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Intelligent design

Concepts

Irreducible complexity Specified complexity Fine-tuned universe Intelligent designer Theistic realism For other uses, see Intelligent design (disambiguation). ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (800x697, 123 KB) fr:: Montre gousset cs:: Kapesní hodinky de: Deutsch: Taschenuhr en: English: Pocket watch it: Italiano: Orologio da taschino (cipolla) es: Español: Reloj de bolsillo Template:ગુજરાતી ગુજરાતી: ખિસ્સામાં રાખવાની ઘડિયાળ ja: 日本語: 懐中時計 pl: Polski: Zegarek kieszonkowy pt: Português: Relógio de bolso... Irreducible complexity (IC) is the argument that certain biological systems are too complex to have evolved from simpler, or less complete predecessors, and are at the same time too complex to have arisen naturally through chance mutations. ... Specified complexity is a concept developed by intelligent design proponent William Dembski. ... The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos. ... An intelligent designer, also referred to as an intelligent agent, is the entity that the intelligent design movement argues had some role in the origin and/or development of life and who supposedly has left scientific evidence of this intelligent design. ... Theistic realism is a philosophical justification for intelligent design proposed by Phillip E. Johnson in his book, Reason in the Balance. ...

Intelligent design movement

Timeline Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture Wedge strategy Critical Analysis of Evolution Teach the Controversy Intelligent design in politics Santorum Amendment The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist campaign that calls for broad social, academic and political changes derived from the concept of intelligent design. ... // 1925 onwards: creationists attempted to keep evolution out of public schools by prohibiting it through statutes such as Tennessee’s 1925 Butler Act. ... The Discovery Institute is a think tank structured as a non-profit foundation, founded in 1990 and based in Seattle, Washington, USA. The stated mission of the organization is to make a positive vision of the future practical. ... The Center for Science and Culture (CSC), formerly known as the Center for Renewal of Science and Culture (CRSC), is part of the Discovery Institute, a conservative Christian think tank in the United States. ... The wedge strategy is a political and social action plan authored by the Discovery Institute, an organization that works to promote a Neo-Creationist religious agenda centering on Intelligent design, and is the hub of the Intelligent design movement. ... 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. ... 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. ... The Santorum Amendment was an amendment to the 2001 education funding bill which became known as the No Child Left Behind Act, proposed by former Republican United States Senator Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania, which promotes the teaching of intelligent design while questioning the academic standing of evolution in U.S...

Reactions to Intelligent design

Jewish · Roman Catholic Scientific organizations The reaction of Jewish leaders and organizations to intelligent design has been primarily concerned with responding to proposals to include intelligent design in the public school curriculum as a rival scientific hypothesis to modern evolutionary theory. ... The position of the Roman Catholic Church on the theory of evolution has changed over the last two centuries from a large period of no official mention, to a statement of neutrality in the 1950s, to a more explicit acceptance in recent years. ... Over 70 scientific societies, institutions and other professional groups have issued statements supporting evolution education and opposing intelligent design. ...

Teach the Controversy is the name of a Discovery Institute intelligent design campaign to promote intelligent design creationism while discrediting evolution in United States public high school science courses.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} A federal court, along with the majority of scientific organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, say the Institute has manufactured the controversy they want to teach by promoting a false perception that evolution is "a theory in crisis" due to it being the subject of wide controversy and debate within the scientific community.^{[7][8][9][10]} An article published by the National Institutes of Health says that "99.9 percent of scientists accept evolution"^[11] whereas intelligent design has been rejected by the overwhelming majority of the scientific community.^[12][13] The Discovery Institute claims that fairness and equal time requires educating students about the alleged scientific controversy, and says intelligent design is a scientific alternative to evolution.^[14] The scientific community and science education organizations have replied that there is in fact no scientific controversy regarding the validity of evolution and that the controversy exists solely in terms of religion and politics.^[15][9][8] Discovery Institute intelligent design campaigns are a series of related public relations campaigns conducted by the Discovery Institute which seek to promote intelligent design while discrediting evolution, which the Institute terms Darwinism. ... For other uses, see Intelligent design (disambiguation). ... This article is about evolution in biology. ... A public high school is a secondary school that is financed by tax revenues and other government-collected revenues, and administered exclusively by, and at the discretion of, state and local officials. ... Science education is the field concerned with sharing science content and process with individuals not traditionally considered part of the scientific community. ... The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an organization that promotes cooperation between scientists, defends scientific freedom, encourages scientific responsibility and supports scientific education for the betterment of all humanity. ... The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for medical research. ...

