Ohio Activists Chided for Trying to Dumb Down Evolution Education and Censor Science
SEATTLE – “Ohio critics of intelligent design now want to dumb down the teaching of evolution by censoring out scientific evidence challenging Darwinism and that is bad for students and bad for science education,” said Casey Luskin, program officer for public policy and legal affairs with Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture. “A lot of evidence surrounding evolution isn’t typically Read More ›
Those Defensive Darwinists
An Open Letter to the Amazing Randi
Dear Amazing Randi: I just read your widely publicized letter to the Smithsonian about its decision to air The Privileged Planet, Discovery Institute’s film on intelligent design. You find it “impossible to comprehend” why the Smithsonian has chosen to screen such a film. And, I see that you are willing to pay the Smithsonian Institute $20,000 so that they don’t Read More ›
Intelligent Design, Unintelligent Me
I was one of those blissfully nerdy kids who fell in love with dinosaurs in the fourth grade and never outgrew it. In adulthood, people like me go to natural history museums, see Steven Spielberg movies and read the essays of the late paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. That is usually enough to keep us happy. But a couple of weeks Read More ›
Academic Extinction
How to Teach the Controversy Legally
Want to teach the scientific controversy over evolution but aren’t sure what is allowable? This short video clearly and concisely summarizes the legal framework for teaching about evolution. A great resource for teachers, school board members, and parents, this video features interviews with scientists and legal scholars and explains how to teach the controversy over evolution in a legally responsible Read More ›
Letter from US Department of Education Regarding Academic Freedom in Teaching Challenges to Evolution
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY SECRETARY March 8, 2004 By facsimile (406-444-2893) and US Mail Ms. Linda McCullochSuperintendent of Public InstructionMontana Office of Public InstructionPost Office Box 202501Helena, Montana 59620-2501 Dear Superintendent McCulloch: Thank you for your recent letter to Secretary Paige regarding your question about high school science curriculum and differing scientific viewpoints under the Read More ›
Unintelligent Designs on Academic Freedom
It’s been an unusual week in the academy. The academic freedom that so incensed Bill Buckley as a student at Yale decades ago is now acting to protect a conservative scholar under fire. Baylor’s J.M. Dawson Institute for Church-State Studies hired Francis Beckwith as its Associate Director last summer. Although previously known as a philosopher who had developed powerful critiques Read More ›
Cobb County (Georgia) School Board Promotes Academic Freedom, Not Religion
Praising the adoption Thursday night of a policy encouraging the “discussion of disputed views” about evolution in Cobb County, Georgia schools, Discovery Institute President Bruce Chapman called the decision “a victory for academic freedom and good science education” and faulted critics of the policy for “trying to mischaracterize the controversy as a battle over religion.” “The policy adopted by the Read More ›