SCIENCE Evolution
vs. intelligent design: The battle continues
The contest between
supporters of evolution and proponents of intelligent design continues to show
signs that it is heating up rather than simmering down. Many expected the intelligent
design movement to lose steam after a federal judge ruled in December 2005 that
the Dover, Pa., school board’s decision to require the teaching of intelligent
design in science classes was an unconstitutional violation of the separation
of church and state. Instead, proponents have created more conferences, textbooks
and public school debates. Meanwhile, the debate continues in the public square,
with presidential candidates discussing their views on evolution and with the
multimillion-dollar Creation Museum attracting crowds in Kentucky with high-tech
exhibits that tell the story of creation according to a literal interpretation
of the Bible.
What’s next? Critics
say intelligent design supporters have changed strategy since Dover. In a paper
written for the Center for Inquiry, Barbara Forrest, a philosophy professor
at Southeastern Louisiana University, says intelligent design proponents are
shifting from insisting that the concept be taught to asking that criticism
of evolution be taught. Others say intelligent design proponents will promote
their theory on the grounds that children should be taught critical thinking.
Still others predict the next battle between the two will be over academic freedom
– an area Jay Wexler, a law professor at Boston University, says will be harder
for the evolution camp to win because it deals with freedom of speech.
Some observers
say the effects of the ongoing struggle are more subtle, but still harmful.
They say many science educators are avoiding teaching evolution at all for fear
of attracting controversy. And as the 2008 elections loom, critics say they
worry that the focus on the national election will allow local anti-evolution
candidates to quietly run for local and state school positions.
Americans remain
divided. In August 2006, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released
a poll that
found that 51 percent of Americans believe that humans evolved over time, while
42 percent said humans have existed only in their present form. A November 2004
Gallup poll found that 35 percent of Americans said that evolution is well-supported
by evidence, 35 percent said it is not, and 29 percent said they didn’t know
enough about it to reply.
What's new
• On the next
anniversary of Darwin’s birthday – Feb. 12, 2008 – Premise Media will release
Expelled: No Intelligence
Allowed, a feature film defending intelligent design, starring Ben Stein.
On the same date in 2006, a documentary film titled Flock
of Dodos, an examination of the evolutionist argument, was released.
• In the summer
of 2007, thousands of unsolicited copies of Atlas
of Creation were sent to scientists, professors, legislators and others
in North America and Europe. It was written by Harun
Yahya, the pen name of Adnan Oktar, a Turkish Muslim who has produced many
books and video condemning the “deceit” of evolution.
• On
Sept. 21-22, 2007, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth,
Texas, held a conference titled “Intelligent
Design in Business Practice,” which examined whether people differ in their
approach to business and economics depending on whether they believe in Darwinian
ideas or intelligent design.
• More
than 10,000 clergy have signed the Clergy
Letter Project, which asks that evolution be taught in public schools. The
project began in 2004, when Wisconsin clergy were asked to sign on. The project
quickly went national, and for the past two years, it has sponsored “Evolution
Sundays” to discuss the compatibility of Christianity and science in Christian
congregations.
• In
August 2007, high school teachers from across the country attended a conference
at Biola University, a Christian school in La Mirada, Calif., to examine a high
school science curriculum based on Explore
Evolution, a new textbook published by the Discovery Institute, the
home base of the intelligent design movement. Another intelligent design textbook,
The
Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence in Biological Systems,
appeared last year. These are intended to replace Of
Pandas and People, an intelligent design textbook that many felt was
discredited at the Dover trial.
• In
April 2007, Southern Methodist University in Dallas hosted a “Darwin
vs. Design” conference sponsored by the Discovery Institute along with the
university’s law school and Christian Legal Society. The conference featured
four supporters of intelligent design and drew the ire of many SMU professors.
• In
May 2007, at the first televised debate among the 2008 Republican candidates,
three said they did not believe in evolution – Sen. Sam Brownback, former Arkansas
Gov. Mike Huckabee and Rep. Tom Tancredo. In the same month, the Creation
Museum opened in Petersburg, Ky. The museum has already exceeded its projected
attendance number for the year.
Why it matters
The outcome of
the tug-of-war between evolution and intelligent design will affect the way
science is taught to children through at least the next generation.
creationism:
In the United States, creationism usually refers to the belief that the Bible’s
account of creation is literally true and accurate. That generally means Genesis 1:1-2:4a, where God creates the Earth and all its
life forms in six consecutive 24-hour days less than 10,000 years ago. (Genesis
also tells a second creation story, in 2:4b-24, in which man is created before the Earth’s vegetation,
and specific days are not described.)