The intelligent design movement (IDM) and the Teach the Controversy campaign are largely directed and funded by the Discovery Institute, a conservative Christian^[16][17] think tank based in Seattle, Washington, USA. The overall goal of the movement is to "defeat [the] materialist world view" represented by the theory of evolution and replace it with "a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions."^[18] The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist campaign that calls for broad social, academic and political changes derived from the concept of intelligent design. ... The term Christian Right is used by scholars and journalists, to refer to a spectrum of right-wing Christian political and social movements and organizations characterized by their strong support of conservative social and political values. ... This article is about the institution. ... City nickname Emerald City City bird Great Blue Heron City flower Dahlia City mottos The City of Flowers The City of Goodwill City song Seattle, the Peerless City Mayor Greg Nickels County King County Area   - Total   - Land   - Water   - % water 369. ... Official language(s) English Capital Olympia Largest city Seattle Area  Ranked 18th  - Total 71,342 sq mi (184,827 km²)  - Width 240 miles (385 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 6. ... 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. ... This article is about evolution in biology. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Theism is the belief in the existence of one or more gods or deities. ...

In December 2005 a United States federal court ruled that a public school district requirement for science classes to teach that intelligent design is an alternative to evolution was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. In Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (2005), United States District Judge John E. Jones III also ruled that "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."^[19] The United States federal courts are the system of courts organized under the Constitution and laws of the federal government of the United States. ... The first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. ... The Bill of Rights in the National Archives The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. ... Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. ... Map of the boundaries of the United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. ... 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. ...

Origin of phrase

The term "teach the controversy" originated with Gerald Graff, a professor of English and education at the University of Illinois at Chicago,^[20] as an admonition to teach that established knowledge is not simply given as a settled matter, but that it is created in a crucible of debate and controversy. To the chagrin of Graff, who describes himself as a liberal secularist,^[21] the idea was later appropriated by Phillip E. Johnson, Discovery Institute program advisor and father of the ID movement. Discussing the 1999-2000 Kansas State Board of Education controversy over the teaching of intelligent design in public school classrooms, Johnson wrote "What educators in Kansas and elsewhere should be doing is to 'teach the controversy'." In his book Johnson proposed casting the conflicting points of view and agendas as a scholarly controversy. Johnson's usage differs somewhat from Graff's original concept. While Graff advocated that a comprehensive understanding of what are considered to be "established" concepts must include teaching the debates and conflicts by which they were established, Johnson appropriated the concept to cast doubt upon the very concept of established knowledge.^[22] Gerald Graff is a professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago. ... The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is a public, state-supported research university. ... Phillip E. Johnson Phillip E. Johnson (born 1940) is a retired UC Berkeley American law professor and author. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... For other uses, see Intelligent design (disambiguation). ...

The phrase was picked up by other Discovery Institute affiliates Stephen C. Meyer, David K. DeWolf, and Mark E. DeForrest in their 1999 article, Teaching the Controversy: Darwinism, Design and the Public School Science Curriculum ^[23] published by the Foundation for Thought and Ethics. The Foundation for Thought and Ethics also publishes the controversial pro-intelligent design biology textbook Of Pandas and People, suggested as an alternative to mainstream science and biology textbooks in the Critical Analysis of Evolution lesson plans proposed by Teach the Controversy proponents. Stephen C. Meyer. ... The Foundation for Thought and Ethics (FTE) is a non-profit organization based in Richardson, Texas that publishes textbooks and articles promoting intelligent design, abstinence, and Christian nationism. ... Cover Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins (ISBN 0914513400) is a controversial 1989 (2nd edition 1993) school-level textbook by Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon. ... 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. ...

Overview

Discovery Institute Vice President and Senior Fellow Stephen C. Meyer and Discovery Institute founder and President Bruce Chapman devised the Teach the Controversy strategy in March 2002 when they realized a dispute over intelligent design was complicating their efforts to challenge and weaken the teaching of evolution in public school classrooms. They arrived on an approach that stresses evolution's alleged weakness and presents intelligent design as a scientific alternative.^[24] While the Teach the Controversy strategy does not always necessarily require students to study intelligent design, it does present design as the only alternative to evolution, and Discovery Institute-promoted model lesson plans refer students to intelligent design books.

The Discovery Institute's strategy has been for the institute itself or groups acting on its behalf to lobby state and local boards of education, and local, state and federal policymakers to enact policies and/or laws, often in the form of textbook disclaimers and the language of state science standards, that undermine or remove evolutionary theory from the public school science classroom by portraying it as "controversial" and "in crisis;" a portrayal that stands in contrast to the overwhelming consensus of the scientific community that there is no controversy, that evolution is one of the best supported theories in all of science, and that whatever controversy does exist is political and religious, not scientific.^[25][15] The Teach the Controversy strategy has benefitted from 'stacking' municipal, county and state school boards with intelligent design proponents^[26] as alluded to in the Discovery Institute's Wedge Strategy. The wedge strategy is a political and social action plan authored by the Discovery Institute, an organization that works to promote a Neo-Creationist religious agenda centering on Intelligent design, and is the hub of the Intelligent design movement. ...

