Evolution vs. intelligent design: The battle continues

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The contest between supporters of evolution and proponents of intelligent design continues to show signs that it is heating up rather than simmering down. Many expected the intelligent design movement to lose steam after a federal judge ruled in December 2005 that the Dover, Pa., school board’s decision to require the teaching of intelligent design in science classes was an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state. Instead, proponents have created more conferences, textbooks and public school debates. Meanwhile, the debate continues in the public square, with presidential candidates discussing their views on evolution and with the multimillion-dollar Creation Museum attracting crowds in Kentucky with high-tech exhibits that tell the story of creation according to a literal interpretation of the Bible.

What’s next? Critics say intelligent design supporters have changed strategy since Dover. In a paper written for the Center for Inquiry, Barbara Forrest, a philosophy professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, says intelligent design proponents are shifting from insisting that the concept be taught to asking that criticism of evolution be taught. Others say intelligent design proponents will promote their theory on the grounds that children should be taught critical thinking. Still others predict the next battle between the two will be over academic freedom – an area Jay Wexler, a law professor at Boston University, says will be harder for the evolution camp to win because it deals with freedom of speech.

Some observers say the effects of the ongoing struggle are more subtle, but still harmful. They say many science educators are avoiding teaching evolution at all for fear of attracting controversy. And as the 2008 elections loom, critics say they worry that the focus on the national election will allow local anti-evolution candidates to quietly run for local and state school positions.

Americans remain divided. In August 2006, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released a poll that found that 51 percent of Americans believe that humans evolved over time, while 42 percent said humans have existed only in their present form. A November 2004 Gallup poll found that 35 percent of Americans said that evolution is well-supported by evidence, 35 percent said it is not, and 29 percent said they didn’t know enough about it to reply.

What’s new

  • On the next anniversary of Darwin’s birthday – Feb. 12, 2008 – Premise Media will release Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, a feature film defending intelligent design, starring Ben Stein. On the same date in 2006, a documentary film titled Flock of Dodos, an examination of the evolutionist argument, was released.
  • In the summer of 2007, thousands of unsolicited copies of Atlas of Creation were sent to scientists, professors, legislators and others in North America and Europe. It was written by Harun Yahya, the pen name of Adnan Oktar, a Turkish Muslim who has produced many books and video condemning the “deceit” of evolution.
  • On Sept. 21-22, 2007, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, held a conference titled “Intelligent Design in Business Practice,” which examined whether people differ in their approach to business and economics depending on whether they believe in Darwinian ideas or intelligent design.
  • More than 10,000 clergy have signed the Clergy Letter Project, which asks that evolution be taught in public schools. The project began in 2004, when Wisconsin clergy were asked to sign on. The project quickly went national, and since 2006, it has sponsored “Evolution Sundays” and now “Evolution Weekends” to discuss the compatibility of Christianity and science in Christian congregations.
  • In August 2007, high school teachers from across the country attended a conference at Biola University, a Christian school in La Mirada, Calif., to examine a high school science curriculum based on Explore Evolution, a new textbook published by the Discovery Institute, the home base of the intelligent design movement. Another intelligent design textbook, The Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence in Biological Systems, appeared last year. These are intended to replace Of Pandas and People, an intelligent design textbook that many felt was discredited at the Dover trial.
  • In April 2007, Southern Methodist University in Dallas hosted a “Darwin vs. Design” conference sponsored by the Discovery Institute along with the university’s law school and Christian Legal Society. The conference featured four supporters of intelligent design and drew the ire of many SMU professors.
  • In May 2007, at the first televised debate among the 2008 Republican candidates, three said they did not believe in evolution – Sen. Sam Brownback, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Rep. Tom Tancredo. In the same month, the Creation Museum opened in Petersburg, Ky. The museum has already exceeded its projected attendance number for the year.
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Why it matters

The outcome of the tug-of-war between evolution and intelligent design will affect the way science is taught to children through at least the next generation.

