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| Home | > | Persuasive | > | Controversial Topic |
This assignment aimed to give us experience in persuasive writing on a topic related to current events.
Intelligent Design
The topic of intelligent design, particularly whether it should be taught alongside the theory of evolution in federally-funded biology classes, has grown into a major national debate in the past few years. In the midst of school board decisions, court rulings, and other related events in recent months, it is important to look at the topic itself to attempt to discern whether teaching such a theory amounts to a violation of the U.S. Constitution, particularly the First Amendment which prohibits the establishment of a state religion.
Proponents define intelligent design as a theory stating that the universe is simply too complex to have formed in the way it did by itself, regardless of the time span. Supporters then argue that because it is so complex, a “higher intelligence” must have been involved in its formation. This idea is distinct from creationism solely because it acknowledges the theory of evolution as the probable explanation for nature as we see it today, but rejects the notion that such a thing occurs randomly and without divine guidance.
Now, one might ask, what's so bad about teaching that in biology classes. It's the “higher intelligence” part that causes the snag. A higher intelligence is a vague concept, but it's most closely (and easily) related to the notion of a supreme being, or god. Federally-funded schools can't mandate that students learn about a concept that endorses any kind of supreme being or beings. The first sentence of the first amendment in the Bill of Rights says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” James Madison, the architect of the Bill of Rights, thought this protection so important that he made it the very first one. He listed it just before “freedom of speech”.
Now, allowing the teaching of intelligent design to high school students isn't exactly setting up a Church of the United States , but it clearly violates the secular nature of the federal education system. If you endorse the teaching of a vague “higher intelligence”, teaching evolution could soon completely disappear. Teachers have a fixed time to impart knowledge, and if they choose to skip the theory of evolution because it's “just a theory” and teach intelligent design, clear problems arise. Evolution is a theory based on scientifically-verified evidence collected over the course of several decades. Intelligent design is not scientifically verifiable at all. The theory with scientific backing should be the one taught in science courses, not the alternative.
Even at first accepting the vague language the concept uses to avoid an outright endorsement of a Judeo-Christian god, I believe the most telling aspect of the intelligent design debate is the fact that the idea's most outspoken proponents are predominantly Christian fundamentalists. One in particular, Pat Robertson, has been very outspoken on the issue, even going so far as to condemn the citizens of Dover, PA when they voted out members of the city's school board who wanted the concept taught alongside evolution and warned them that they had voted God himself out of their city. That is a very telling statement about not only what Christian fundamentalists believe intelligent design is, but also what it actually is. If in fact proponents acknowledge that intelligent design endorses a notion of a God, as Robertson basically did, and not just a general higher intelligence, then teaching intelligent design is undoubtedly unconstitutional as a violation of the First Amendment. It is that simple.
I believe that if parents want their children to know the differences between evolution and intelligent design, they have a responsibility to tell them themselves. It is not, and it should not be, the job of the state to educate students on matters of faith, especially when such education endorses a single Christian god, who although was intelligent enough to form an entire universe through mere thought, is apparently not intelligent enough to realize that voters in Dover, PA didn't vote out the school members as a personal affront against Him.
