80 years to the day that John Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution in Tennessee public schools, the state school board in Kansas is holding hearings to change the way Darwin's theory of evolution is taught in public schools.
Religious conservatives are a majority on the state school board and they are attempting to introduce the theory of 'intelligent design' into the state's science curriculum and to offer additional challenges to Darwin's theory of evolution. They claim that Darwin's theory is 'anti-religion.'
The board wants to mandate the teaching and discussion of alternatives to evolution. Intelligent design is a not-so-scientific theory that the universe is so complex that it cannot be explained except to say it was created by some higher power.
William Harris of the Kansas-based Intelligent Design Network told the BBC, 'Part of our overall goal is to remove the bias against religion that is currently in schools.'
Most national and state science organizations are boycotting the hearings because they believe they are rigged against the teaching of evolution. They are instead holding news conferences at a nearby location.
'This is a showcase trial,' said Jack Krebs, vice-president for Kansas Citizens for Science. 'They have hijacked science and education.'
Krebs said the debate is misplaced and that the religious right is misrepresenting science. 'They have created a straw man. They are trying to make science stand for atheism so they can fight atheism.'
In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that creationism could not be taught in public schools. Creationism is the direct teaching of the biblical account of the creation of the world as told in Genesis. Shortly thereafter, intelligent design was born.
The new standards are almost certain to pass as antievolution forces have a 6-4 majority on the board.
One educator observing the proceedings, Cheryl Sheperd-Adams was frustrated by what she saw going on at the conference. 'Kansas has been through this before,' she said. 'I'm really tired of going to conferences and being laughed at because I'm from Kansas.'
