ID in a Philosophy Class. So What’s the Problem?

Here’s something that I really want to comment on. Frazier Mountain High School, in El Tejon, California outside Bakersfield, has been sued for introducing intelligent design into a philosophy class. It’s worth mentioning, because I and others have repeatedly said that ID is metaphysics and philosophy, not science, and belongs in something like a philosophy class.

Predictibly, the Discovery Institute is screaming hypocrisy and censorship from the rooftops. Robert Crowther writes:

I predicted some months ago that the claims of Darwinists that intelligent design should be relegated to philosophy, social studies or compartive religion courses (when was the last time you heard of a public high school with a comparitive religion course??) would not stand the test of time. I knew that as soon as some school opted to play by the Darwinists’ new rules those rules quickly would be changed.

[…]

Darwinists have long argued that intelligent design should only be taught in social studies, history, or philosophy courses. But, now that some schools are doing exactly that they apparently think that the theory is too dangerous to be taugh in any classes. This is censorship, pure and simple.

So why the lawsuit? And am I hypocritical for thinking it necessary? (I never like lawsuits, but that seems to be the way we work things out these days.)

Well, simply put, the course isn’t just teaching about the concept of intelligent design. Rather, it’s advocating a religious position, in violation of that all too pesky document we call the Constitution. Simply slapping the label of philosphy on religion doesn’t make it constitutional to teach.

Let’s look very briefly at some of the highlights of this situation. I promise they’re funny.

The teacher for the class is Sharon Lemburg. Her first draft of the syllabus reveals much. To backup the claim that this class was simply a stacked deck against good science, look simply at the list of speakers expected to appear. In favor of evolution, it cites two speakers.

Ken Hurst — Ph.D. in geology; works at JPL in jet propulsion; an evolutionist.

Francis Krich — Evolutionist

Ken Hurst was apparently shocked to see his name on the list, as he had specifically turned down an invitation to speak and objected to the way the course was being taught. Said Hurst,

I declined to be a speaker for the course in a phone conversation with Sharon Lemburg on December 1. On December 5 I delivered a letter by hand to [Principal] Dan Penner objecting to the course as it is being presented and left a copy to be delivered to Superintendent John Wight.

The other name’s the real hoot though. Anybody recognize the evolutionist Francis Kirch? It’s a misspelling of the name Francis Crick, the co-discover (along with James Watson) of the double-helix structure of DNA. Regardless of whether Dr. Crick would have lent his overwhelming experience to this small school outside of Bakersfield, it’s a settled point, as Dr. Crick has been dead for a year and a half.

With evolution being presented fairly by a scientist who has refused to speak and a scientist who refused to speak (Dr. Crick, are you sure you wouldn’t reconsider), it’s a telltale sign of the fairness of the class.

How did such overwhelming mistakes happen in this suggested course? From the same news article:

The instructor of the proposed course, Sharon Lemburg, says she wanted “to tell people about the ideas of Intelligent Design,” but that “Everything happened quickly. I had to have a syllabus overnight. I’m not an expert on this subject.” Lemburg is widely appreciated in the community and by this newspaper as the Lady Falcons’ successful soccer coach. She is certified to teach Geography and Health, with a social science degree. She quickly admits she is not certified to teach science.

Now Mrs. Lemburg did create a second version of the syllabus, one that certainly has the window dressing of a fair syllabus. From it:

This class is not meant to guide you into a certain belief, but to allow you to search, become aware of the differences, and gain a better understanding of world views on origins.

Had this been in the first syllabus, and had she secured valid speakers to discuss evolution, I would be in favor of such a class, provided religion wasn’t being advocated. To state more bluntly, suggesting that students should be Christian because of ID or that they should be athiest because of evolution is just not the job of the state.

Having not secured speakers to discuss evolution, the school district’s board of trustees was told that “the science department of the school is going to help with the course.”

Uh-oh. I can only imagine what science teachers must feel like when they get hoodwinked into issues of intelligent design. We saw in Dover where they simply refused to read the statement and now we see it here in El Tejon.

The answer to the question of whether “the science department of the school is going to help with the course”?

“That is news to me,” said Dr. James Selgrath, one of two science teachers at FMHS: “I have no plans to do that.”

[…]

When asked if he would propose a class on Intelligent Design for FMHS he replied: “Never…I have a Ph.D. in reproductive biology with a specialty in genetic engineering. I was on the faculty at Tufts University for seven years. I am a scientist.”

I find it very difficult to believe that this class has any intent to truly give a fair scientific picture on intelligent design. The videos she wishes to pull from are straight propaganda from the Discovery Institute, and she might as well have listed Albert Einstein on her list of scientists scheduled to speak.

So where should ID be taught? If it’s going to be taught, it should be taught neutrally as a cultural and religious controversy. I think a class would be free to discuss religious groups and their relationships to science. It’s fair to say, “Some religious people don’t think science is compatible with religion. Some people do. Here’s the spectrum of thought out there.” But when you stack the deck, start teaching science that’s overwhelming rejected by scientists, and do it for clearly religious motivations, you’re inviting trouble. Trouble which Frazier Mountain High School just discovered.