South Valley residents have strong opinions on whether
intelligent design should be taught at home or in public
classrooms
The question of creation comes down to whether a random cosmic explosion in space led to the formation of the universe, or a higher power caused an explosion as a part of a divine plan for the creation of the universe.
Across the country, courts are hearing arguments for and against the teaching of “intelligent design” – the theory supporting creation by a higher power – in schools, along with teaching the concepts of evolution and the big-bang theory.
Though no such case has come out of the South Valley, the debate is a sensitive topic. It’s so sensitive, the head of the science department at one local high school refused to comment on the issue.
For now, intelligent design is not part of any local public high school’s biology curriculum, and no mention of it is made in any text books used by public South Valley teachers. Intelligent design, according to the Discovery Institute, in part states the universe is so complex it must have been designed and created by a higher power.
The big-bang theory, currently taught in all public high schools, states the universe was created between 10 billion and 20 billion years ago from a random cosmic explosion that hurled matter and in all directions. Dr. Katherine Foster, a science teacher at San Benito High School in Hollister, said the big-bang theory is the only theory of creation appropriate to be taught in a science classroom.
“There is no room for intelligent design in a science classroom,” she said. “I wouldn’t talk about intelligent design in class any more than I would talk about Buddhism or any other religious concept. It’s a religious idea, and I’m a science teacher.”
Others think science class is exactly where intelligent design belongs. Intelligent design should be taught as an alternate theory of creation, said Matt Valencia, a former public school teacher and current pastor at Calvary Chapel in Gilroy.
“I don’t think you can teach evolution as the only option,” he said. “To truly explore things scientifically, you have to give both sides to make a logical decision, and you must be able to challenge both theories. You can’t recreate the big-bang, you can’t recreate creation, so you shouldn’t just present one theory.”
Intelligent design supports the theory of micro-evolution, Valencia said, in the belief that a species will change over a long period of time. It does not support Darwin’s theory of macro-evolution, which states one species can turn into another. Intelligent design advocates do not believe humans evolved from primates, he explained.
Parents and students may raise concerns about learning the theory of evolution when it conflicts with their religious beliefs, but that’s a discussion for outside the classroom, said Nicky Austin, chair of the science department at Gilroy High School.
“I’m very willing to talk to students after class about the issue, and how I reconcile the two, but I make it very clear it’s me talking personally and not me the science teacher talking,” said Austin, who is Christian. “The fact is, evolution is an integral part of bio science. It’s not an option not to learn it.”
Though intelligent design should not be taught in biology classes, Austin said, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be taught somewhere, such as an anthropology class along with other religious ideas.
Learning and believing are two different things, Foster and Austin said. Both noted gravity is a theory just as evolution is a theory, and people still challenge gravity, too.
“You don’t have to believe in any of it; you don’t have to believe in evolution or gravity, you don’t have to believe that two plus two is four,” Foster said. “But you do have to learn it for tests and know it to pass the class.”
Learning about intelligent design doesn’t necessarily have to involve specific religions or religious preaching, Valencia said. Schools can leave who or what the designer is open to individual interpretation, though the pastor said he believes the creator is God.
“Both theories are taken in faith,” he said. “Evolution is matter, and energy and chance equals life, and the formula for intelligent design is matter plus energy plus information equals life.”
A Metaphor for Design
To help to understand the idea of intelligent design, Matt Valencia, a former public school teacher and current pastor at Calvary Chapel in Gilroy, used this simplified metaphor:
If you were walking along the beach and you found a perfectly formed ball on the beach, such as a Christmas ornament, what would you think? Would you think someone had put it there? Or would you think that by chance, atoms and molecules came together in exactly the right way to randomly form this perfect sphere on the sand?
“There should be an open-ended allowance for choice and thought on these theories,” Valencia said.
A Debate Across the Country
Last month, the intelligent design versus evolution debate made headlines as the Kansas Board of Education debated whether to include intelligent design in public school science curriculum. The board ultimately voted 6-4 to teach the theory along with evolution. The decision led to several lawsuits.
In October, a school board in Dover, Penn., voted to include a prepared statement on intelligent design in the town’s public school biology classes, a decision that caused a number of lawsuits.
Voters ousted eight of the board members who were up for re-election in November, replacing them with candidates who were against discussing intelligent design in public classrooms.
The city of Dover made headlines again when televangelist Pat Robertson warned residents of God’s wrath, saying, “I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected him from your city.”
