The evolution of intelligent design in Texas schools (pt. 2)

July 14, 11:55 AMAustin Independent ExaminerSean P. Harris

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(Photo: Sean P. Harris)

Governor Rick Perry announced on Friday his appointment of board member Gail Lowe to replace Don McLeroy as chairperson of the Texas State Board of Education. Gail Lowe is a Lampasas newspaper editor and has been a member of the State Board of Education since 2002. She is also a proponent of Intelligent Design.

Last January, the board voted on whether ID should be included in high school biology textbooks for the state of Texas. Chapter 112.34.(7a-f) of the curriculum included the language “analyze and evaluate” in accordance with all teachings regarding evolutionary theory.

In my previous article about the evolution of intelligent design in Texas schools, I highlighted the criticism of board members (notably religious conservative Cynthia Dunbar) for nominating well known creationists to the advisory panel. The most controversial advisor on the panel was Vice President of the Discovery Institute, Stephen C. Meyer, a well known scientific philosopher and champion of the Intelligent Design movement. He was the co-author of the textbook Explore Evolution which the Texas Citizens for Science says “falsely [misrepresents] the accuracy and reliability of modern evolutionary science.”

Governor Perry’s appointment of Gail Lowe coincides with the publication of Stephen C. Meyer’s new book Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design. The promotional website for the book says that Dr. Meyer shows how “it is precisely our modern scientific age that is in the process of burying materialist theories of life’s development.” During a speech at the Heritage Foundation to launch the publication of his book, Dr. Meyer argued that the information encoded in our DNA could be proof of ID because the only thing “capable of producing information . . . is intelligent agency.”

The aim of Dr. Meyer is to approach the probability of ID from an empirical rather than a religious perspective in order to promote it in the scientific community. The benefit of this approach for supporters of ID is that it contradicts the arguments of Evolution proponents like Richard Dawkins who follow Brandon Carter’s “self-selection principle” which says that the origin of life was a “chemical event that forged the first self-replicating molecule and hence triggered natural selection of DNA and ultimately all of life" (Dawkins, 94-95).

If Meyer is able to garner enough support for ID as a scientific theory, future board of education debates over ID in the biology curriculum could go very differently. It would also help the religious right side-step the “separation of church and state” argument. Dr. Meyer stands to benefit monetarily since he is a textbook author and one of the country’s leading experts on Intelligent Design.

The Texas Board of Education’s current list of adopted biology textbooks expires in 2010. Gail Lowe’s term as chair expires Feb. 1, 2011. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Texas State Board of Education revisit the issue of Evolution and Intelligent Design in the near future, especially if Meyer’s theory gains momentum. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see a new biology textbook from Dr. Meyer or the Discovery Institute in the coming years.

Governor Perry’s appointment of Gail Lowe to chair the SBOE and the publication of Meyer's new book could be a turning point in the evolution of Intelligent Design in Texas schools.

Other references:

Pinker, Steven, Richard Dawkins, Daniel C. Dennett, Lisa Randall, Marc D. Hauser, and Tim D. White. "Intelligent Aliens". Intelligent Thought: Science Versus the Intelligent Design Movement. Ed. John Brockman. New York: Vintage, 2006. p. 92-106.