As the primary organizer and promoter of the Teach the Controversy campaign, the Discovery Institute has played a central role in nearly all intelligent design cases, often working behind the scenes to orchestrate, underwrite and support local campaigns and intelligent design groups such as the Intelligent Design Network.^[27] It has provided support ranging from material assistance to federal, state and regionally elected representatives in the drafting of bills to the provision of support and advice to individual parents confronting their school boards. DI's goal is to move from battles over standards to curriculum writing and textbook adoption while undermining the central positions of evolution in biology and methodological naturalism in science. In order to make their proposals more palatable, the Institute and its supporters claim to advocate presenting evidence both for and against evolution, thus encouraging students to evaluate the evidence. Methodological naturalism (MN) refers to any method of inquiry or investigation or any procedure for gaining knowledge that limits itself to natural, physical, and material approaches and explanations. ... This article is about evolution in biology. ...

Though Teach the Controversy is presented by its proponents as encouraging academic freedom, it, along with the Santorum Amendment, is viewed by many academics as a threat to academic freedom^[28] and is rejected by the National Science Teachers Association,^[29] and the American Association for the Advancement of Science^[9] The American Society for Clinical Investigation's Journal of Clinical Investigation describes the Teach the Controversy strategy and campaign as a "hoax" and that "the controversy is manufactured."^[30] Academic freedom is the freedom of teachers, students, and academic institutions to pursue knowledge wherever it may lead, without undue or unreasonable interference. ... The Santorum Amendment was an amendment to the 2001 education funding bill which became known as the No Child Left Behind Act, proposed by former Republican United States Senator Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania, which promotes the teaching of intelligent design while questioning the academic standing of evolution in U.S... The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), founded in 1944 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, is the largest organization in the world committed to promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all. ... A hoax is an attempt to trick an audience into believing that something false is real. ...

Along with the objection that there is no scientific controversy to teach, another common objection is that the Teach the Controversy campaign and intelligent design arise out of a Christian fundamentalist and evangelistic movement that calls for broad social, academic and political changes.^[31] The Discovery Institute manifesto known as the Wedge Document states that "design theory promises to reverse the stifling dominance of the materialist worldview, and to replace it with a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions" and the movement's goals are defeating "scientific materialism" and " replacing "materialistic explanations with the theistic understanding that nature and human beings are created by God."^[18] Intelligent design proponents argue their concepts and motives should be given independent consideration. Those critical of intelligent design see the two as intertwined and inseparable, citing the foundational documents of the movement such as the Wedge Document and statements made by intelligent design proponents to their constituents. The judge in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial considered testimony and evidence from both sides on the question of the motives of intelligent design proponents when he ruled that "ID cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents"^[32] and "that ID is an interesting theological argument, but that it is not science."^[33] Fundamentalist Christianity is a fundamentalist movement, especially within American Protestantism. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Look up manifesto in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. ...

In the debate surrounding the linking of the motives of intelligent design proponents to their arguments, following the Kansas evolution hearings the chairman of the Kansas school board, Dr. Steve Abrams, cited in The New York Times as saying that though he's a creationist who believes that God created the universe 6,500 years ago, said he was able to keep the two separate: The Kansas Evolution Hearings were a series of hearings held in Topeka, Kansas May 5 to May 12, 2005 by the Republican-dominated[1] Kansas State Board of Education and its State Board Science Hearing Committee to change how the origin of life would be taught in the states...

"In my personal faith, yes, I am a creationist," ... "But that doesn't have anything to do with science. I can separate them." ... "my personal views of Scripture have no room in the science classroom."^[34] --Dr. Steve Abrams, chairman of the Kansas school board

Afterward, Lawrence Krauss, a Case Western Reserve University physicist and astronomer, in a New York Times essay said: Lawrence M. Krauss Lawrence M. Krauss (born May 27, 1954) is Professor of Physics, Professor of Astronomy, and former Chair of the Physics Department at Case Western Reserve University. ...

"A key concern should not be whether Dr. Abrams's religious views have a place in the classroom, but rather how someone whose religious views require a denial of essentially all modern scientific knowledge can be chairman of a state school board. ... As we work to improve the abysmal state of science education in our public schools, we will continue to do battle with those who feel that knowledge is a threat to religious faith ... we should remember that the battle is not against faith, but against ignorance."^[35] --Lawrence M. Krauss

Shift in strategy: teaching intelligent design to teaching the controversy

The roots of the intelligent design movement's strategy are found in the past attempts of creationists to force religious views into public school science classes. The most recent of these was creation science, which sought to provide a scientific veneer for the biblical account of Genesis. The characteristics of the intelligent design movement are a direct response to the tactical and legal failings of earlier creationist movements. Design proponent's strategies represent a natural evolution of the "creation science" movement, proceeding still further in the direction of claiming the mantle of science while denying their religious intentions in argument. Creation science is the attempt to find evidence and rationales to support a literal interpretation of the Biblical account of creation. ... Genesis (Hebrew: , Greek: Γένεσις, meaning birth, creation, cause, beginning, source or origin) is the first book of the Torah, the Tanakh, and the Old Testament. ...

