Vox populi, vox Dei
by Nathan Williams

The current school board debates in Kansas have, as of this writing, expanded to stunning new ground. Intelligent Design (formerly Creationism) advocates have embraced the logical conclusions of their stance and are attacking not merely the teaching of biological evolution, but the traditional conception of science itself. If passed, the changes to curriculum in Kansas schools would allow investigation of non-natural causes for natural phenomena. Ohio has already instituted such a definition of science.

The argument for such action is that traditional science, far from being dispassionate and neutral as it intends (or at least claims), assumes a specific theological worldview: that God is not active in worldly matters. We should, Intelligent Design advocates argue, at least allow students the possibility that certain phenomena are the result not of material cause but of supernatural force. Serious scientists and liberals are understandably appalled. Thousands of years of secular scientific progress is being reversed, they lament, by evangelical buffoons. 

But who are these buffoons? Are they not the people of Kansas themselves, who elected the current conservative majority on the school board? Are they not, in fact, the citizens of the United States? A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 57% of Americans favor teaching Creationism in schools, and only 33% oppose it. How important is the pursuit of Truth if it conflicts with the voice of the People?

 

 

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