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Definitions
Organizations
National sources
Background

Definitions

creationism: In the United States, creationism usually refers to the belief that the Bible’s account of creation is literally true and accurate. That generally means Genesis 1:1-2:4a, where God creates the Earth and all its life forms in six consecutive 24-hour days less than 10,000 years ago. (Genesis also tells a second creation story, in 2:4b-24, in which man is created before the Earth’s vegetation, and specific days are not described.)

Creationism is sometimes called “Young Earth” or “creation science.” Similarly, “Old Earth Creationism” is the belief that the Earth and all its life forms were created by God, but that the “days” may have been longer than 24 hours and there may have been gaps between days. However, there are as many creation stories as there are religions. The TalkOrigins Archive includes a page that describes the variety of Christian and non-Christian views of creationism.

evolution: The theory that all living things share a common ancestry. Evolutionists hold that the complex life forms we know today evolved from single-celled organisms over millions of years. There is also “theistic evolution,” which is the belief that God guided evolution, causing both the first life forms to appear as well as the eventual development of higher forms of life.

Darwinism: A theory of evolution developed by Charles Darwin in the 19th century. Darwinism is the theory that natural selection drives evolution: Life forms that most successfully adapt are those that survive. Darwinism is not the equivalent of evolution, but a theory for explaining how evolution occurred.

intelligent design: The belief that some aspects of life forms are so complex that they must reflect the design of a conscious, rational intelligence. ID proponents do not identify the designer. Many supporters of intelligent design do not believe that life forms share a common ancestor, although some do.

Organizations

PROPONENTS OF INTELLIGENT DESIGN

SUPPORTERS OF EVOLUTION

RELIGION AND SCIENCE ORGANIZATIONS

CITIZEN ORGANIZATIONS

  • As science standards in public schools have been challenged, a number of citizens groups, both for and against the teaching of evolution and/or intelligent design, have cropped up. Here are some.
  • Citizens for Science is a national umbrella group of state-based science advocacy groups. Its president is Reed Cartwright. Contact citizens@citizensforscience.org.
  • Alabama Citizens for Science Education promoted science education in Alabama public schools. In 2005, the group successfully battled to remove evolution disclaimers from science textbooks. It is based in Birmingham.
  • Colorado Citizens for Science was formed after the state’s science standards received a grade of “B” from the Fordham Foundation in 2000 because it avoided teaching evolution. It is based in Colorado Springs. Matt Young is president. Contact mmyoung@mines.edu.
  • The Colorado Evolution Response Team is a group of science professionals who organize to rebut anti-evolutionary claims. Contact CERT@evolutionarygenomics.com.
  • Georgia Citizens for Integrity in Science Education promotes scientific literacy in the state’s public schools. In 2006 it helped with a successful effort to get the Cobb County Board of Education to remove evolution disclaimer stickers from school science textbooks. The citizens group is based in Marietta. Michael Manely is its chairman. Contact 770-825-8002.
  • Kansas Citizens for Science advocates for science education in Kansas public schools. It was organized during the 1999 dispute over the Kansas State Board of Education’s decision to include intelligent design in the science curriculum. Harry McDonald is the group’s president. Contact 785-840-5113, biologycctrack@hotmail.com.
  • Michigan Citizens for Science is dedicated to promoting science education in Michigan public schools. Its president is Robert Pennock. Contact ebrayton@michigancitizensforscience.org.
  • Minnesota Citizens for Science Education promotes the teaching of evolutionary biology in the state’s public schools. Mark Borello sits on its advisory board. Contact 612-624-7079, borrello@umn.edu.
  • Nebraska Religious Coalition for Science Education is a group of Nebraskans of different religious backgrounds who proclaim the compatibility of evolution and theology. Contact Chuck Austerberry, 402-280-2154, cfauster@creighton.edu.
  • Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education was organized in 1999 when the Oklahoma State Board of Education required that stickers disclaiming the theory of evolution be inserted in science textbooks. The group is currently seeking signatures for a petition that would allow only science to be taught in science classes. Richard Broughton is its president-elect. Contact 405-325-5357, rbroughton@ou.edu.
  • Pennsylvania Citizens for Science was organized during the 2005 trial of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, better-known as the Dover intelligent design case.
  • South Carolinians for Science Education wants to preserve the state’s science education standards. It is battling state legislation that would allow the introduction of anti-evolution theories in science classrooms. Contact Rob Dillon, 843-953-8087, DillonR@cofc.edu.
  • Texas Citizens for Science seeks to preserve the quality of science education in Texas public schools. It is based in Midland. Contact 432-352-2265, texscience@ymail.com.

