Growth of Intelligent Design

By way of DC Debate, The Chicago Tribune has an interesting story on the growth of the theory of intelligent design, and the motives of its proponents.

"A decade ago most Americans had never heard of intelligent design, or ID. But, in the last year, the term has surfaced repeatedly in politics, media and education as the rallying point for religious conservatives in the culture war over the teaching of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution."

The prime engine propelling the dissemination of the theory is the Discovery Institute, a Seattle think tank whose $4 million budget is heavily funded by conservative Christian donors. The group has laid out its goals in a 1999 fundraising document called "The Wedge Strategy."

Determined to drive a "wedge" into the tree trunk of "scientific materialism," it said, "Design theory promises to reverse the stifling dominance of the materialistic worldview, and to replace it with a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions."

This is very scary. Science is the bedrock of all progression in America, while ID is simply a covered-up religious ideology that undermines the legitimacy of science. The notion of reteaching or molding science to satisfy a baseless idea is farcical, and the Discovery Institute's claim that science is "hostile" toward religion is nothing more than a far-right talking-point.