For example, the judge in the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial noted in his ruling that evidence presented comparing the drafts of the intelligent design textbook Of Pandas and People before and after the 1987 Edwards v. Aguillard ruling showed that the definition given in the book for creation science in pre Edwards drafts is identical to the definition of intelligent design in post Edwards drafts; cognates of the word creation - creationism and creationist, which appeared approximately 150 times were deliberately and systematically replaced with the phrase 'intelligent design'; and the changes occurred shortly after the Supreme Court ruled in Edwards that creation science is religious and cannot be taught in public school science classes.^[36] Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. ... Cover Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins (ISBN 0914513400) is a controversial 1989 (2nd edition 1993) school-level textbook by Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon. ... Holding Teaching creationism in public schools is unconstitutional because it attempts to advance a particular religion. ...

A rudimentary form of the teach the controversy strategy had emerged first among creation scientists following the Supreme Court's Edwards v. Aguillard decision. The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) prepared an evaluation of what the movement should try next, suggesting "school boards and teachers should be strongly encouraged at least to stress the scientific evidences and arguments against evolution in their classes . . . even if they don't wish to recognize these as evidences and arguments for creationism." Glenn Branch of the National Center for Science Education says this comment shows that the teach the controversy strategy was "pioneered in the wake of Edwards v. Aguillard."^[37] The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) is a research institute based in Santee, California[2] that focuses on constructing and teaching a Young Earth Creationist world view. ... The NCSEs logo The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is a non-profit organization affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. ...

Prior to the September 2005 start of the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial, the "Dover trial," prominent intelligent design proponents gradually shifted to a "Teach the Controversy" strategy. They had realised that mandates requiring the teaching of intelligent design were unlikely to survive challenges based on the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, and that an unfavorable ruling had the effect of legally ruling intelligent design a form of religious creationism. The first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. ... The first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. ... Creationism is the belief that humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe were created in their entirety by a supernatural deity or deities (typically God), whose existence is presupposed. ...

Thus, the Discovery Institute repositioned itself. It publicly abandoned advocating for any policies or laws that required the teaching of intelligent design in favor of a Teach the Controversy strategy.^[38] Institute Fellows reasoned that once the "fact" that a controversy indeed exists had been established in the public's mind, then the reintroduction of intelligent design into public school criteria would be much less controversial later.^[39]

The best illustration of this shift in strategy is comparing the Discovery Institute's 1999 guidebook Intelligent Design in Public School Science Curricula which concludes "school boards have the authority to permit, and even encourage, teaching about design theory as an alternative to Darwinian evolution"^[40] to 2006 statements by Phillip E. Johnson, that his intent was never to use public school education as the forum for his ideas and that he hoped to ignite and perpetuate a debate in universities and among the higher echelon of scientific thinkers.^[41]

With the December 2005 ruling in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, wherein Judge John E. Jones III concluded that intelligent design is not science and "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents",^[42] intelligent design proponents were left with the Teach the Controversy strategy as the most likely method left to realize the goals stated in the wedge document. Thus, the Teach the Controversy strategy has become the primary thrust of the Discovery Institute in promoting its aims. Just as intelligent design is a stalking horse for the campaign against what its proponents claim is a materialist foundation in science that precludes God, Teach the Controversy has become a stalking horse for intelligent design. But the Dover ruling also characterized "teaching the controversy" as part of a religious ploy.^[43] 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 wedge strategy is a political and social action plan authored by the Discovery Institute, an organization that works to promote a Neo-Creationist religious agenda centering on Intelligent design, and is the hub of the Intelligent design movement. ... Look up Stalking horse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 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. ...

By May 2006 the Discovery Institute, in a carefully calculated move,^[2] sought to broaden the faltering "teach the controversy" strategy to include examples of other supposed legitimate scientific controversies. In Ohio and Michigan where school boards are again reviewing science curricula standards the Discovery Institute and its allies proposed lesson plans that included global warming, cloning and stem cell research as further examples of controversies that are akin to the alleged scientific controversy over evolution. All four topics are widely accepted by the majority of the scientific community as legitimate science, and all four are areas where US political conservatives have been known to be critical of the scientific consensus. Members of the scientific community have responded to this tactic by pointing out that like evolution whatever controversy may exist over cloning and stem cell research has been largely social and political, while dissident viewpoints over global warming are often viewed as pseudoscience.^[44][45] Richard B. Hoppe, holder of a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Minnesota, described the tactic in the following way: Global mean surface temperatures 1850 to 2006 Mean surface temperature anomalies during the period 1995 to 2004 with respect to the average temperatures from 1940 to 1980 Global warming is the observed increase in the average temperature of the Earths atmosphere and oceans in recent decades and the projected... For other uses, see clone. ... Mouse embryonic stem cells. ... Scientific consensus is the collective judgment, position, and opinion of the community of scientists in a particular field of science at a particular time. ... Phrenology is regarded today as a classic example of pseudoscience. ...

