May 22, 2000

Congress briefed by intelligent-design proponents
___By Tom Strode
___SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
___WASHINGTON (BP)--Proponents of intelligent design in nature are not seeking the suppression of Darwinism in culture but an open discussion by which people can evaluate the conflicting views, a critic of evolution said in a Capitol Hill briefing May 10.
___ Phillip Johnson, law professor at the University of California-Berkeley, acknowledged some in the intelligent-design movement were uneasy about holding a briefing in Washington.
___ Advocates of intelligent design "want to make sure that we don't give anybody the impression that what we're looking for is some kind of power play," Johnson said to the gathering in a House of Representatives office building. "That's what the other guys do. They're the ones who use your tax money to promote their philosophy and censor any opposing" perspective.
___"We do want people in positions of authority to understand what the real issues are, because part of good government, with law, is to open up discussion," said Johnson, whose series of books, including "Darwin on Trial," has questioned the validity of Darwinian evolution.
___ "So all we need is open discussion" in universities, the culture and public schools, Johnson said.
___ "In short, we want the schools to educate instead of indoctrinate."
___ The Capitol Hill briefing, which was sponsored by the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, featured presentations on the scientific evidence for intelligent design and its implications for public policy and education.
___ Intelligent design proponents believe scientific evidence points to a purposeful agent outside the universe. Darwinists accept his theory of evolution by natural selection and support scientific materialism, the view that nature is, as briefing speaker Stephen Meyer described it, "eternal, self-existent and self-creating,"
___ Led by Johnson and scientists such as Lehigh University's Michael Behe, the intelligent design movement has made progress in recent years in providing an alternative to Darwinian evolution. The movement is an umbrella for a diversity of beliefs, said speakers at the briefing. Among those who accept intelligent design are Christians, Jews, agnostics, Muslims and Hare Krishnas. The movement also includes young-earth advocates as well as those who accept the prevalent scientific view that the earth is ancient.
___ "The nice thing about intelligent design is it's the proverbial big tent," Behe said at the briefing, which was attended by about 60 people.
___ The common trait under that tent is the view that absolute, objective truth exists, said author Nancy Pearcey.
___ The intensity of debate over the intelligent design movement is illustrated by recent events at Baylor University, Johnson said.
___ Baylor University President Robert Sloan has come under attack by some faculty members for establishing the Michael Polanyi Center on campus. That center's purpose, in part, is to study the claims of intelligent design.
___ William Dembski, director of the Polanyi Center at Baylor, was scheduled to speak at the Capitol Hill briefing but did not attend because of the controversy at Baylor, Johnson said.





Send this story to a friend

---

Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!