National sources

  • Mustafa Akyol is a Turkish writer who wrote an article on Islamonline.net asking Islamic scientists and other Muslims to dissent from Darwinism. He writes frequently for The Weekly Standard and blogs on religion, politics, science and culture. He is based in Istanbul. Contact akyol@mustafaakyol.com.
  • Michael Behe is a biochemistry professor at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., and author of Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution and The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism (2007). His Web page contains this disclaimer: “My ideas about irreducible complexity and intelligent design are entirely my own. They certainly are not in any sense endorsed by either Lehigh University in general or the Department of Biological Sciences in particular. In fact, most of my colleagues in the Department strongly disagree with them.” Contact 610-758-3474, mjb1@lehigh.edu.
  • Jennifer Wiseman is director of the American Association for the Advancement of Science‘s Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion program, which published a book, The Evolution Dialogues (2006), that examines evolution and the Christian response. Contact doser@aaas.org.
  • John Bloom is a physics professor at Biola University, a Christian school in La Mirada, Calif. He founded the school’s master’s degree program in science and religion, and he teaches a course in intelligent design that asks the question, “Why isn’t the evidence clearer?” In August 2007, Biola’s master’s degree program in science and religion hosted a symposium for high school science teachers on teaching a new science curriculum from the Discovery Institute. Contact via Rae Lynn Rucker in Biola’s media relations department, 562-777-4061, media.relations@biola.edu.
  • John Brockman is publisher of the online magazine Edge and editor of Intelligent Thought: Science Versus the Intelligent Design Movement (2006). Contact editor@edge.org.
  • Matthew Chapman is a great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin and the author of 40 Days and 40 Nights: Darwin, Intelligent Design, OxyContin and Other Oddities on Trial in Pennsylvania (2007). He attended the Dover, Pa., trial. He says that since Dover, there have been no serious attempts to put intelligent design into public school classrooms, but it is continuing to be accepted in private religious schools and camps. Contact matthew@matthewchapman.us.
  • Francis Collins is director of the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Md., and an evangelical Christian. In his book The Language of God (2006), he describes how he reconciles his faith with science and says he rejects intelligent design and sees evidence for evolution in gene studies. Contact 301-402-0911.
  • William Dembski is a research professor in philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and executive director of the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design in Princeton, N.J. He is the author or co-author of numerous books on intelligent design, including The Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence in Biological Systems (2006), a textbook co-authored with Jonathan Wells. Contact 817-923-1921 ext. 4435, wdembski@swbts.edu.
  • Taner Edis is a physicist at Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., who studies issues of science and religion, particularly Islam. He is the author of An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam (2007) and co-editor of Why Intelligent Design Fails: A Scientific Critique of the New Creationism (2004). Contact 660-785-4583.
  • Barbara Forrest is a philosophy professor at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond and the author of “Understanding the Intelligent Design Creationist Movement: Its True Nature and Goals,” a position paper published by the Center for Inquiry. She says that since their defeat in Dover, intelligent design proponents are reframing their attack on evolution by refraining from insisting that intelligent design be taught and instead asking that the strengths and flaws of evolution be taught. She cites the title of the new Discovery Institute science textbook, Explore Evolution, as an example of this new strategy. Contact 985-549-5097, bforrest@selu.edu.
  • Ken Ham is president of Answers in Genesis, which opened the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky. Contact 859-727-2222.
  • John Haught is a systematic theologian at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He has written and spoken widely on the subject of Christianity, evolution and intelligent design and testified for the parents who filed suit in the Dover trial. Contact 202-687-6119, haughtj@georgetown.edu.