"Like the attacks on evolution, the attack on climate science is driven by the sectarian conviction that 'materialistic' science is untrustworthy and must be replaced. As with intelligent design creationism, science-deniers' so-called evidence takes the form of claims for the insufficiency of current scientific explanations rather than concrete, testable alternative hypotheses. As in the evolution debate, religious extremists use the clever strategy of denigrating the scientific consensus on causality (global warming is human-caused via pollution) by pretending it contrasts sharply with an alternative scientific theory that, properly-understood, is really just a more nuanced view that's not really in opposition (current global warming is part of the earth’s natural cycle but is being exacerbated by pollution). This exaggerates the intensity of normal scientific debate in order to suggest there's something wrong with climate science, and then uses this manufactured controversy to cloak the anti-science view and smuggle it into classrooms — sectarian religious evangelism masquerading as science."^[44] --Richard B. Hoppe

With the Dover ruling describing "teach the controversy" as part of the same religious ploy as presenting intelligent design as an alternative to evolution, intelligent design proponents have moved to a fallback position, teaching what they call the Critical Analysis of Evolution.^[46] The Critical Analysis of Evolution strategy is viewed by Nick Matzke and other intelligent design critics as a means of teaching all the intelligent design arguments without using the intelligent design label.^[47] Critical Analysis of Evolution continues the themes of the teach the controversy strategy, emphasizing what they say are the "criticisms" of evolutionary theory and "arguments against evolution," which continues to be portrayed as "a theory in crisis." Early drafts of the critical analysis of evolution lesson plan referred to the lesson as the "great evolution debate"; one of the early drafts of the lesson plan had one section titled "Conducting the Macroevolution Debate". In a subsequent draft, it was changed to "Conducting the Critical Analysis Activity". The wording for the two sections is nearly identical, with just "debate" changed to "critical analysis activity" wherever it appeared, in the manner of how intelligent design proponents simply replaced "creation" with "intelligent design" in Of Pandas and People to repackage a creation science textbook into an intelligent design textbook. 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. ... Nicholas J. Matzke is Public Information Project Director at the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), the leading American pro-science anti-creationist organisation. ... Cover Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins (ISBN 0914513400) is a controversial 1989 (2nd edition 1993) school-level textbook by Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon. ... Creation science is the attempt to find evidence and rationales to support a literal interpretation of the Biblical account of creation. ...

Repercussions

The campaigns of intelligent design proponents seeking curricular challenges have been disruptive, divisive and expensive for the affected communities. In pursuing the goal of establishing intelligent design at the expense of evolution in public school science classes, intelligent design groups have threatened and isolated high school science teachers, school board members and parents who opposed their efforts.^{[48][49][50][51][52][53]} The campaigns run by intelligent design groups place teachers in the difficult position of arguing against their employers while the legal challenges to local school districts are costly, diverting funding away from education and into court battles. For example, as a result of Dover trial, the Dover Area School District was forced to pay $1,000,011 in legal fees and damages for pursuing a policy of teaching the controversy.^[54]

Four days after the six-week Dover trial concluded, all eight of the Dover school board members who were up for reelection were voted out of office. Televangelist Pat Robertson in turn told the citizens of Dover, "If there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God. You just rejected him from your city." Robertson said if they have future problems in Dover, "I recommend they call on Charles Darwin. Maybe he can help them."^[55] In the USA, a televangelist (television evangelist) is a religious minister (often a Christian priest or minister) who devotes a large portion of his (or her) ministry to TV broadcasts to a regular viewing and listening audience. ... Marion Gordon Pat Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is a televangelist from the United States. ...

Critics, like Wesley R. Elsberry, say the Discovery Institute has cynically manufactured much of the political and religious controversy to further its agenda, pointing to statements of prominent proponents like Johnson: Wesley R. Elsberry Dr. Wesley Royce Elsberry (born January 23, 1960) is a marine biologist with an interdisciplinary background in zoology, computer science, and wildife and fisheries sciences. ...

"Whether educational authorities allow the schools to teach about the controversy or not, public recognition that there is something seriously wrong with Darwinian orthodoxy is going to keep on growing. While the educators stonewall, our job is to continue building the community of people who understand the difference between a science that tests its theories against the evidence, and a pseudoscience that protects its key doctrines by imposing philosophical rules and erecting legal barriers to freedom of thought.^[56] --Phillip E. Johnson

To the absence of actual scientific controversy over the validity of evolutionary theory, Johnson said:

"If the science educators continue to pretend that there is no controversy to teach, perhaps the television networks and the newspapers will take over the responsibility of informing the public."^[57] --Phillip E. Johnson

And to the resistance of science educators over portraying evolution as controversial or disputed, Johnson said:

"If the public school educators will not "teach the controversy," our informal network can do the job for them. In time, the educators will be running to catch up."^[58] --Phillip E. Johnson