Creationism is
sometimes called “Young Earth” or “creation science.” Similarly, “Old Earth
Creationism” is the belief that the Earth and all its life forms were created
by God, but that the “days” may have been longer than 24 hours and there may
have been gaps between days. However, there are as many creation stories as
there are religions. The TalkOrigins Archive includes a page
that describes the variety of Christian and non-Christian views of creationism.
evolution:
The theory that all living things share a common ancestry. Evolutionists hold
that the complex life forms we know today evolved from single-celled organisms
over millions of years. There is also “theistic evolution,” which is the belief
that God guided evolution, causing both the first life forms to appear as well
as the eventual development of higher forms of life.
Darwinism:
A theory of evolution developed by Charles Darwin in the 19th century. Darwinism
is the theory that natural selection drives evolution: Life forms that most
successfully adapt are those that survive. Darwinism is not the equivalent of
evolution, but a theory for explaining how evolution occurred.
intelligent
design: The belief that some aspects of life forms are so complex that they
must reflect the design of a conscious, rational intelligence. ID proponents
do not identify the designer. Many supporters of intelligent design do not believe
that life forms share a common ancestor, although some do.
Organizations
PROPONENTS
OF INTELLIGENT DESIGN
• Alpha
Omega Institute promotes a Young Earth theory of creation. The institute
is based in Grand Junction, Colo. Contact 970-523-9943, aoi@discovercreation.org.
• Answers
in Genesis is a Christian apologetics ministry that supplies biblically
based answers to scientific questions. Its statement
of faith, which member scientists must sign, reads, in part, “No apparent,
perceived or claimed evidence in any field, including history and chronology,
can be valid if it contradicts the Scriptural record.” It runs the Creation
Museum in Petersburg, Ky. Ken Ham is the ministry’s president. Contact 859-727-2222.
• The
Creation Research
Society is an organization of scientists and laypeople committed to creationism.
It is in St. Joseph, Mo. Contact 928-636-1153.
• Creation
Truth Foundation in Noble, Okla., promotes the Genesis story of creation.
George Thomas Sharp is its founder and president. Contact 888-578-7884, ctf@creationtruth.com.
• The
Discovery Institute
is a Seattle-based organization that, in its own words, “discovers and promotes
ideas in the common sense tradition of representative government, the free market
and individual liberty.” It has been a major proponent of intelligent design
through its Center for
Science & Culture. Bruce
Chapman is the institute’s president. Contact 206-292-0401 ext.101.
• The
Intelligent Design and
Evolution Awareness Center is a nonprofit that promotes the teaching of
intelligent design theory. It is based in San Diego. Contact Steve Renner, director
of public relations, lrenner@mail.sdsu.edu.
• The
Intelligent
Design Network seeks institutional objectivity in the teaching and study
of the origins of life. It is based in Shawnee Mission, Kan. Contact 913-268-0852,
IDnet@att.net.
• The
Intelligent Design Undergraduate
Research Center is a resource for high school students interested in intelligent
design. It is based in Waco, Texas, and Samuel Chen is its director. Contact
SC4978@juno.com.
• The
Institute for Creation Research
in Santee, Calif., promotes the Bible’s accuracy through scientific research
and educational programs. John Morris is president. Contact 619-448-0900.
• The
International Society for Complexity,
Information and Design is a nonprofit professional organization that examines
complex systems. It is in Princeton, N.J. William
Dembski is executive director. Contact 609-924-4424 ext. 1, william.dembski@iscid.org.
• The
Kolbe Center for the Study
of Creation is a Roman Catholic lay apostolate that promotes the teachings
of Genesis, especially with regard to creation. It is based in Mount Jackson,
Va. Contact Hugh Owen, 540-856-8453, howen@shentel.net.
SUPPORTERS
OF EVOLUTION
• Alliance
for Science promotes the defense and teaching of evolution. It is based
in Arlington, Va. Irv Wainer is chairman of its board of directors. Contact
by email
through its Web site.
• The
National Academies of
the Sciences and Engineering promotes the teaching of evolution in public
schools. It is based in Washington, D.C. Contact the media relations department,
202-334-2138, news@nas.edu.
