Bush Endorses Unintelligent Design

Posted on August 3, 2005

President George W. Bush has now officially endorsed teaching the religious concept of "Intelligent Design" in schools. So, what's the problem? Well, for starters, the "Intelligent Design" theory of creation isn't science. Ergo, it shouldn't be taught in science class. The Washington Post reports:

Although he said that curriculum decisions should be made by school districts rather than the federal government, Bush told Texas newspaper reporters in a group interview at the White House on Monday that he believes that intelligent design should be taught alongside evolution as competing theories.
"Both sides ought to be properly taught . . . so people can understand what the debate is about," he said, according to an official transcript of the session. Bush added: "Part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought. . . . You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, and the answer is yes."
These comments drew sharp criticism yesterday from opponents of the theory, who said there is no scientific evidence to support it and no educational basis for teaching it.
Much of the scientific establishment says that intelligent design is not a tested scientific theory but a cleverly marketed effort to introduce religious -- especially Christian -- thinking to students. Opponents say that church groups and other interest groups are pursuing political channels instead of first building support through traditional scientific review.

The problem with Intelligent Design is that it sounds reasonable, but it's really just Creationism-lite. Many prominent physicists who deal with questions of the origin and structure of the universe believe in God and evolution, as do most Americans. But religion and matters of faith don't belong in the science classes of our public schools. That should be left for a survey of religion course or for sunday school. American students are falling behind the rest of the world in their math and science studies which will have grave implications for their future. This is not going to help.