"Academic Freedom" Bill Makes Room For Intelligent Design

In 2005, a federal district judge ruled in Kitzmiller v. Dover that school officials violated the Establishment Clause when they amended the science curriculum in a way that required teachers to challenge the theory of evolution in class with evidence of intelligent design.  Representatives from the Seattle based Discovery Institute, the driving force behind intelligent design, maintained throughout trial that religion had no part in their explanation of the origins of life.  But the Institute's own documents revealed the long-term objective of the intelligent design movement: to "replace materialistic explanations with the theistic understanding that nature and human beings are created by God."      

Judge John Jones issued a stinging indictment of intelligent design, concluding that its teaching was an argument for religious creationism, and was in no way based on legitimate scientific theory.  He added the latter part of his ruling "in the hope that it may prevent the obvious waste of judicial and other resources which would be occasioned by a subsequent trial involving the precise question which is before us."

Fastforward three years later, and the Miami Herald reports that lawmakers in Florida are considering an "academic freedom" bill that would allow the teaching of intelligent design in public school.  Similar to the amended policies untimately struck down in Kitzmiller, the proposed bill will reportedly have teachers question and criticize the theory of evolution with "scientific information" which, according to proponents, includes Intelligent Design.  The bill came in response to a move last month by the Board of Education which voted for the first time in its history (can this really be true?) to craft state science standards to include teachings on evolution and natural selection, and to ban teachings that explain the origins of life in religious terms.

Looks like Kitzmiller won't be the last word on intelligent design after all.

-Kathleen A. Bergin