In the News

Could it be that the theory of evoltuion's judicially sanctioned monopoly in the classroom has backfired? That is the question asked by science writer Michael Balter in his commentary in the October 2, 2005 issue of the Los Angeles Times. He concludes that the most effective way to convince students that the theory is correct is to confront the challengers, not avoid them. We agree. So let the rumble begin. Let's teach the controversy and may the best theory win.

Academic freedom is a cherished value in our institutions of higher learning--that is until the cherished ideas of the university gatekeepers come under attack. Here are a few examples of the persecution suffered by those who have dared to challenge the Darwinian worldview in our universities:

University of Idaho

San Francisco State University

Mississippi University for Women

Geogre Mason University

Baylor University

Ohio State University

Iowa State University (faculty)

Texas Tech and Iowa State (students)

Research by ophthalmologists has clearly shown why the human retina must employ what is called the "inverted" design. An inverted retina is where the photoreceptors face away from the light, forcing the incoming light to travel through the front of the retina to reach the photoreceptors. Read this report by Jerry Bergman and Joseph Calkins. Jerry Bergman is on the Biology faculty at Northwest State College in Ohio. Joseph Calkins is an Ophthalmologist in private practice, formerly Professor of Ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins University.

"This week, the case of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District opened in federal court. The ACLU is suing the school board of Dover, Pennsylvania for adopting a policy which requires that teachers read to students a three-paragraph statement about the theory of intelligent design. In his opening statement, Eric Rothschild, the attorney for Kitzmiller, argued against the legitimacy of intelligent design (ID). Unfortunately for Rothschild, the testimony of Kenneth Miller-a Roman Catholic biology professor from Brown University who staunchly defends evolution-has already refuted his argument. And even more unfortunately, Miller was his expert witness."

Read the rest of Joe Manzari's report on highlights from the first few days of the trial.

Paul Nussbaum writing in the Philadelpia Inquirer sees the Dover trial as a test of values between the likes of William Dembski:

"Naturalism is the disease. Intelligent design is the cure," William Dembski, director of the Center for Science and Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., wrote in his book Intelligent Design. "... Darwin gave us a creation story in which God was absent, and undirected natural processes did all the work. That creation story... is now on the way out. When it goes, so will all the edifices that have been built on its foundation."

and Dover plaintiff Frederick Callahan:

"One of the Dover plaintiffs, Frederick Callahan, made the link between belief in evolution and support for separation of church and state on the witness stand.

'I've come to accept that we [believers in evolution] are in the minority. I've seen the polls,' he said. 'And we've been called intolerant.'

'What am I supposed to tolerate? A small encroachment of my First Amendment rights? I will not.'"

Transcripts for the federal court case filed against the Dover Area School District and its school board over mention of intelligent design in biology classes are now available.

The parents, along with the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, were expected to argue that the school board had religious motives in requiring a statement about intelligent design to be read in biology classes. They also contend intelligent design is based on religion.

Since the time of Darwin, scholars have resisted design in nature, but throughout the twentieth century new discoveries have forced a reappraisal and revived an interest in design. The aim of this international science conference is to review evidence for intelligent design, drawing upon results in astronomy, physics, mathematics, biochemistry, biology, genetics, and paleontology.

Prague Congress Centre, Prague, Czech Republic
October 22, 2005

8:30 Registration and Welcome
9:00 Jonathan Wells, Ph.D.Icons of Evolution (genetics)
10:00 John C. Lennox, Ph.D., D.Sc.Design Features of the Universe (mathematics)
11:00 Coffee Break
11:45 Charles B. Thaxton, Ph.D., FAIC Origin of Life (biochemistry)
12:45 Lunch
2:15 Stephen C. Meyer, Ph.D. Information and the Cambrian Explosion (paleontology)
3:15 Responses
Panel Discussion
5:30 Snack
6:30 Michael J. Behe, Ph.D. Molecular Machines (molecular biology)
7:30 Closing

Popular Mechanics BREAKTHROUGH AWARDS 2005 salute the innovators who are shaping the world's future through science and technology-and new products that represent benchmarks of engineering. The Young Achiever Award went to Sarah Mims, an amateur scientist who is a sophomore in college, and an advocate of intelligent design, for her discovery that living fungal spores and bacteria are found in abundance in the smoke from distant biomass fires.

Conventional wisdom had always indicated that burning crops was a good way to kill disease. Not so fast, said this student who demonstrated that smoke can carry living organisms. The formal paper about Sarah's discovery is: Sarah A. Mims and Forrest M. Mims III, Fungal spores are transported long distances in smoke from biomass fires, Atmospheric Environment 38, 651-655, 2004.

In a October 4, 2005 Letter to the University of Idaho Faculty, Staff and Students, University President, Timothy P. White legislates that only evolution will be taught:

"Because of recent national media attention to the issue, I write to articulate the University of Idaho's position with respect to evolution: This is the only curriculum that is appropriate to be taught in our bio-physical sciences."