Where did we come from?:
Darby meeting to discuss teaching intelligent design
By JENNY JOHNSON Staff Reporter
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Nearly 80 years after the John Scopes "Monkey" trial helped established Darwin's theory of evolution as the benchmark in public science education, a theory known as intelligent design is clamoring for recognition across the country.
There's a town meeting scheduled in Darby Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the junior high gym to discuss the merits of teaching the concept.
And Darby is no exception. Public education science standards have long eliminated teaching creationism after the courts decided the Genesis version of where we came from was a violation of church-and-state standards. But supporters of the intelligent design theory argue education standards should include language saying that Darwin's theory of evolution remains unproved and is challenged by other theories.
Curriculum adopted by the Montana Board of Public Education - and school districts within the state - teaches Darwin's theory, but no others. And the Leave No Child Behind act adopted by President Bush calls for academic standards that include arguments both for and against evolution.
A community committee looking at Darby's curriculum and instruction last year identified intelligent design theory as a top priority for planning. Wednesday, a town meeting about the theory and how it can be integrated into science curriculum will be held at the Darby Junior High gym at 6:30 p.m.
"The meeting is all about teaching origin science objectively," said Curtis Brickley, an intelligent design supporter who will be presenting the power-point presentation Wednesday. "There is controversy in the scientific community. The discovery of evolution doesn't explain the complexity of the design."
Launched in 1991 by a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley, intelligent design theory basically proposes that the intricate complexity of plants and animals is evidence that life could only be the work of an intelligent designer, not evolution. The theory stops short of declaring what or who that intelligent designer might be.
"What we're asking is to teach the evidence for and against evolution," Brickley said. Brickley runs a ministry and has two children coming into the Darby School District.
Brickley argues that restricting science academic standards to evolution theory censors information from students and in order to teach objective, science-based curriculum, schools must offer other theories.
"Challenging commonly held perceptions is part of science," he said. "Let's teach our students to think critically."
U.S. courts have clearly established the teaching of creationism is illegal in public schools. Until 1987, public schools could teach multiple theories about where we came from - a religiously charged question. But in a 7-2 Supreme Court decision, creationism was deemed to violate the Establishment Clause.
Ohio education officials one year ago included various science theories, including intelligent design, in public school curriculum.
An attorney from the Montana School Boards Association advised Darby school officials that they shouldn't adopt curriculum that isn't in line with state standards. The school district is providing the gym space for the meeting but isn't sponsoring informational presentation.
Defenders of the science standards counter that intelligent design has no scientific backing and should not be included in academic standards. Critics of the theory have called it a subtle approach to insert religious belief into science instruction.
Brickley says that the push to teach intelligent design theory isn't a God issue, but an academic issue. He also asserts that school districts have the right to establish curriculum.
"It's a science-versus-science controversy," he said.
Reporter Jenny Johnson can be reached at 363-3300 or jjohnson@ravallirepublic.com
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