Critical Analysis of Evolution is the slogan of a strategy and campaign by the same name designed and led by the Discovery Institute, originators of the intelligent design movement and its Teach the Controversy campaign. Critical Analysis of Evolution treats evolution as a flawed theory, defying mainstream scientific views. The Discovery Institute is a conservative Christian think tank, structured as a non-profit educational foundation, founded in 1990 and based in Seattle, Washington, USA. Its areas of interest, social and political action include intelligent design, public school education, and transportation and bi-national cooperation in the international Cascadia region. ... Intelligent design (ID) is the concept that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection. ... Teach the Controversy is a slogan the Discovery Institute uses to promote intelligent design[1] and advance an education policy for US public schools which introduces creationist explanations for the origin of life to public-school science curricula. ...

The term features prominently in lesson plans proposed by the Discovery Institute in a number of states.^[1] In 2002, Ohio became the first state to adopt a Critical Analysis of Evolution provision in state science teaching standards, though it was dropped in February 2006. Discovery Institute promulgated standards were adopted by New Mexico in 2003 and Kansas in 2005. Similar state science education standards are currently being lobbied for by the institute and its allies in Michigan and again in Ohio.

Describing the Critical Analysis of Evolution campaign, the Discovery Institute says "As a general approach, Discovery Institute favors teaching students more about evolution, not less. We think students deserve to know not only about the strengths of modern evolutionary theory, but also about some of the theory's weaknesses and unresolved issues. In other words, students should be taught that evolutionary theory, like any scientific theory, continues to be open to analysis and critical scrutiny. According to opinion polls, this approach is favored by the overwhelming majority of the American public, and it has also been endorsed by the U.S. Congress in report language attached to the No Child Left Behind Act Conference Report."^[2] The institute hopes to take advantage of the opportunity presented by some states currently revising or developing science standards in preparation for state-wide science exams required under the No Child Left Behind Act which must be in place by the 2007-2008 school year. Viewed as an opportunity to introduce Critical Analysis of Evolution lesson plans, the institute implies it will benefit schools and students with the exams required under the act.^[3] The Santorum Amendment is a specific amendment to a 2001 education funding bill proposed by Republican United States senator Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania, which relates to the teaching of evolution in U.S. public schools. ... Signing ceremony at Hamilton High School in Hamilton, Ohio. ...

The campaign and strategy was put forth by the institute in anticipation of legal challenges arguing that the teaching of intelligent design would violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Such a case was the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial, where Judge John E. Jones III ruled that intelligent design is not science and "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents,"^[4] which was predicted by the institute. The Dover ruling also considered the practice of "teaching the controversy" and characterized it as part of the same religious ploy^[5][6] citing testimony that evolution is overwhelmingly accepted by the scientific community and is a theory which every major scientific association endorses.^[7] The first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. ... The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. ... Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. ... John E. Jones III John Edward Jones III (born June 13, 1955) is an American lawyer, political figure, and jurist from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. ...

The ruling in the Dover trial has affected the Critical Analysis of Evolution campaign, most notably in Ohio. In February 2006, Ohio's board of education voted 11-4 to remove from the state's science standards the Discovery Institute's Critical Analysis of Evolution model lesson plan. The Discovery Institute's John West called the removal vote an effort "to use the government to suppress ideas you dislike," and "an outrageous slap in the face to the citizens of Ohio." Eric Rothschild, the plaintiffs' lead attorney in the Dover trial, before the board's vote declared "When you see 'critical analysis of evolution,' you really need to look at what's behind that. Who? Why?" Rothschild asked, "Why is there this need for critical analysis of evolution? Why is there no call for critical analysis of plate tectonics?"^[8] Martha W. Wise, the board member who proposed the removal motion, said, "It is deeply unfair to the children of this state to mislead them about the nature of science," and another board member who voted for removal cited the "Dover risk" (meaning the risk of a lawsuit) if the critical analysis lesson plan were allowed to remain in the standards.

