Intelligent Design Movement

Intelligent design (ID) is the late 20th century, nominally nonreligious creationist alternative to the theory of evolution. ID suggests that living organisms are irreducibly complex and cannot have occurred by natural processes. This complexity, they argue, reflects the hand of an unnamed “designer.” Supporters of ID believe that this intelligent agent has a continuous hand in the development of all life and science cannot unravel the design processes that support life.

Intelligent design was developed as a response to a 1987 Supreme Court decision that forbids the inclusion of religious discussions in science courses. Thus, ID stripped creationism of its association with God and the Bible, although rhetoric within the ID community suggests that religion and philosophy, not science, are the underpinnings of ID.

Proponents of ID contend that evolution is “only” a theory and alternative theories and multiple viewpoints must be considered, especially in public school biology classes. Scientific theories are coherent principles that explain naturalistic phenomena and can be used to predict future changes and events; they are analyzed through the exploration of testable hypothesis and evaluation of concrete evidence. Supporters of ID eschew such exploration, claiming that the finely calibrated interdependence of the systems that support life point to the presence of a designer in the creative processes. While most academics and scientists refute ID, the Discovery Institute—the major ID think tank—has recruited several scholars to sit on its board. Michael Behe, a biologist at Lehigh University and a member of the Discovery Institute, has published limited research supporting ID; no other empirical research addressing ID is, to date, found in the peer-reviewed press. Most discussion of ID occurs in the political and public policy arenas, as an attempt to influence educational practice.

ID is an outgrowth of creationism and creation science, a dogma that suggests that God or a supernatural being created all life on earth in a perfect form. As early as 1982, in McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education, the Arkansas Supreme Court determined that creation science had no scientific merit. This decision was based on the understanding of what constitutes a viable scientific theory: one that both suggests a mechanism for predicting future changes or events and does not involve a miracle or supernatural hand. However, the teaching of creation science was not banned from public schools until 1987 (Edwards v. Aguillard) when the U.S. Supreme Court determined that creation science advanced religious perspectives. It was this ruling that spurred the development of Intelligent Design.

In 2004, the Dover Area (Pennsylvania) School Board and, in 2005, the Kansas State Board of Education, both mandated the teaching of ID as an alternative to evolution. In late 2005, in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School Board, a federal district court [Page 752]struck down the Dover requirement, declaring that ID is religion, not science, and unconstitutional to teach in public schools. Although, to date, no legal action has been taken regarding the Kansas mandate, legal scholars suggest that the Kansas law will be struck down in the near future.