Elsberry and others allege that statements like Johnson's are proof that the alleged scientific controversy intelligent design proponents seek to have taught is a product of the institute's members and staff. In the Dover trial's ruling the judge wrote that intelligent design proponents had misrepresented the scientific status of evolution.^[59]

According to published reports, the nonprofit Discovery Institute received grants and gifts totaling $4.1 million for 2003 from 22 foundations. Of these, two-thirds had primarily religious missions.^[60] The institute spends more than $1 million a year for research, polls, lobbying and media pieces that support intelligent design and their Teach the Controversy campaign^[61] and is employing the same Washington, D.C. public relations firm that promoted the Contract with America.^[62] Nickname: Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Country United States Federal District District of Columbia Government  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack... Public relations (PR): Building sustainable relations with all publics in order to create a postive brand image. ... The Contract with America was a document released by the Republican Party of the United States during the 1994 Congressional election campaign. ...

Political action

The Discovery Institute aggressively promotes its Teach the Controversy campaign and intelligent design to the public, education officials and public policymakers. Its efforts are largely aimed at conservative Christian policymakers, where it is cast as a counterbalance to the liberal influences of "atheistic scientists" and "Dogmatic Darwinists." As a measure of their success in this effort, on 1 August 2005, during a round-table interview with reporters from five Texas newspapers, President Bush said that he believes schools should discuss intelligent design alongside evolution when teaching students about the origin of life. Bush, a conservative Christian, declined to go into detail on his personal views of the origin of life, but advocated the Teach the Controversy approach - "I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought... you're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes." Christian conservatives, a substantial part of Bush's voting base, have been central in promoting the Teach the Controversy campaign. The term Christian Right is used by scholars and journalists, to refer to a spectrum of right-wing Christian political and social movements and organizations characterized by their strong support of conservative social and political values. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ... For other uses, see Intelligent design (disambiguation). ... The term Christian Right is used by scholars and journalists, to refer to a spectrum of right-wing Christian political and social movements and organizations characterized by their strong support of conservative social and political values. ...

In some state battles, the ties of Teach the Controversy and intelligent design proponents to the Discovery Institute's political and social activities have been made public resulting in their efforts being temporarily thwarted. The Discovery Institute takes the view that all publicity is good and that no defeat is real. The Institute has shown a willingness to back off, even to not advocate for the inclusion of ID, to ensure that all science teachers are required to portray evolution as a "theory in crisis." The Institute's strategy is to move, relentlessly, from standards battles, to curriculum writing, to textbook adoption, and back again doing whatever it takes to undermine the central position of evolution in biology. Critics of this strategy and the movement contend that the intelligent design controversy diverts much time, effort and tax money away from the actual education of children.

Political battles involving the Discovery Institute

Main article: Intelligent design in politics

• 2000 Congressional briefing: In 2000, the leading ID proponents operating through the Discovery Institute held a congressional briefing in Washington, D.C., to promote ID to lawmakers. Sen. Rick Santorum was and continues to be one of ID's most vocal supporters. One result of this briefing was that Sen. Santorum inserted pro-ID 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: As a result of the 2000 Congressional briefing, the Discovery Institute drafted and lobbied for the Santorum Amendment to the No Child Left Behind education act. The amendment encouraged the "teach the controversy" approach to evolution education. The amendment was passed by the U.S. Senate, but was left out of the final version of the Act, and remains only in highly modified form in the conference report, where it does not carry the weight of law. The conference report language is commonly touted by the Discovery Institute as model language for bills and curricula. The Discovery Institute lobbies states, counties, and municipalities, and offers them legal analysis and Institute-developed curricula and text books they proclaim meet constitutional criteria established by the courts in previous creationism/evolution First Amendment cases.
• 2002-2006 Ohio Board of Education: The Discovery Institute proposed a model lesson plan that featured intelligent design prominently in its curricula. It was adopted in part in October 2002, with the Board's advising that the science standards do "not mandate the teaching or testing of intelligent design." This was touted by the Discovery Institute as a significant victory. By February 2006 the Ohio Board of Education voted 11-4 to delete the science standard and correlating lesson plan adopted in 2002. [6] The board also rejected a competing plan from the institute 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.
• 2005 Kansas evolution hearings:A series of hearings instigated by the institute held in Topeka, Kansas May of 2005 by the Kansas State Board of Education to review changes how the origin of life would be taught in the state's public high school science classes. The hearings were boycotted by the scientific community, and views expressed represented largely those of intelligent design advocates. The result of the hearings was the adoption of new science standards by the Republican-dominated board in defiance of the State Board Science Hearing Committee that relied upon the institute's Critical Analysis of Evolution lesson plan and adopted the institute's Teach the Controversy approach. In August 2006 conservative Republicans lost their majority on the board in a primary election. The moderate Republican and Democats gaining seats vowed to overturn the 2005 school science standards and adopt those recommended by a State Board Science Hearing Committee that were rejected by the previous board.
• 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District: Eleven parents of students in the school district in Dover, Pennsylvania, near Harrisburg, sued the Dover Area School District over a statement that the school board required to be read aloud in ninth-grade science classes when evolution was taught endorsing intelligent design as an alternative to evolution. The plaintiffs successfully argued that intelligent design is a form of creationism, and that the school board policy thus violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. In December, 2005 United States federal court judge John E. Jones III ruled that intelligent design is not science and is essentially religious in nature.