• The
National Center for Science
Education defends and promotes the teaching of evolution. It is based in
Oakland, Calif. Eugenie Scott is executive director. Contact 510-601-7203.
• The
National Evolutionary
Synthesis Center is a joint project of Duke University, the University of
North Carolina in Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. It works
to facilitate research in the area of evolutionary biology. It is based in Durham,
N.C. Kathleen Smith is director. Contact 919-668-4593, kksmith@duke.edu.
• The
National Science Teachers Association
promotes the teaching of science, including evolution, in K-12 education. It
is based in Arlington, Va. P.
John Whitsett is president. Contact via Kate Meyer, 703-312-9211, kmeyer@nsta.org.
• The
Society for the Study
of Evolution promotes the study of organic evolution. Don Waller is president.
Contact 608-263-2042, dmwaller@facstaff.wisc.edu.
• TalkOrigins
Archive is a usenet newsgroup that focuses on the debate between intelligent
design, creationism and evolution.
RELIGION
AND SCIENCE ORGANIZATIONS
• The
Center for Islam and
Science promotes the diffusion of knowledge on Islam and science. Muzaffar
Iqbal is president. The center is in Canada. Contact muzaffar@cis-ca.org.
• The
Metanexus Institute
in Bryn Mawr, Pa., promotes the engagement of science and religion. Edward Devinney
Jr. is its president. Contact 484-592-0304.
• The
Zygon Center for Religion
and Science is in Chicago. Its director is Gayle Woloschak. The center hosts
lectures titled “The Epic of Creation,” given by different scientists and theologians.
Contact 773-256-0670.
CITIZEN
ORGANIZATIONS
• As science standards in public schools have been challenged, a number
of citizens groups, both for and against the teaching of evolution and/or intelligent
design, have cropped up. Here are some.
• Citizens
for Science is a national umbrella group of state-based science advocacy
groups. Its president is Reed Cartwright. Contact 706-248-4259, reed@citizensforscience.org.
• Alabama
Citizens for Science Education promoted science education in Alabama public
schools. In 2005, the group successfully battled to remove evolution disclaimers
from science textbooks. It is based in Birmingham. Contact alscience@mindspring.com.
• Colorado
Citizens for Science was formed after the state’s science standards received
a grade of “B” from the Fordham Foundation in 2000 because it avoided teaching
evolution. It is based in Colorado Springs. Matt Young is president. Contact
mmyoung@mines.edu.
• The
Colorado
Evolution Response Team is a group of science
professionals who organize to rebut anti-evolutionary claims. Contact CERT@evolutionarygenomics.com.
• Georgia
Citizens for Integrity in Science Education promotes scientific literacy
in the state’s public schools. In 2006 it helped with a successful effort to
get the Cobb County Board of Education to remove evolution disclaimer stickers
from school science textbooks. The citizens group is based in Marietta. Michael
Manely is its chairman. Contact 770-825-8002.
• Iowa
Citizens for Science is an organization dedicated to promoting scientific
literacy in public schools. Contact iowascience@gmail.com.
• Kansas
Citizens for Science advocates for science education in Kansas public schools.
It was organized during the 1999 dispute over the Kansas State Board of Education’s
decision to include intelligent design in the science curriculum. Jack Krebs
is the group’s president. Contact 785-840-5113, jkrebs@sunflower.com.
• Michigan
Citizens for Science is dedicated to promoting science education in Michigan
public schools. Its president is Robert Pennock. Contact 517-432-7701, pennock5@msu.edu.
• Minnesota
Citizens for Science Education promotes the teaching of evolutionary biology
in the state’s public schools. Mark Borello sits on its advisory board. Contact
612-624-7079, borrello@umn.edu.
• Nebraska
Religious Coalition for Science Education is a group of Nebraskans of different
religious backgrounds who proclaim the compatibility of evolution and theology.
Contact Chuck Austerberry, 402-280-2154, cfauster@creighton.edu.
• Oklahomans
for Excellence in Science Education was organized in 1999 when the Oklahoma
State Board of Education required that stickers disclaiming the theory of evolution
be inserted in science textbooks. The group is currently seeking signatures
for a petition that would allow only science to be taught in science classes.
Richard Broughton is its president-elect. Contact 405-325-5357, rbroughton@ou.edu.
• Pennsylvania
Citizens for Science was organized during the 2005 trial of Kitzmiller v.
Dover Area School District, better-known as the Dover intelligent design case.
Contact Colin Purrington, 610-328-8621, cpurrin1@pacfs.org.