A cornerstone in the Critical Analysis of Evolution campaign has been the institutes^[9] "Stand Up For Science" website^[10] and poll, which says is "dedicated to promoting objectivity in the public school teaching of evolution." Its poll is aimed at swaying the Kansas State Board of Education in favor institute-promoted science curricula standards that present what it calls "scientific criticisms" of the evolution, which the scientific community says there are none, and calls the efforts of the scientific community to maintain established and accepted science curricula as "censorship of scientific evidence in public schools."

Critics view the Critical Analysis of Evolution strategy as another iteration of the Discovery Institute campaign to "defeat [the] materialist world view" represented by the theory of evolution in favor of "a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions"^[11] that begot the intelligent design movement and the teach the controversy campaigns. Professor Patricia Princehouse has described it as "critical analysis is intelligent design relabeled, just as intelligent design was creationism relabeled."^[12] Nick Matzke has written what he believes shows that Critical Analysis of Evolution is a means of teaching all the intelligent design arguments without using the intelligent design label.^[13] In philosophy, materialism is that form of physicalism which holds that the only thing that can truly be said to exist is matter; that fundamentally, all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. ... A world view, (or worldview) is a term calqued from the German word Weltanschauung (pronounced //) meaning a look onto the world. It implies a concept fundamental to German philosophy and epistemology and refers to a wide world perception. ... A hypothetical phylogenetic tree of all extant organisms, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence data, showing the evolutionary history of the three domains of life, bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. ... A Christian is a follower of Jesus, whom they regard as a/the Christ. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The intelligent design movement is a campaign based in the United States that calls for broad social, academic and political changes derived from the notion of intelligent design, a form of neo-creationism. ... Teach the Controversy is a slogan the Discovery Institute uses to promote intelligent design[1] and advance an education policy for US public schools which introduces creationist explanations for the origin of life to public-school science curricula. ...

See Also

• Intelligent design in politics

The 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. ...

External links

• Discovery Institutes "Ohio Science Standards Resource Page"
• Discovery Institutes "Critical Analysis of Evolution" Model Lesson Plan
• Discovery Institutes Legal Analysis of the Alabama House Substitute for SB 336
• Think tank fuels debate on evolution Chris Dixon. The Post and Courier, March 05 2006.
• The Dover Trap Richard B. Hoppe. The Panda's Thumb, February 16, 2006

References

1. ^ Critical Analysis of Evolution - Grade 10 Discovery Institute model lesson plan. (PDF file)
2. ^ Key Resources for Parents and School Board Members Discovery Institute, September 21 2005
3. ^ Minnesota Becomes Third State to Require Critical Analysis of Evolution Discovery Institute, May 17 2004
4. ^ Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, Conclusion, pages 136-138
5. ^ "has the effect of implicitly bolstering alternative religious theories of origin by suggesting that evolution is a problematic theory even in the field of science." . . . The effect of Defendants’ actions in adopting the curriculum change was to impose a religious view of biological origins into the biology course, in violation of the Establishment Clause. Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, Conclusion, page 134
6. ^ "ID’s backers have sought to avoid the scientific scrutiny which we have now determined that it cannot withstand by advocating that the controversy, but not ID itself, should be taught in science class. This tactic is at best disingenuous, and at worst a canard. The goal of the IDM is not to encourage critical thought, but to foment a revolution which would supplant evolutionary theory with ID."Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, whether ID is science, page 89
7. ^ "Moreover, Plaintiffs’ expert in biology, Dr. Miller ... provided unrebutted testimony that evolution, including common descent and natural selection, is "overwhelmingly accepted" by the scientific community and that every major scientific association agrees. (1:94-100 (Miller)). As the court in Selman explained, "evolution is more than a theory of origin in the context of science. To the contrary, evolution is the dominant scientific theory of origin accepted by the majority of scientists." Selman, 390 F. Supp. 2d at 1309 (emphasis in original)."Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, whether ID is science, page 84
8. ^ Catherine Candisky, "Intelligent-Design Push," Columbus Dispatch, February 13, 2006.
9. ^ Stand Up For Science Discovery Institute, July 7 2006
10. ^ www.standupforscience.org
11. ^ 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.
12. ^ Ohio Expected to Rein In Class Linked to Intelligent Design, by Jodi Rudoren, New York Times, February 14, 2006.
13. ^ No one here but us Critical Analysis-ists... Nick Matzke. The Panda's Thumb, July 11 2006