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. ... Nickname: Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Country United States Federal District District of Columbia Government  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack... “Santorum” redirects here. ... The Santorum Amendment was an amendment to the 2001 education funding bill which became known as the No Child Left Behind Act, proposed by former Republican United States Senator Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania, which promotes the teaching of intelligent design while questioning the academic standing of evolution in U.S... President Bush signing the bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act at Hamilton H.S. in Hamilton, Ohio. ... The first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. ... The Kansas Evolution Hearings were a series of hearings held in Topeka, Kansas May 5 to May 12, 2005 by the Republican-dominated[1] Kansas State Board of Education and its State Board Science Hearing Committee to change how the origin of life would be taught in the states... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... 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. ... Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. ... The word student is etymologically derived through Middle English from the Latin second-type conjugation verb stÅ­dÄ“rÄ•, meaning to direct ones zeal at; hence a student is one who directs zeal at a subject. ... School districts are a form of special-purpose district in the United States (amongst some other places) which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools. ... Dover is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, United States. ... Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Area  Ranked 33rd  - Total 46,055 sq mi (119,283 km²)  - Width 280 miles (455 km)  - Length 160 miles (255 km)  - % water 2. ... Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Dauphin Incorporated 1791 Charter 1860 Government  - Mayor Stephen R. Reed (D) Area  - City  11. ... The amazing Dover Area School District is a public school district located in Pennsylvania, United States. ... The first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. ... The Bill of Rights in the National Archives The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. ... 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. ...

Origin of the campaign

Intelligent design movement

Main article: Intelligent design movement

The Intelligent Design movement, which began in the early 1990s, is an organized campaign promoting a religious agenda that calls for broad social, academic and political changes. These changes center around increasing the role of intelligent design in the public sphere, primarily in the United States. The overall goal of the movement is "to defeat materialism" and the "materialist world view" as represented by evolution, and replace it with "a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions."^[63][64] The movement's hub is the Discovery Institute and its Center for Science and Culture (CSC). The CSC counts the leading ID advocates and authors among its fellows or officers, including the movement's founder Phillip E. Johnson, Michael Behe, William A. Dembski, Stephen C. Meyer and Jonathan Wells. The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist campaign that calls for broad social, academic and political changes derived from the concept of intelligent design. ... For other uses, see Intelligent design (disambiguation). ... The Discovery Institute is a think tank structured as a non-profit foundation, founded in 1990 and based in Seattle, Washington, USA. The stated mission of the organization is to make a positive vision of the future practical. ... The Center for Science and Culture (CSC), formerly known as the Center for Renewal of Science and Culture (CRSC), is part of the Discovery Institute, a conservative Christian think tank in the United States. ... Phillip E. Johnson Phillip E. Johnson (born 1940) is a retired UC Berkeley American law professor and author. ... Michael Behe Michael J. Behe (born January 18, 1952) is an American biochemist and intelligent design advocate. ... William A. Dembski William Albert Bill Dembski (born July 18, 1960) is an American mathematician, philosopher, theologian and proponent of intelligent design in opposition to the theory of evolution through natural selection. ... Stephen C. Meyer. ... John Corrigan Jonathan Wells is a biologist and Fellow of the Discovery Institutes Center for Science and Culture. ...

The movement consists primarily of a public relations campaign meant to sway the opinion of the public and that of the popular media, and an aggressive lobbying campaign, directed at policymakers and the educational community, which seeks to undermine public support for teaching evolution while cultivating support for what the movement terms "intelligent design theory." Its near-term goal is greatly undermining or eliminating altogether the teaching of evolution in public school science, and with the long-term goal of "renewing" American culture by shaping public policy to reflect conservative Christian values. Intelligent design is central and necessary for this agenda as described by the Discovery Institute: "Design theory promises to reverse the stifling dominance of the materialist worldview, and to replace it with a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions." Public relations (PR): Building sustainable relations with all publics in order to create a postive brand image. ... For the book by Walter Lippmann, see Public Opinion. ... The legal status of creation and evolution in public education is the subject of a great deal of debate in legal, political, and religious circles, mainly in the United States. ...

The ID movement grew out of a creationist tradition that argues against evolutionary theory from a religious (usually Evangelical Christian and Fundamentalist Christian) standpoint, and the 1987 US Supreme Court decision Edwards v. Aguillard which prohibits the teaching of creationism in public school science classrooms. Although ID advocates often claim that they are only arguing for the existence of a "designer," who may or may not be God, all the leading advocates do believe that the designer is God, and frequently accompany their allegedly scientific arguments with discussion of religious issues, especially when addressing religious audiences. In front of other audiences, they downplay the religious aspects of their agenda. The word evangelicalism usually refers to a broad collection of religious beliefs, practices, and traditions which are found among conservative Protestant Christians. ... Fundamentalist Christianity is a fundamentalist movement, especially within American Protestantism. ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... Holding Teaching creationism in public schools is unconstitutional because it attempts to advance a particular religion. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ...