• South
Carolinians for Science Education wants to preserve the state’s science
education standards. It is battling state legislation that would allow the introduction
of anti-evolution theories in science classrooms. Contact Rob Dillon, 843-953-8087,
DillonR@cofc.edu.
• Texas
Citizens for Science seeks to preserve the quality of science education
in Texas public schools. It is based in Midland. Contact 432-352-2265, tcs@texscience.org.
Click
the map for interview sources
in your state and region
National
sources
• Mustafa
Akyol is a Turkish writer who wrote an article
on Islamonline.net asking Islamic scientists and other Muslims to dissent from
Darwinism. He writes frequently for The Weekly Standard and blogs
on religion, politics, science and culture. He is based in Istanbul. Contact
akyol@mustafaakyol.com.
• Michael
Behe is a biochemistry professor at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.,
and author of Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution
and The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism (2007).
His Web page contains this disclaimer: “My ideas about irreducible complexity
and intelligent design are entirely my own. They certainly are not in any sense
endorsed by either Lehigh University in general or the Department of Biological
Sciences in particular. In fact, most of my colleagues in the Department strongly
disagree with them.” Contact 610-758-3474, mjb1@lehigh.edu.
• Connie
Bertka is director of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science’s Dialogue
on Science, Ethics and Religion program, which published a book, The
Evolution Dialogues (2006), that examines evolution and the Christian response.
Contact via Earl Lane, 202-326-6431, elane@aaas.org.
• John Bloom is
a physics professor at Biola University, a Christian school in La Mirada, Calif.
He founded the school’s master’s degree program in science and religion, and
he teaches a course in intelligent design that asks the question, “Why isn’t
the evidence clearer?” In August 2007, Biola’s master’s degree program in science
and religion hosted a symposium for high school science teachers on teaching
a new science curriculum from the Discovery Institute. Contact via Rae Lynn
Rucker in Biola’s media relations department, 562-777-4061, media.relations@biola.edu.
• John
Brockman is publisher of the online magazine Edge
and editor of Intelligent Thought: Science Versus the Intelligent Design
Movement (2006). Contact editor@edge.org.
• Matthew Chapman
is a great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin and the author of 40 Days and
40 Nights: Darwin, Intelligent Design, OxyContin and Other Oddities on Trial
in Pennsylvania (2007). He attended the Dover, Pa., trial. He says that
since Dover, there have been no serious attempts to put intelligent design into
public school classrooms, but it is continuing to be accepted in private religious
schools and camps. Contact matthew@matthewchapman.us.
• Francis Collins
is director of the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Md.,
and an evangelical Christian. In his book The Language of God (2006),
he describes how he reconciles his faith with science and says he rejects intelligent
design and sees evidence for evolution in gene studies. Contact 301-402-0911.
• William
Dembski is a research professor in philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological
Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and executive director of the International
Society for Complexity, Information and Design in Princeton, N.J. He is
the author or co-author of numerous books on intelligent design, including The
Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence in Biological Systems
(2006), a textbook co-authored with Jonathan Wells. Contact 609-924-4424 ext.1,
william.dembski@iscid.org.
• Taner Edis
is a physicist at Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., who studies issues
of science and religion, particularly Islam. He is the author of An Illusion
of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam (2007) and co-editor of Why
Intelligent Design Fails: A Scientific Critique of the New Creationism (2004).
Contact 660-785-4583.
• Barbara
Forrest is a philosophy professor at Southeastern Louisiana University in
Hammond and the author of “Understanding
the Intelligent Design Creationist Movement: Its True Nature and Goals,”
a position paper published by the Center
for Inquiry. She says that since their defeat in Dover, intelligent design
proponents are reframing their attack on evolution by refraining from insisting
that intelligent design be taught and instead asking that the strengths and
flaws of evolution be taught. She cites the title of the new Discovery Institute
science textbook, Explore Evolution, as an example of this new strategy.
Contact 985-549-5097, bforrest@selu.edu.
• Ken
Ham is president of Answers
in Genesis, which opened the Creation
Museum in Petersburg, Ky. Contact 859-727-2222.
• John
Haught is a systematic theologian at Georgetown University in Washington,
D.C. He has written and spoken widely on the subject of Christianity, evolution
and intelligent design and testified
for the parents who filed suit in the Dover trial. Contact 202-687-6119, haughtj@georgetown.edu.
