January 27, 2005
"Stealth attack on evolution" in Time
Contained in the January 31, 2005, issue of Time magazine is "Stealth attack on evolution," by Michael D. Lemonick, Noah Isackson, and Jeffrey Ressner. Asking "Who is behind the movement to give equal time to Darwin's critics, and what do they really want?" the article warns of a new wave of assaults on evolution education, coming "not from Bible-wielding Fundamentalists but from well-funded think tanks promoting a theory they call intelligent design." Noting the dubious constitutionality of teaching "intelligent design" in the public school science classroom, the Time reporters explain that its promoters now recommend that "schools should continue teaching evolution but also present what [the Discovery Institute's John] West calls 'some of the scientific criticism of major parts of the theory.'" NCSE executive director Eugenie C. Scott was quoted, however, as explaining that "[t]eaching evidence against evolution is a back-door way of teaching creationism," and the article later suggests that "[a] look at where the Discovery Institute gets much of its money and at the religious beliefs of many scientists who support I.D. makes it reasonable to suspect that Scott's assertion is correct: intelligent design is just a smoke screen for those who think evolution is somehow ungodly."