The Wedge strategy

Main article: Wedge strategy

The "Wedge strategy" is a political and social action plan authored by the Discovery Institute. Informally known as the "Wedge Document," it was a fund raising tool used by the Discovery Institute to raise money for its subsidiary, the Center for Science and Culture, (then at the time called the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture (CRSC)), which was charged with promoting DI's science and education agenda. As stated in the Wedge Document,^[18] the strategy is designed to defeat "Darwinism" and to promote an idea of science "consonant with Christian and theistic convictions." The ultimate goal of the Wedge strategy is to "renew" American culture by shaping public policy to reflect conservative Christian values. The wedge strategy is a political and social action plan authored by the Discovery Institute, an organization that works to promote a Neo-Creationist religious agenda centering on Intelligent design, and is the hub of the Intelligent design movement. ... The Discovery Institute is a think tank structured as a non-profit foundation, founded in 1990 and based in Seattle, Washington, USA. The stated mission of the organization is to make a positive vision of the future practical. ... The Discovery Institute is a think tank structured as a non-profit foundation, founded in 1990 and based in Seattle, Washington, USA. The stated mission of the organization is to make a positive vision of the future practical. ... The Center for Science and Culture (CSC), formerly known as the Center for Renewal of Science and Culture (CRSC), is part of the Discovery Institute, a conservative Christian think tank in the United States. ...

The strategy outlines a public relations campaign, of which teaching the controversy is part, meant to sway the opinion of the public, popular media, charitable funding agencies, and the scientific community in order that they should effect an "overthrow of materialism and its cultural legacies". Wedge advocates have stated they hope to reinstate a "broadly theistic understanding of nature" to replace materialism. Phillip Johnson, the architect of the strategy, invokes the metaphor of a wood-splitting wedge to illustrate his goal of splitting apart the concepts of science and naturalism. A fundamental part of the Wedge strategy is the rejection of naturalism as unnecessary to science. Though the alternative to naturalism is supernaturalism, ID proponents avoid this word when speaking to mainstream audiences, substituting euphemisms like "non-natural" or skirting the issue altogether. Critics of the campaign characterize this as a semantic subterfuge made in the hope that it will enable ID proponents to skirt the First Amendment prohibition against promoting religion in public schools. Public relations (PR): Building sustainable relations with all publics in order to create a postive brand image. ... For the book by Walter Lippmann, see Public Opinion. ... A charitable foundation is a legal categorization of nonprofit organizations that either donate funds and support to other organizations, or provide the sole source of funding for their own activities. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... 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. ... Methodological naturalism (MN) refers to any method of inquiry or investigation or any procedure for gaining knowledge that limits itself to natural, physical, and material approaches and explanations. ... The first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. ...

According to critics of the intelligent design movement, the Wedge document, more than any other document issued by the Discovery Institute, betrays the Institute's and intelligent design's political rather than scientific purpose.

Criticisms

The theory of evolution is accepted by the vast majority of biologists and by the scientific community in general (in such overwhelming numbers that the theory of evolution is viewed as having scientific consensus). Over 70 scientific societies, institutions and other professional groups representing tens of thousands individual scientists have issued policy statements supporting evolution education and opposing intelligent design.^[65][66] Such controversies as do exist concern the details of the mechanisms of evolution, not the validity of the over-arching theory of evolution. In the absence of an actual professional controversy between groups of experts on evolution, critics say intelligent design proponents have merely renamed the conflict that already existed between biologists and creationists, and that the controversy to which intelligent design proponents refer is political in nature and thus, by definition, outside of the realm of science and scientific educational curricula. Critics contend that intelligent design proponents ignore this point by continuing to make the claim of a "scientific controversy." This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

For example the National Association of Biology Teachers in a statement endorsing evolution as noncontroversial quoted Theodosius Dobzhansky "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." and went on to state that the quote "accurately reflects the central, unifying role of evolution in biology. The theory of evolution provides a framework that explains both the history of life and the ongoing adaptation of organisms to environmental challenges and changes." They emphasized that "Scientists have firmly established evolution as an important natural process" and that "The selection of topics covered in a biology curriculum should accurately reflect the principles of biological science. Teaching biology in an effective and scientifically honest manner requires that evolution be taught in a standards-based instructional framework with effective classroom discussions and laboratory experiences.".^[67] Theodosius Grigorevich Dobzhansky (Russian — Феодосий Григорьевич Добржанский; sometimes anglicized to Theodore Dobzhansky; January 25, 1900 - December 18, 1975) was a noted geneticist and evolutionary biologist. ...