• Edward Humes
is the author of Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion and the Battle
for America’s Soul (2007). He has written that there are two theories of
evolution – the scientific theory and the talk radio version. Contact contact@edwardhumes.com.
• Cornelius
Hunter is the author of Science’s Blind Spot: The Unseen Religion of
Scientific Naturalism (2007). He is a fellow at the Discovery Institute’s
Center for Science & Culture and an adjunct professor of biophysics at Biola
University, a Christian school in La Mirada, Calif. Contact via Rob Crowther,
director of media and public relations for the CSC, 206-292-0401 ext. 107, rob@discovery.org.
• Peter Irons wrote God on Trial: Dispatches From America’s Religious
Battlefields (2007). He is a professor emeritus of political science at
the University of California, San Diego. Contact pirons@ucsd.edu.
• Edward
Larson is Richard B. Russell Professor of American History and Talmadge
Professor of Law at the University of Georgia in Athens. He wrote Trial and
Error: The American Controversy Over Creation and Evolution; Summer for the
Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion;Evolution’s Workshop: God and Science on the Galapagos Islands; and Evolution:
The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory. Contact 706-542-2660, edlarson@uga.edu.
• Robert McHenry is a former editor in chief of Encyclopaedia Britannica
and author of How to Know. He wrote an opinion
piece on Britannica Blog taking to task the three Republican candidates
who claim not to believe in evolution. Contact bob@howtoknow.com.
• Joshua Rosenau is public information project director at the National
Center for Science Education. As an evolutionary biologist in Kansas in 2005,
he was involved in the fight there over science teaching standards. Rosenau
comments on evolution and other science topics on his personal
blog. Contact 510-601-7203, josh.rosenau@gmail.com.
• Kenneth
Miller is a biologist at Brown University in Providence, R.I. He says he
regularly receives email from people questioning evolution, with an increasing
number coming from Turkey, Lebanon and other areas in the Middle East. He testified
for the plaintiffs in the Dover case. Contact 401-863-3410, kenneth_miller@brown.edu.
• David Mills
is the author of Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person’s Answer to Christian
Fundamentalism (2006). He lives in Huntington, W.Va. Contact 304-417-0815,
media4mills@davidmills.net.
• Stephen Meyer is director of the Center for Science & Culture at the
Discovery Institute in Seattle. He is the lead author of Explore
Evolution: The Arguments For and Against Neo-Darwinism (2007), a textbook
published by the Discovery Institute, an intelligent design think tank. Co-authors
are Scott Minnich, Paul Nelson, Jonathan Moneymaker and Ralph Seelke. Contact
via Rob Crowther, director of media and public relations for the CSC, 206-292-0401
ext. 107, rob@discovery.org.
• Jason Rosenhouse is the author of Evolution
Blog, a commentary on the debate between evolution and creationism. He is
an assistant professor of mathematics at James Madison University in Harrisonburg,
Va. Contact 540-568-6459, rosenhjd@jmu.edu.
• Eugenie Scott is director of the National
Center for Science Education and co-editor of Not in Our Classrooms:
Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong for Our Schools (2006). Contact 510-601-7203.
• Michael Shermer is the founder of Skeptic magazine and author
of several books on evolution, including Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against
Intelligent Design. Contact via the Skeptics Society in Altadena, Calif.,
626-794-3119.
• Don Waller is a botanist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and
president of the Society
for the Study of Evolution. Contact 608-263-2042, dmwaller@facstaff.wisc.edu.
• John
G. West is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute and associate director
of its Center for Science & Culture. He has studied the impact of Darwinian
science on American public policy and culture. Contact 206-292-0401 ext. 110.
• Thomas Woodward is a professor of missions, evangelism and science at
Trinity College of Florida in Trinity, Fla., and the author of Doubts About
Darwin: A History of Intelligent Design and Darwin Strikes Back: Defending
the Science of Intelligent Design (2006). Contact 727-376-6911ext.
336, twdwrd@tampabay.rr.com.
• Michael Zimmerman is dean of the college of liberal arts and sciences
at Butler University in Indianapolis and founder of the Clergy
Letter Project. Contact 317-940-9224, mz@butler.edu.
• Viennese
Catholic Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn is author of Chance or Purpose: Creation,
Evolution and a Rational Faith, to be published in November 2007. In it,
he argues that science and faith are compatible. Contact through Christine Valentine-Owsik
at Ignatius Press, 215-230-8095, valencom@aol.com.