  • Edward Humes is the author of Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion and the Battle for America’s Soul (2007). He has written that there are two theories of evolution – the scientific theory and the talk radio version. Contact shout@edwardhumes.com.
  • Cornelius Hunter is the author of Science’s Blind Spot: The Unseen Religion of Scientific Naturalism (2007). He is a fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture and an adjunct professor of biophysics at Biola University, a Christian school in La Mirada, Calif. Contact via Rob Crowther, director of media and public relations for the CSC, 206-292-0401 ext. 107, rob@discovery.org.
  • Peter Irons wrote God on Trial: Dispatches From America’s Religious Battlefields (2007). He is a professor emeritus of political science at the University of California, San Diego. Contact pirons@ucsd.edu.
  • Edward Larson is Richard B. Russell Professor of American History and Talmadge Professor of Law at the University of Georgia in Athens. He wrote Trial and Error: The American Controversy Over Creation and Evolution; Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion; Evolution’s Workshop: God and Science on the Galapagos Islands; and Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory. Contact 310-502-7593, edlarson@uga.edu.
  • Robert McHenry is a former editor in chief of Encyclopaedia Britannica and author of How to Know. He wrote an opinion piece on Britannica Blog taking to task the three Republican candidates who claim not to believe in evolution. Contact bob@howtoknow.com.
  • Joshua Rosenau is public information project director at the National Center for Science Education. As an evolutionary biologist in Kansas in 2005, he was involved in the fight there over science teaching standards. Rosenau comments on evolution and other science topics on his personal blog. Contact 510-601-7203, josh.rosenau@gmail.com.
  • Kenneth Miller is a biologist at Brown University in Providence, R.I. He says he regularly receives email from people questioning evolution, with an increasing number coming from Turkey, Lebanon and other areas in the Middle East. He testified for the plaintiffs in the Dover case. Contact 401-863-3410, kenneth_miller@brown.edu.
  • David Mills is the author of Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person’s Answer to Christian Fundamentalism (2006). He lives in Huntington, W.Va. Contact 304-417-0815, media4mills@davidmills.net.
  • Stephen Meyer is director of the Center for Science & Culture at the Discovery Institute in Seattle. He is the lead author of Explore Evolution: The Arguments For and Against Neo-Darwinism (2007), a textbook published by the Discovery Institute, an intelligent design think tank. Co-authors are Scott Minnich, Paul Nelson, Jonathan Moneymaker and Ralph Seelke. Contact via Rob Crowther, director of media and public relations for the CSC, 206-292-0401 ext. 107, rob@discovery.org.
  • Jason Rosenhouse is the author of Evolution Blog, a commentary on the debate between evolution and creationism. He is an assistant professor of mathematics at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. Contact 540-568-6459, rosenhjd@jmu.edu.
  • Eugenie Scott is director of the National Center for Science Education and co-editor of Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong for Our Schools (2006). Contact 510-601-7203.
  • Michael Shermer is the founder of Skeptic magazine and author of several books on evolution, including Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design. Contact via the Skeptics Society in Altadena, Calif., 626-794-3119.
  • Don Waller is a botanist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and former president of the Society for the Study of Evolution. Contact 608-263-2042, dmwaller@facstaff.wisc.edu.
  • John G. West is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute and associate director of its Center for Science & Culture. He has studied the impact of Darwinian science on American public policy and culture. Contact 206-292-0401 ext. 110.
  • Thomas Woodward is a professor of missions, evangelism and science at Trinity College of Florida in Trinity, Fla., and the author of Doubts About Darwin: A History of Intelligent Design and Darwin Strikes Back: Defending the Science of Intelligent Design (2006). Contact 727-376-6911 ext. 336, twdwrd@tampabay.rr.com.
  • Michael Zimmerman is dean of the college of liberal arts and sciences at Butler University in Indianapolis and founder of the Clergy Letter Project. Contact 317-940-9224, mz@butler.edu.
  • Viennese Catholic Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn is author of Chance or Purpose: Creation, Evolution and a Rational Faith, to be published in November 2007. In it, he argues that science and faith are compatible. Contact through Christine Valentine-Owsik at Ignatius Press, 215-230-8095, valencom@aol.com.

