Issue: Evolution and Intelligent Design
17 August 2005
Eighty years after the infamous Scopes "monkey trial" in Tennessee, the battle between evolution and creationism in the classroom returns to the courtroom -- this time in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, at the end of September.
In the intervening 80 years, it became legal to teach evolution in all 50 states, but not until 1968 in an Arkansas case argued before the US Supreme Court. The next assult on evolution came in the form of "scientific creationism." The Arkansas legislature passed an "equal time" bill in 1981 that mandated teaching both "evolutionary science" and "creation science." Like the prior case, this was struck down in McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education based on the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment: the law lacked a secular legislative purpose, its primary effect was to advance religion, and it fostered excessive government entanglement with religion.
In Edwards v. Aguillard, the Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana's "Creationism Act" -- that also mandated teaching both "evolutionary science" and "creation science" -- was unconstitutional.
In the late 1980s, with the publication of Of Pandas and People, the Discovery Institute in Seattle launched the latest assault on evolution in the classroom: the intelligent design [ID] movement. ID is, its proponents insist, designed to give students a "balanced perspective" on the origin of man.
The inclusion of ID in the curriculum was subsequently contested in Kansas, resulting in a 2005 revision of science guidelines.
Latest Developments
In August 2005, President Bush said schools should teach intelligent design, referencing the concept as a "different school of thought."
In September 2005, Kitzmiller, et al v. Dover Area School District will be heard in Harrsiburg, PA. The suit was filed to object to the requirement that intelligent design be taught in biology classes as an alternative to evolution.
History
In 1950, some thought that the battle between religion and evolution had reached detente. That's when Pope Pius XII said that "there was no opposition between evolution and the doctrine of the faith about man and his vocation," according to a speech given by Pope John Paul II in 1996. He went on to say:
Eighty years after the infamous Scopes "monkey trial" in Tennessee, the battle between evolution and creationism in the classroom returns to the courtroom -- this time in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, at the end of September.
In the intervening 80 years, it became legal to teach evolution in all 50 states, but not until 1968 in an Arkansas case argued before the US Supreme Court. The next assult on evolution came in the form of "scientific creationism." The Arkansas legislature passed an "equal time" bill in 1981 that mandated teaching both "evolutionary science" and "creation science." Like the prior case, this was struck down in McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education based on the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment: the law lacked a secular legislative purpose, its primary effect was to advance religion, and it fostered excessive government entanglement with religion.
In Edwards v. Aguillard, the Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana's "Creationism Act" -- that also mandated teaching both "evolutionary science" and "creation science" -- was unconstitutional.
In the late 1980s, with the publication of Of Pandas and People, the Discovery Institute in Seattle launched the latest assault on evolution in the classroom: the intelligent design [ID] movement. ID is, its proponents insist, designed to give students a "balanced perspective" on the origin of man.
The inclusion of ID in the curriculum was subsequently contested in Kansas, resulting in a 2005 revision of science guidelines.
Latest Developments
In August 2005, President Bush said schools should teach intelligent design, referencing the concept as a "different school of thought."
In September 2005, Kitzmiller, et al v. Dover Area School District will be heard in Harrsiburg, PA. The suit was filed to object to the requirement that intelligent design be taught in biology classes as an alternative to evolution.
History
In 1950, some thought that the battle between religion and evolution had reached detente. That's when Pope Pius XII said that "there was no opposition between evolution and the doctrine of the faith about man and his vocation," according to a speech given by Pope John Paul II in 1996. He went on to say:
- Taking into account the state of scientific research and the time as well as of the requirements of theology, the Encyclical Humani generis considered the doctrine of 'evolutionism' a serious hypothesis, worthy of investigation and in-depth study equal to that of the opposite hypothesis. Pius XII added two methodological conditions: that this opinion should not be adopted as though it were a certain, proven doctrine as though one could totally prescind from Revelation with regard to the questions it raises. He also spelled out the condition on which this opinion would be compatible with the Christian faith, a point to which I will return.
Today, almost half a century after the publication of the Encyclical, new knowledge has led to the recognition in the theory of evolution of more than a hypothesis. It is indeed remarkable that this theory has been progressively accepted by researchers, following a series of discoveries in various fields of knowledge. The convergence, neither sought nor fabricated, of the results of work that was conducted independently is in itself a significant argument in favor of this theory.
