bill 588
- 1.11 2001 Pennsylvania Board of Education
- 1.12 2002 Ohio Board of Education
- 1.13 2002 Cobb County, Georgia
- 1.14 2003 Texas State Board of Education, textbook controversy
- 1.15 2005 Pennsylvania, House Bill 1007
- 1.16 2005/2004 Dover, Pennsylvania Board of Education
- 2 References
Specific cases
1999 & 2005 Kansas Board of Education
In 1999 the Kansas Board of Education voted to delete references to evolution from Kansas science standards. This had the net effect of removing the teaching of evolution from the state's science curriculum. The move angered the mainstream science community who predicted a resulting loss of rigor and quality in science education. The Board's decision was in part influenced by the presence of recently elected conservative Christians to the board and heavy lobbying by the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture, then known as the "Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture" (CRSC). Subsequent elections altered the membership of the school board and led to renewed backing for evolution instruction in 2001.
Elections in 2004 gave religious conservatives a 6-4 majority and the board in 2005 was finalizing new science standards which will guide teachers about how and what to teach students. A proposal advanced by conservatives and intelligent design proponents with support from the Center for Science and Culture is a Critical Analysis of Evolution plan similar to that it lobbied for to the Ohio Board of Education in 2002. It would not eliminate evolution entirely from instruction, nor does it require intelligent design to be presented as an alternative to evolution, but the Critical Analysis of Evolution plan treats evolution as a flawed theory, defying mainstream scientific views.
On 8 November 2005, the Kansas Board of Education approved new science teaching standards that include the Critical Analysis of Evolution. The Discovery Institute was key in drafting and adoption of the new standards which were approved by 6 to 4, reflecting the makeup of religious conservatives on the board.[link]
After the board of education decided to include more criticism of evolution in its school science standards, a University of Kansas professor, Paul Mirecki, proposed to teach a class called "Special Topics in Religion: intelligent design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies." The class was cancelled and the professor was forced to resign as chairman of the university's religious studies department after e-mails surfaced in which Mirecki mocked religious conservatives as "fundies" and said a course describing intelligent design as mythology would be a "nice slap in their big fat face." Mirecki has alleged that he was also assaulted and beaten by creationists who opposed his teaching of the class [link].
2000 Congressional briefing
In 2000, the leading intelligent design proponents operating through the Discovery Institute held a congressional briefing in Washington, D.C., to promote intelligent design to lawmakers. Sen. Rick Santorum was (and continues to be) one of intelligent design's most vocal supporters. One result of this briefing was that Sen. Santorum inserted pro-intelligent design language into the No Child Left Behind bill calling for students to be taught why evolution "generates so much continuing controversy," an assertion heavily promoted by the Discovery Institute.2001 Santorum Amendment
One of the initial successes for the movement was the inclusion of the favorable language known as the Santorum Amendment in the Conference Report of the federal No Child Left Behind education act passed in 2001. The inclusion of the amendment in the Act was heavily lobbied for by the Discovery Institute, which also participated in the drafting of the original language of the amendment. Although only a modified form of the amendment appeared in the conference report, the amendment itself was not included in the legislation that President George W. Bush signed.It was not the full victory intelligent design proponents had hoped for because conference reports do not carry the weight of law and are merely explanatory in nature [link]. Nonetheless, an email newsletter by the Discovery Institute contained the sentence "Undoubtedly this will change the face of the debate over the theories of evolution and intelligent design in America...It also seems that the Darwinian monopoly on public science education, and perhaps the biological sciences in general, is ending" and Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas cited the amendment as vindicating the 1999 Kansas school board decision (since overturned) to eliminate evolution questions from State tests. Consistent with the Wedge strategy its inclusion in the conference report is constantly cited by the Discovery Institute and other intelligent design supporters as providing federal sanction for intelligent design. Reps. John Boehner and Steve Chabot of Ohio and Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, along with Santorum, have signed letters supporting the Discovery Institute's interpretation of the Santorum amendment. One of those letters was sent to the president and vice-president of the Ohio Board of Education in 2002; the other was sent to the Texas Board of Education in 2003, see below.