Background

Regional sources

IN THE NORTHEAST

  • Laurie Godfrey is an anthropology professor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. She and Andrew Petto are the co-editors of Scientists Confront Intelligent Design and Creationism (2007). Contact lgodfrey@anthro.umass.edu.
  • Mark McPeak is a biology professor at Dartmouth College in Lebanon, N.H. He conducted a symposium titled “Darwinian Evolution Across the Disciplines” and wrote an article titled “Teaching Intelligent Design” for his local newspaper. Contact 603-646-2389, mark.mcpeek@dartmouth.edu.
  • Jon Roberts is a history professor at Boston University. He participated in a panel on intelligent design and evolution at Arizona State University in 2006. Contact 617-353-2557, roberts1@bu.edu.
  • Johanna Schmitt is a professor of environmental studies at Brown University in Providence, R.I., and president-elect of the Society for the Study of Evolution. She is on sabbatical through December but can talk to reporters beginning in January 2008. Contact 401-863-3435, Johanna_Schmitt@brown.edu.
  • Jay Wexler is a law professor at Boston University, a Catholic school. He specializes in religion and the law and has written extensively on the evolution-intelligent design conflict in the public schools. He predicts the next legislative battleground will not be about teaching intelligent design, but about states and localities trying to get schools to teach “arguments against evolution.” This, he says, will be a more difficult legal battle than the one against intelligent design. Contact 617-353-2789, jaywex@bu.edu.

IN THE EAST

  • Robin Collins is a philosophy professor at Messiah College, a Christian school in Grantham, Pa. He has written several articles on intelligent design that can be found on his Web page. Contact 717-766-2511, rcollins@messiah.edu.
  • Philip Kitcher is a philosophy professor at Columbia University in New York City. In 2006, he delivered a public lecture titled “Darwin, Design and the Future of Faith” at the university. Contact 212-854-4884, psk16@columbia.edu.
  • Hudson Kern Reeve is an associate professor in the department of neurology and behavior at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. At a panel discussion on evolution and intelligent design in 2006, he delivered a rebuttal to a speech given by Discovery Institute fellow Cornelius Hunter, another panelist. Contact 607-254-4352, hkr1@cornell.edu.
  • David Sloan Wilson is an evolutionary biologist at Binghamton University in Binghamton, N.Y., and author of Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin’s Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives (2007), his fourth book on evolution. Contact 607-777-4393, dwilson@binghamton.edu.

