More than 75 years ago, a teacher named John Scopes fought to teach evolution in the classroom. Astonishingly enough, that battle continues to this day.
It is no longer about getting evolution in the classroom; it is about keeping baseless alternative theories out. The center of this battle is Harrisburg, Pa., where parents are challenging the teaching of intelligent design. They are looking to block the local school board from requiring that high school biology teachers read a statement that presents intelligent design as an alternative theory to evolution and the origin of life.
Intelligent design says that because life is so complex, some higher form had to have created life on this planet. Essentially, it is another theory of creationism that doesn’t specifically name God as the higher intelligence. Proponents of intelligent design point out that Darwinism is not able to explain several important things: the origin of life, gaps in the fossil record, the complexity of a cell or the genetic information contained within a strand of DNA. Since these things are not currently explained by the theory of evolution, a higher power must be at work.
Of course, it is true to say that there are gaps in our knowledge, and there are things we, as humans, do not understand, but it is absurd to say that the only explanation for a lack of scientific evidence is divine intervention. How many times in history have humans been unable to explain how the world works? At one point, people did not know why eclipses occurred, what caused diseases or what brought the rain. They simply lacked information, just as we do when it comes to some aspects of evolution. Just because we are not able to figure something out does not mean that the physical evidence is not out there.
Despite any gaps that there may be in the scientific theory of evolution, there are observable facts and repeatable hypotheses to support it: the process of mutation, gene flow, genetic drift and adaptation. Science has credibility because it can be tested, while intelligent design is just a belief, much like creationism.
Leaders in the theory of intelligent design have been working to show that their theory is different than creationism, and it is, though both ultimately point to a higher power. Creationism is based on the biblical book Genesis, which says that God created the earth and its inhabitants in six days 6,000 years ago. Intelligent design comes closer to an accepted scientific theory in that it estimates the age of the earth at 4.5 billion years old and life at least 3 billion years old. This theory purports that evolution can work on a small scale, within a species, but that it cannot form entirely new species.
This theory is good in that it provides a middle group for people who find themselves torn between Darwinism and creationism; I don’t see a problem with people believing in whichever theory they see as correct. On the other hand, there is no place in the public school system for intelligent design. When intelligent design points toward a higher power, it is placing itself alongside creationism, which has already been prohibited in public schools.
In 1987, a Louisiana law entitled the “Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science in Public School Instruction Act” prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools unless creation science was taught at the same time. Schools were not forced to teach creation science, but if evolution was taught, teachers were obligated to discuss creation science.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against this act and the teaching of creationism: “The Act impermissibly endorses religion by advancing the religious belief that a supernatural being created humankind. – The Act’s primary purpose was to change the public school science curriculum to provide persuasive advantage to a particular religious doctrine that rejects the factual basis of evolution in its entirety. -The Act violates the First Amendment.”
Furthermore, intelligent design advocates are silent about whether the intelligent hand belongs to God, and they try to separate themselves from creationism. This separation cannot be easily accomplished when the theory they support has a religious origin. The argument of a higher power is far from a new concept – in the 13th century, Thomas Aquinas presented design as being one of five proofs of God’s existence. The modern concept of intelligent design, which doesn’t name the agent of creation, first appeared in Christian creationist literature, including the textbook “Of Pandas and People,” published in 1989.
The origins of intelligent design are not the only indicators that religion is behind this theory. Philip E. Johnson, considered the father of the intelligent design movement, has said a few things of interest: “Our strategy has been to change the subject a bit so that we can get the issue of intelligent design, which really means the reality of God, before the academic world and into the schools,” and, “This isn’t really and never has been a debate about science. It’s about religion and philosophy.”
The father of intelligent design admits the theory is based on God. It could not clearer; by allowing intelligent design into the school system, we are crossing the line between church and state. It is time that people accept Darwin’s theory of evolution as the leading scientific theory and, as such, its dominant place in our school system. Evolution should not be replaced by, or even taught along side, a religious doctrine.
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