INTELLIGENT DESIGN: CREATIONISM’S TROJAN HORSE

The Texas Education Agency put the director, Dr. Chris Comer, on 30 days' paid administrative leave in late October,2007 resulting in what Dr. Comer called a forced resignation. The state's director of science curriculum said she resigned this month under pressure from officials who said she had given the appearance of criticizing the teaching of “intelligent design.”

The move came shortly after she forwarded an e-mail message announcing a presentation by Barbara Forrest, an author of Creationism's Trojan Horse. The book argues that creationist politics are behind the movement to get intelligent design theory taught in public schools. Dr. Comer sent the message to several people and a few online communities.

Why am I not surprised this happened in Texas? However, Texas and Dr. Comer's forced resignation is just the symptom of a national crisis regarding the agenda of Evangelical right-wing extremists to replace the teaching of evolution with so called "intelligent design." However, do not think that these whacko’s stop at "intelligent design." During the Ohio fiasco a couple of years ago the head of the group pushing "intelligent design" also was pushing "the theory of intelligent falling." Yes, that's right, "intelligent falling."

So, what is "the theory of intelligent falling?" According to this nut case who just happens to hold a Ph.D. from Harvard which he gleefully states he obtained to "legitimize by his credentials" and thus the entire creationist agenda, "the theory of intelligent falling" denies the legitimacy of Newton's "theory of gravity." According to "the theory of intelligent falling," Newton was wrong and gravity does not exist. Things fall because God wills them to fall. Like Creationism "gap theorists" who claim evolution does not exist because there are "gaps" in the fossil record of transitional fossils from one species to another, the fact that Newton’s' theory of gravity cannot explain how angels fly, how Jesus rose  into the clouds at his assertion, and other biblically based supernatural events "proves" Newton was wrong. Conversely, the "theory of intelligent falling," at least within the convoluted religious, scientific, and world-view of these Evangelical right-wing extremists, explains how these supernatural events occurred: God willed them to occur.

If you do not see the causal, to say nothing of the "scientific" relationship between why things fall and supernatural events of elevation as being one and the same, then you do not understand "biblical science" which is the catch all term given to "intelligent design," "the theory of intelligent falling," and other such "bible based science" and why according to its proponents such "science" must be taught in public schools in place of Darwin, Newton, and any other "false" science predicated on the laws of physics that contradict "true science;" that is, "biblical science" as understood by these Evangelical right-wing extremists.

Oh, just so that there is not confusion about what is being said and hopefully taught in the public schools in the name of "biblical science," according to its proponents such teaching has nothing to do with faith beliefs and would not violate the separation between church and state because "religion" would not be taught by teaching "biblical science." Rather, science would be taught - science revealed to the ancient Hebrews who wrote it down as stated in the Genesis account of creation.

While any reasonable person may be tempted to laugh out loud at such ludicrous postulations as put forth by the proponents of "biblical science," that is a luxury that is ill afforded. The fact is that to a greater or lesser degree, despite losing every court case where they have tried to interject "intelligent design" into public school curricula, they have been successful in dominating school boards at both the local and state levels in several states. Moreover, in the bible-belt states they have been very successful in pressuring academics and academic institutions not to publicly deny their legitimacy or the legitimacy of their "science." Thus, they have been able to create a public bully pulpit from which to condemn mainstream science and proclaim their "biblical science" as the only "true science" with no fear of having to defend themselves or their "biblical science" from mainstream scientists in academia.

And, like anti-abortion zealots who hope to overturn Roe, they are embolden by the current composition of the Supreme Court, especially after that Court's upholding of the law that made the so called "partial birth abortion" illegal. They are convinced that all they have to do is get a case regarding "intelligent design" before the Supreme Court and "intelligent design" will be taught as a theory equally valid with that of evolution or even replace evolution as science in public schools.