IN THE SOUTHEAST

  • Russell Carlson is a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Georgia in Athens and a fellow of the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design. He has been criticized by some of his colleagues for inviting students to after-class discussions about the religious implications of molecular biology. Contact 706-542-4439, rcarlson@ccrc.uga.edu.
  • Eugene Chaffin teaches physics at Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C. He is on the board of the Creation Research Society. Contact echaffin@bju.edu.
  • The Rev. Diane Corlett is the rector of Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Raleigh, N.C., where she organizes “Faith and Science: A Parish Dialogue,” a public forum for people of faith interested in science. In 2006, the group held a series of talks on evolution and faith. Contact 919-846-8338, rector@nativityonline.org.
  • Richard Martinez is a business professor at Charleston Southern University. In September 2007, he was one of several speakers at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s “Intelligent Design in Business Practice” conference. He says among the things participants were interested in exploring was how the central principles of intelligent design research may help people understand business processes better. Contact 843-574-3220, rmartinez@csuniv.edu.
  • Donald Musser is a professor of religious studies and chairman of the Stetson Center for Science, Nature and the Sacred at Stetson University in Deland, Fla. One of his specialties is religion and culture. Contact 386-822-8934, dmusser@stetson.edu.
  • The Tallahassee Scientific Society is a group of laypeople, scientists, engineers and educators dedicated to increasing scientific literacy in Florida’s Big Bend area. Contact tss@eng.fsu.edu.

IN THE SOUTH

  • J. Michael Plavcan is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He contributed a chapter titled “The Invisible Bible: The Logic of Creation Science” to Scientists Confront Intelligent Design and Creationism (2007). He says there are two separate issues in the conflict – the first is an attempt to undermine evolutionary biology in public schools, and the second is that, as a result of fear of controversy, evolutionary biology is being quietly avoided or mistaught with disturbing frequency. Contact mplavcan@uark.edu.
  • John W. Oller is a professor of communicative disorders at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He is on the technical advisory board of the Institute for Creation Research, which lists him as a “creation scientist.” Contact via Carolyn Bruder in the office of academic planning and faculty development, 337-482-6914, cbruder@louisiana.edu.
  • Todd C. Wood is an adjunct professor of natural sciences in the Center for Origins Research at Bryan College, Tenn. He is listed by the Institute of Creation Research as a “creation scientist.” Contact 423-775-7277.

IN THE MIDWEST

  • Donald DeYoung is chairman of the department of physical science at Grace College in Winona Lake, Ind. He lectures on astronomy and creation and the biblical flood for the Creation Research Society. Contact 574-372-5100 ext. 6441, dbdeyoung@grace.edu.
  • Wesley Elsberry is a visiting research associate at Michigan State University, where he is studying the evolution of intelligent behavior. He is a former information project manager for the National Center for Science Education. He contributed a chapter on Discovery Institute fellow William Dembski’s work to Scientists Confront Intelligent Design and Creationism (2007). Contact Elsberry@msu.edu.
  • Jed Macosko is an assistant professor of biophysics at Wake Forest University in Wake Forest, Ill. He is a fellow at the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design. Contact 336-758-4981, macoskjc@wakeforest.edu.
  • Andrew Petto is a lecturer in the biology department at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. He and Laurie Godfrey are co-editors of Scientists Confront Intelligent Design and Creationism (2007). Contact 414-229-6784, ajpetto@uwm.edu.
  • Alvin Plantinga is a philosophy professor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He has written several articles about faith and science and is a member of the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design. Contact 574-631-6254, plantinga.1@nd.edu.
  • Steve Rissing is a biologist at Ohio State University who has been active on behalf of school board candidates who support the teaching of evolution and science museums that accept evolution as the foundation for modern biology. He is concerned that the national focus of the 2008 elections may draw attention away from local school board elections, thus smoothing the way for pro-intelligent design candidates. Contact 614-688-4989, rissing.2@osu.edu.
  • S. Brian Stratton is chairman of the religious studies program at Alma College in Alma, Mich. He is also chairman of Metaxu: The Alma College Society of Religion and Science, which devoted a year of its program to lectures and presentations on evolution. He says he expects intelligent design camp supporters to give up trying to influence science education and change their strategy. Contact 989-463-7291, stratton@alma.edu.
  • Gayle Woloschak is a professor of molecular biology at Northwestern University and director of the Zygon Center for Religion and Science in Chicago. Contact g-woloschak@northwestern.edu.

