WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Bush endorsed the teaching of “intelligent design” on an equal level with natural selection in a roundtable interview with reporters from Texas newspapers Aug. 1.
Bush said students should be exposed to the theory, which posits that biological evidence suggests life is too complex to have evolved without an intelligent designer, presumably a divine creator. [email protected]
“I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought,” Bush said, according to the Knight-Ridder news service. “[If] you’re asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes,” he continued.
Intelligent design is different from creationism, which seeks to disprove the entire theory of evolution in favor of a religious account of the origins of life. The theory has gained prominence in recent years, as many conservative Christians have encouraged its teaching in public schools.
According to Knight-Ridder, Bush declined to offer his personal views on creationism versus evolution. When he was governor of Texas, he endorsed teaching creationism alongside evolution. But the courts have ruled such teaching an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.
Biologists, anthropologists and other scientists have attacked intelligent design as gussied-up creationism and an attempt to inject faith-based theories into a science curriculum. However, the philosophy enjoys the support of many more mainstream scientists than does creationism.
“President Bush is to be commended for defending free speech on evolution, and supporting the right of students to hear about different scientific views about evolution,” said John West of the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, in a statement on Bush’s comments. West’s organization describes itself as “the nation’s leading think tank supporting research on the theory of intelligent design.”
But a 1999 assessment by the National Academy of Sciences said the theory of intelligent design is not germane to a science class setting. “The claim that equity demands balanced treatment of evolutionary theory and special creation in science classrooms reflects a misunderstanding of what science is and how it is conducted,” the study said. “Creationism, intelligent design, and other claims of supernatural intervention in the origin of life or of species are not science because they are not testable by the methods of science.”
The head of a group that opposes government incursion into religious affairs condemned Bush’s remarks Aug. 2. “Bush has used his presidential pulpit to advance the ludicrous notion that evolution is in controversy and that ‘intelligent design’ is legitimate science,” read a statement from Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “Surely, he knows that most religious people see no conflict between Bible teachings and the evidence of science.”