PRESIDENT BUSH FAVORS TEACHING “INTELLIGENT
DESIGN.”
Intelligent
Design: the theory that scientific evidence suggests the complexity of life is
best explained by a designer, rather than an undirected natural process of
evolution.
Dan
Hicks
August
8, 2005
Demonstrating his courage and leadership, President George W. Bush said he
believes schools should discuss “intelligent design” alongside evolution when
teaching students about the creation of life.
In an August 1, 2005 interview at the White House with a group of Texas newspaper reporters, Mr. Bush said, “I think that part of education is to expose
people to different schools of thought,” adding that, “you’re asking me whether
or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, and the answer is yes.”
Recalling his days as governor of Texas, the president said, “I felt like both
sides ought to be taught properly.” As governor, Bush had taken a position in
favor of teaching both creationism and evolution in Texas schools.
TIME writer, Matthew Cooper, reported that, “By putting ‘intelligent design’ on
par with evolutionary theory, President Bush goes further than any president
has since Ronald Reagan advocated teaching creationism.”
Reagan
cooperated with an effort to include creationism in the curriculum of state
schools when he was governor of California. He expressed doubts about
evolution during his 1980 campaign for president and suggested that American
students should be taught creationism. President Reagan openly acknowledged
his personal belief in the biblical account of creation.
The Discovery Institute in Seattle, a leader in developing intelligent design,
applauded the words of President Bush. “We interpret this as the president
using his bully pulpit to support freedom of inquiry and free speech about the
issue of biological origins,” said Stephen Meyer, the director of the
institute’s Center for Science and Culture. (An explanation of intelligent
design theory is provided on the Discovery Institute website:
w w w . d i s c o v e r y . o r g )
At the White House, intelligent design was the subject of a weekly Bible study
class several years ago when Charles W. Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship
Ministries, spoke to the group. The New York Times quoted Colson’s response to
the president’s recent comments. “It is part of the Buzz of the city among
Christians,” said Colson in a telephone interview.
“It
wouldn’t surprise me that it (intelligent design) got to George Bush.
He
reads, he picks stuff up, he talks to people. And he’s pretty serious about
his own Christian beliefs.”
Bush’s position that intelligent design should be taught in public schools is
shared by 78 percent of Americans according to a 2001 Zogby Poll.
The Washington Times recently published a July 2005 Harris Poll that found,
“Most Americans believe it all started in heaven: 64 % of us agree that human
beings were created directly by God. The figure is 73% among Republicans, 75%
for conservatives, 58% among Democrats, and 48% for liberals.”
There seems to be a clear mandate that the theory of evolution should no longer
be allowed to monopolize science education in American schools. I am
encouraged to see a United States President taking such a bold stand for
academic freedom on the issue of origins. Our founders made reference to the
Creator in the Declaration of Independence. “We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are CREATED equal, that they are endowed by their
CREATOR with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Our rights do not come from government, they come
from our Creator. It is time for America to acknowledge Him.
S
p e c i a l O f f e r :
Stephen
Meyer of the Discovery Institute is prominently featured in the leading
intelligent design video, UNLOCKING THE MYSTERY OF LIFE, which appeared on
PBS. Our Tulsa based Southern Plains Creation Society is providing this video
to Tulsa area science teachers FREE on our website - click here for details
