Evolution Debate In Federal Court
Parents Challenge School Board's 'Intelligent Design' Requirement
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Play CBS Video Video Teaching 'Intelligent Design' In Pennsylvania, the debate over teaching evolution in public schools is heating up again. A school district is defending a policy to teach students about 'intelligent design.' Thalia Assuras reports.
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Video Mom Against Intelligent Design Barrie Callahan is one of 11 parents who, along with the ACLU, are suing the Dover, Pa., school board for mandating that students must be taught the theory of intelligent design.
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Video Pro Intelligent Design Richard Thompson, from the conservative Thomas More Law Center, backs the Dover school board's decision to teach intelligent design.
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Witold J. Walczak, legal director for the state Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, addresses a news conference at the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., on Dec. 14, 2004. (AP)
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Clarence Darrow, left, and William Jennings Bryan sit beside one another at the Scopes Monkey Trial in Dayton, Tenn. in this 1925 file photo. (AP)
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Charles Darwin (CBS/AP)
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"What this is is a controversy surrounding the biological evolution and this is why it should be in the science class," Thompson said.
It requires teachers to read a statement that says intelligent design differs from Darwin's view and refers students to an intelligent-design textbook, "Of Pandas and People," for more information.
"All the Dover school board did was allow students to get a glimpse of a controversy that is really boiling over in the scientific community," Thompson said.
The Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think tank that represents many scholars who support intelligent design, opposes mandating it in public schools. Nevertheless, it considers the Dover lawsuit an attempt to squelch voluntary debates over evolution.
"It's Scopes in reverse. They're going to get a gag order to be placed on teachers across the country," said institute senior fellow John West.
Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, which supports the teaching of evolution in public schools, said the controversy has little to do with science because mainstream scientists have rejected intelligent-design theory.
Intelligent design supporters "seem to have shifted virtually entirely to political and rhetorical efforts to sway the general public," Scott said. "The bitter truth is that there is no argument going on in the scientific community about whether evolution took place."
©MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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