Many of us have celebrated the ousting of all the pro-Intelligent Design school board members in
Dover, Pennsylvania. However, overlooked in all of this is the fact that the replacement board members
do not oppose teaching Intelligent Design in schools. In fact, they support it, with one very important and key caveat:
It should be noted that the incoming board members from the Dover CARES campaign [which includes the eight Dem challengers who won] have a platform plank saying that "intelligent design" will be taught in Dover public schools. However, the venue of such instruction will not be the science classrooms, where it was out-of-place, but rather an elective course on comparative religion, where it fits perfectly.
How this development is important for the emerging fight in red-state Kansas on the flip.
Note that the Dover school board wasn't a sweep by some anti-Intelligent Design fervor. It was swept by people who argued for teaching Intelligent Design
in context. This is an important distinction when moving from a more purple state like Pennsylvania to a very red state like Kansas. In Kansas, being against Intelligent Design can be successfully framed as "against God". And that definitely won't win you a school board sweep in the next Kansas election.
Now, that's not to say that Flying Spaghetti Monster letters, heaping scorn, lawsuits, and general public humiliation for the State of Kansas doesn't have its place. It does. But the real goal we should shoot for here, the outcome we should demand in any lawsuit filed, is the very one that the newly-elected Dover School Board holds, which is that Intelligent Design should be taught in an elective Comparative Religion and/or Philosophy class. As Intelligent Design is essentially a teleological argument for the existence of God, it is entirely appropriate that it would be taught in such a context.
Why is this important? Well, if we are to begin addressing the conundrum of fundamentalism in our own nation (and the evidence is that we must do so if we ever hope to truly bring down the Right), then we must start by "de-fundamentalizing" our population. And, there is no better way to do this than to expose our upcoming generation to alternative philosophies and points of view. As a born-and-raised Red Stater, I can guarantee that this is something that no fundamentalist wants.
The Intelligent Designers are basically trying to get "God" into the public classroom to contend with "godless science", evolution in particular. By accepting Intelligent Design in the classroom but at the same time demanding that it be taught in the appropriate context, we will parry their thrust by injecting philosophy and logic and comparative religion into the debate about God. By proposing Intelligent Design, the fundamentalists will have opened a can of worms that they will live to regret. We will in effect use their "God in the classroom" desire for Intelligent Design against them to achieve our larger strategic goals for our society. We can make their Intelligent Design effort to convert Americans to their religious worldview backfire, and use it to help new generations of Americans come to know and understand the larger, less parochial view.
Imagine you are a young red-stater. You go to church every week, have grown up believing in your god and your parents religion. Other ideas are not intrusive on your daily life or routine. You are never exposed to any other points of view. These days, unless you go to an increasingly unaffordable college and take a philosophy course or a comparative religion course, you can go your whole life in Red State America without ever getting out of your philosophical comfort zone. Then, suddenly, in high school, you have access to a course where you can learn about Intelligent Design. But, you are learning it in the context of questions like "Does God Exist?" And you are learning about your religion in the context of other world religions whose beliefs are given equal time and weight (and as an added bonus, upcoming generations of Americans will have a much broader, firmer understanding of Islam than we do today...).
Can you even begin to fathom what this new philosophical diversity in our schools will do to fundamentalistic worldviews? Their ideas will be undermined simply by the fact that other religions are given equal weight and credence. Ideas about Intelligent Design taught along with debate on philosophical questions like "Does God Exist?" will undermine what fundies have been indoctrinated in their whole lives: an unquestioning belief in the existence of their particular deity and the truth of their particular creed. Knowledge of other religions promotes tolerance for other viewpoints and undermines the fundamentalists belief that their faith is the one and only true faith. Thus, by proposing Intelligent Design, fundies will in essence be sowing the seeds of their own world-view's destruction.
So, I say, let's give them what they want: Intelligent Design and "God" in the classroom. But, we must be firm that it can't and shouldn't occur in science classrooms, but must be taught in the context a philosophy and comparative religion course (which is the LAST thing true fundies want...). Such a course would both serve every up-and-coming red state youth (and the future of our nation) well and at the same time serve the fundies up with a nice cold plate of Leftist Revenge. Bon Apetit, fundies! Eat up!