2001 Louisiana, House Bill 1286
This bill directs that the state shall not print or distribute any material containing claims known to be false or fraudulent. It also specifically provides for any citizen to be able to sue the state using the provisions of this bill. Text of [LA HB1286] (PDF)2001 Michigan, House Bill 4382
A bill proposed by Rep. Gosselin (House Bill 4382) which sought to amend 1976 PA 451, "The revised school code". The bill directed that In the science standards, all references to "evolution" and "how species change through time" would be modified to indicate that this is an unproven theory, by adding the phrase "all students will explain the competing theories of evolution and natural selection based on random mutation and the theory that life is the result of the purposeful, intelligent design of a creator." The bill also directed that in the science standards for middle and high school, all references to "evolution" and "natural selection" would be modified to indicate that these are unproven theories, by adding the phrase "describe how life may be the result of the purposeful, intelligent design of a creator." And in the science standards for middle and high school, the bill directed all references to "evolution" and "natural selection" would be modified to indicate that these are unproven theories, by adding the phrase "explain the competing theories of evolution and natural selection based on random mutation and the theory that life is the result of the purposeful, intelligent design of a creator." The bill also would have required that the recommended model core academic curriculum content standards that are developed and periodically updated by the state board comply with these provisions. Also under the bill the State Board would have been required to make these revisions as soon as practicable after the effective date of the bill, if it had been enacted. Text of [HB4382] (PDF)2001 Georgia, House Bill 391
This bill directed teachers to distinguish between "philosophical materialism" and "authentic science", and extended to teachers the "right" to present and critique any scientific theory of the origins or life or species. Failed in committee. Text of [link]2001 West Virginia, House Bill 2554
An "equal-time" bill, described in its title as "Providing for the teaching of creation science and evolution science on an equal basis in the public schools." HB2554 was introduced in the state legislature in February 2001, and died in committee.2001 Kanawha County, West Virginia
In February 2001 a parent filed a complaint with the Kanawha County Board of Education claiming that science textbooks used there contain "false and fraudulent" information about evolution. The parent and 30 cosigners opposed to evolution asserted that the textbooks are in violation of state law because they are outdated or inaccurate. As evidence that textbooks which include evolution are flawed, they cited Jonathan Well's of the Discovery Institute book Icons of Evolution. The board rejected the claim.2001 Arkansas, House Bill 2548
In 2001 Representative Jim Holt proposed a bill in the Arkansas legislature that would make it illegal for the state or any of its agencies to use state funds to purchase materials that contained false or fraudulent claims. A list of such claims was provided in the text of House Bill 2548 (HB2548). Much of the text of the examples given was either quoted verbatim from anti-evolutionary sources or was a close paraphrase of such materials. The sources cited in the bill included the cartoon tract, "Big Daddy?"[link] published by Jack Chick. Critics of the bill alleged that many of the "examples" selected were themselves either false or misleading. March 21, 2001, Representative Holt invited his friend and controversial anti-evolutionist Kent Hovind to testify before a committee of the Arkansas Legislature in support of the bill. In April 2001 a motion was passed to postpone HB 2548 indefinitely for study during the interim by the Joint Interim Committee on Education. Text of [HB2548] (PDF)2001 Montana, House Bill 588
House Bill 588 by Rep. Joe Balyeat, R-Bozeman, was presented as an "objectivity in science education" measure, and would have directed the approval of evolution and creationism materials by an appointed six-member committee. The bill failed in committee.2001 Pennsylvania Board of Education
In July 2001 the Pennsylvania Board of Education gave final approval to revised science standards. Language in early versions of the standards sought to raise questions about the status of evolution as science and a theory. Science educators and other Pennsylvania citizens expressed concern that the proposed standards might open the way to teaching creationism in science classes because of ambiguous or unclear wording. However, the final standards do not contain the contested language and the standards were approved by the legislature.2002 Ohio Board of Education
In March 2002 Ohio held hearings on revising the state science standards. The Discovery Institute's Stephen C. Meyer proposed to the Ohio Board of Education a set of standards that included intelligent design and a [model lesson plan] that featured intelligent design prominently in its curricula [link] [link]. Concurrently, a factitious redefinition of science to include God was proposed to the Ohio legislature, so that the legislature would then be able to get behind the set of standards that included intelligent design. The Discovery Institute's model lesson plan was adopted in part by the state for Ohio science teachers in October 2002, though the Board advised that the science standards do "not mandate the teaching or testing of intelligent design" [link]. This was touted as a significant victory by the Discovery Institute [link].In February 2006, the Ohio Board of Education voted 11-4 to delete the science standard and correlating lesson plan adopted in 2002. [link] The board also rejected a competing plan from intelligent design proponents to request a legal opinion from the state attorney general on the constitutionality of the science standards. Intelligent design proponents pledged to force another vote on the issue.