IN THE SOUTHWEST

  • Kevin Anderson is director of the Van Andel Creation Research Center, an extension of the Creation Research Society, in Chino Valley, Ariz. Contact 928-636-1153, vacrc@creationresearch.org.
  • Raymond Bohlin is a biologist and president of Probe Ministries of Richardson, Texas, and is co-author of The Natural Limits to Biological Change. He is listed as a creation scientist by the Institute for Creation Research. Contact 972-480-0240.
  • Walter Bradley is an engineering professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and a fellow of the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design. Contact via Lori Fogelman, director of communications, 254-710-6275.
  • David Buchanan is an animal sciences professor and geneticist at North Dakota State University in Fargo, S.D. He has taught a course titled “Creation, Evolution and Intelligent Design” at his church. Contact david.s.buchanan@ndsu.edu.
  • Dr. Robert Eckel is a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado’s Health Sciences Center in Denver.He is on the technical advisory board of the Institute for Creation Research, which lists him as a “creation scientist.” Contact 303-724-3923, robert.eckel@uchsc.edu.
  • Dan Hicks operates Jesus Created Ministries, a creationist ministry in Tulsa, Okla. Contact 918-720-6763.
  • Evan Lenow is director of leadership development at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, which held an “Intelligent Design in Business Practice” conference in September 2007. Contact 817-923-1921 ext. 2510, elenow@swbts.edu.
  • Barry Ritchie is chairman of Arizona State University’s department of physics and astronomy and moderated a panel on intelligent design and evolution at the school in 2006. Contact 480-965-4707, barry.ritchie@asu.edu.
  • Holmes Rolston III is a philosophy professor at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. He has received the Templeton Prize and the Mendel Medal, both of which recognize achievement in science and religion. He participated in a panel on intelligent design and evolution at Arizona State University in 2006. Contact 970-491-6315, rolston@lamar.colostate.edu.
  • Randall Scalise is a senior lecturer at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he teaches a class on scientific method. Last April, he asked his students to attend a “Darwin vs. Design” conference that sparked controversy on campus. Contact 214-768-2504, scalise@smu.edu.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST

  • David K. DeWolf is a law professor at Gonzaga Law School in Spokane, Wash., and a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute in Seattle. He wrote an opinion piece for the June 11, 2007, Boston Globe in which he defended the right of academics to question evolution. Contact 509-323-3767, ddewolf@lawschool.gonzaga.edu.
  • Michael Keas teaches the history of science at Biola University, a Christian school in La Mirada, Calif. He is a senior fellow at the Center for Science & Culture at the Discovery Institute and is the primary author of the auxiliary materials for its new textbook, Explore Evolution. Contact 562-777-4049, mike.keas@biola.edu.
  • Scott Minnich is an associate professor of microbiology at the University of Idaho in Boise. He is a co-author of Explore Evolution: The Arguments For and Against Neo-Darwinism (2007). He is a member of the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design. He testified on behalf of the defendants in Kitzmiller v. Dover. Contact 208-885-7884, sminnich@uidaho.edu.
  • Kevin Padian is an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, where he operates the Padian Lab. Padian testified for the plaintiffs in the Dover case. He also received a copy of the Islamic anti-evolution text. Contact 510-642-7434, kpadian@berkeley.edu.
  • Cameron Smith and Charles Sullivan are co-authors of The Top 10 Myths About Evolution (2006). Smith is an adjunct associate professor at Portland State University in Portland, Ore., and Sullivan teaches composition and creative writing at Portland Community College. Contact authors@toptenmyths.com.
  • Joe Thornton is an assistant professor at the Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Oregon in Eugene. He has lectured on the subject of “Science and the Search for God” at Columbia University in New York City. Contact 541-346-0328, joet@uoregon.edu.
  • Leslie Wickman is director of the Center for Research in Science at Azusa Pacific University, a Christian university in Azusa, Calif. She has delivered a public lecture titled “Science and the Bible” that examined creation and modern science. Contact 626-387-5738.

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