‘Intelligent design’ ruling dismays group
SEATTLE – The Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think tank that has been a leading proponent of “intelligent design,” never agreed with the Dover, Pa., school board’s decision to mandate teaching of the theory.
Nevertheless, U.S. District Judge John Jones’ ruling Tuesday that struck down the policy and battered intelligent design as a transparent mask for creationism infuriated the institute, which in response called Jones – a Republican churchgoer – an “activist” and the ruling a “futile attempt to censor science education.” The judge could have limited his remarks to finding the policy an unconstitutional establishment of religion, the institute said.
“Judge Jones got on his soapbox to offer his own views of science, religion and evolution,” John West, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, said in a news release. “He makes it clear that he wants his place in history as the judge who issued a definitive decision about intelligent design. This is an activist judge who has delusions of grandeur.”
Intelligent design is the notion that some features of the natural world are best explained as products of an intelligent cause. The Dover school board mandated that it be taught in science classes – an approach the Discovery Institute disagreed with, saying teachers should be allowed to discuss “gaps” in evolutionary theory if they want to.
“We’re not heartbroken about the policy being struck down,” West said. “We do have concerns about the judge getting on his soapbox … and trying to stifle debate by court order.”
The Discovery Institute describes itself as a general policy think tank that embraces “God-given reason and the permanency of human nature” as well as democratic, free-market and other ideals. Its fellows publish articles and conduct research on a variety of topics, ranging from international relations to defense.
In 2003, the institute received a 10-year, $9.5 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to explore solutions to regional transportation problems.
The institute’s board of directors includes several prominent business and political leaders, including former Republican U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, retired Microsoft Corp. Chief Operating Officer Robert Herbold, Madrona Venture Group co-founder Tom Alberg and former state attorney general candidate Mike Vaska.
Vaska and Gorton joined to help with the institute’s transportation initiative. Gorton declined to comment about the intelligent design issue Tuesday, but Vaska said he was dismayed by the institute’s response to the ruling.
“It’s very troubling to me when people, every time they lose in court, blame it on an ‘activist judge,’ ” Vaska said. He added in an e-mail: “I also read the judge’s opinion (most of it at least). He’s not a ‘judicial activist.’ “
Vaska, a Lutheran and a moderate Republican, said he supports the Discovery Institute because it supports those who wish to challenge orthodoxy. Board members don’t necessarily agree with every position the institute takes, he said.
Herbold and Alberg could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Discovery Institute filed two legal briefs in the case. During a six-week trial that preceded the judge’s ruling, two senior fellows at the Discovery Institute testified on behalf of the school board: Michael Behe, a Lehigh University professor whose own biology department chairman declared his work “simply not science”; and University of Idaho microbiology professor Scott Minnich, whose involvement in the case prompted the university’s president to forbid teaching intelligent design in science classes.
The Discovery Institute has said that the treatment of Behe and Minnich are prime examples of how dangerous it is for researchers to oppose the scientific establishment.