2002 Cobb County, Georgia
In 2002 the Cobb County school board required stickers placed in a science textbook. Stating that evolution was "a theory, not a fact," the sticker was placed in the ninth-grade biology text after parents complained to the Cobb County school board that alternative ideas about the origin of life were not presented. A group of parents represented by the American Civil Liberties Union sued the school board, claiming the stickers violate the separation of church and state. The trial was resolved in January 2005 when U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper ruled the sticker was unconstitutional. In the [verdict] he wrote, "By denigrating evolution, the school board appears to be endorsing the well-known prevailing alternative theory, creationism or variations thereof, even though the sticker does not specifically reference any alternative theories." In December 2005 the federal appeal court panel made comments sharply criticising the lower court ruling in advance of releasing their decision. Judge Ed Carnes said that the words on the sticker are "technically accurate," and that "From nonlife to life is the greatest gap in scientific theory. There is less evidence supporting it than there is for other theories. It sounds to me like evolution is more vulnerable and deserves more critical thinking" suggesting that he did not understand the distinction between evolution and abiogenesis.[link]2003 Texas State Board of Education, textbook controversy
In 2003 The Texas State Board of Education was considering 11 different textbooks for inclusion in the 2004-2005 school year. Fellows of the Discovery Institute testified to the Board that whatever textbooks are adopted should introduce statements on the "weaknesses of the theory of evolution" and include "competing theories, such as intelligent design." The DI had strong interest in the Texas debate because the state is the second largest purchaser of textbooks in the country. Thus any changes publishers make to cater to the state would likely be seen elsewhere.2005 Pennsylvania, House Bill 1007
On March 16, 2005, a bill, HB 1007, promoting "intelligent design" creationism was introduced in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and referred to the Education Committee. If enacted, HB 1007 would add a section ("Teaching Theories on the Origin of Man and Earth") to the Public School Code of 1949. That new section would allow school boards to add "intelligent design" to any curriculum containing evolution and allow teachers to use, subject to the approval of the board, "supporting evidence deemed necessary for instruction on the theory of intelligent design." The term "intelligent design" is not defined in the bill. Presumably attempting to prevent a challenge to its constitutionality, HB 1007 explicitly states, "When providing supporting evidence on the theory of intelligent design, no teacher in a public school may stress any particular denominational, sectarian or religious belief." Text of [HB 1007]June 2005 John G. West and Seth Cooper of the Discovery Institute wrote a letter to Pennsylvania Representative Jess M. Stairs urging Stairs and the Pennsylvania legislature not to pass HB1007. This reflects a shift in the strategy of the intelligent design proponents. Anticipating legal challenges to the constitutionality of laws that mandate teaching of intelligent design, proponents feel including intelligent design content in science curricula under the guise of "scientific criticisms" or "evidence against evolution," within the pretense of "teaching the controversy" is a more defensible strategy.
2005/2004 Dover, Pennsylvania Board of Education
In 2004 the Dover, Pennsylvania Board of Education passed a resolution requiring 9th grade biology teachers to read a statement that the Pennsylvania Academic Standards require the teaching of evolution, but then the statement proceeds to seed doubts about evolution's validity and directs students to study intelligent design and the intelligent design textbook Of Pandas and People as an alternative. Three of the school board members in the minority of the vote resigned in protest, and science teachers in the district refused to read the statement to their ninth-grade students, citing the Pennsylvania code of education, which states that teachers cannot present information they believe to be false. Instead, the statement was read to students by a school administrator.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of eleven parents contending that the school board policy violates the First Amendment. A hearing (Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District) in Federal District Court was scheduled for September 2005.
The school board claims there are "gaps" in evolution, which it emphasizes is a theory rather than established fact, and that students have a right to consider other views on the origins of life. The school board claims it does not teach intelligent design but simply makes students aware of its existence as an alternative to evolution. It denies intelligent design is "religion in disguise," despite being represented in court by the Thomas More Law Center, a conservative Christian nonprofit which says it uses litigation to promote "the religious freedom of Christians and time-honored family values."
The Discovery Institute's John West said the case displayed the ACLU's "Orwellian" effort to stifle scientific discourse and objected to the issue being decided in court. "It's a disturbing prospect that the outcome of this lawsuit could be that the court will try to tell scientists what is legitimate scientific inquiry and what is not," West said. "That is a flagrant assault on free speech." Opponents, represented by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Association of Biology Teachers contend that his statement is not just ironic, but hypocritical, considering that the Discovery Institute not only tries to tell scientists and academics what is legitimate scientific inquiry and what is not (in disputing philosophical naturalism), but as a matter of policy seeks to redefine what constitutes legitimate science.
In May, 2005, the publisher of Of Pandas and People, the Foundation for Thought and Ethics (FTE), filed a motion seeking to intervene in the case. FTE argued that a ruling that "intelligent design" was religious would have severe financial consequences, citing possible losses in the neighborhood of half a million dollars. By intervening, FTE would have become a co-defendant with the Dover Area School Board, and able to bring its own lawyers and expert witnesses to the case. FTE's president Jon Buell implied that if allowed to intervene, FTE would bring William A. Dembski and Stephen C. Meyer as expert witnesses. In his decision on the motion, Judge John E. Jones III ruled that FTE was not entitled to intervene in the case because its motion to intervene was not timely, describing FTE's excuses for not trying to become involved earlier as "both unavailing and disingenuous." Judge Jones also held that FTE failed to demonstrate that it has "a significantly protectable interest in the litigation warranting intervention as a party" and that its interests will not be adequately represented by the defendants.
In a November 2005 election the citizens of Dover voted out their pro-intelligent design schoolboard [link]. This event prompted Pat Robertson on his 700 Club broadcast to announce that the people of Dover had lost their protection from God: "I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover. If there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city. And don’t wonder why He hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that’s the case, don’t ask for His help because he might not be there." [link]
On December 20, 2005, U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III, in his 139 page ruling on Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, struck down the school board's policy requiring a statement be read endorsing intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in 9th grade high school biology classes. In his ruling Jones wrote that intelligent design is not science and is essentially religious in nature.[link] In response the Discovery Institute accused Judge Jones of being an "activist judge".[link]
References
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