Removing the Taint: The Battle for Intelligent Design in the Classroom
Removing the Taint: The Battle for Intelligent Design in the Classroom
Amber N. Jeralds, 32 S. Ill. U. L.J. 425 (2008)
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The main battlefield for the intelligent design controversy is the classroom, and the first major battle occurred in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District. The evolutionists lined up on one side, claiming that intelligent design was not science, but rather a well-disguised attempt to implement religion in the classroom and therefore in violation of the Establishment Clause. On the other side, the intelligent design proponents and the school board argued that intelligent design in fact was a science and an adequate defense to the gaps in evolution’s faulty theory. In the end, however, intelligent design was dealt a serious blow when the court ruled that it was not a science but rather a substitution for the already unconstitutional theory of creationism.
Intelligent design lost its first battle due largely in part to the taint of creationism and school board members’ religious statements and continues to lose battles in classrooms across America, leaving many to believe that intelligent design will never overcome the taint of its prior history. However, the war is not over and there are chinks in the enemy’s armor. Intelligent design can overcome the taint of its prior history and can be taught within the frameworks of the Establishment Clause. This Comment will seek to analyze intelligent design under the Establishment Clause and discuss the possibility of overcoming its prior taint.
Section II of the Comment briefly examines the origins and basic principles of intelligent design as well as the test for analyzing educational curriculum under the Establishment Clause. Section II also discusses the development of the evolution-intelligent design controversy with a brief look at the prior case history dealing with the two subjects. Section III addresses the possible obstacles that intelligent design will face in its pursuit to be included in science curriculum. Finally, Section III will pose some possible solutions and tips to implementing intelligent design in the classroom.