| Francis Beckwith |
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Beckwith is notable for his philosophical defenses of the Pro-life position on Abortion and his defense of the constitutional permissibility of the teaching of Intelligent Design in Public School s. He is affiliated with numerous organizations that advocate for these issues. Beckwith is a fellow at the Discovery Institute , hub the Intelligent Design Movement , the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity (CBHD) and Baylor's Institute for the Studies of Religion (ISR) [http://www.baylor.edu/isreligion/index.php?id=33248 . Beckwith has been an outspoken proponent for allowing the teaching of intelligent design. Why Science-Types Need Philosophy Francis J. Beckwith. Right Reason, September 30 2005 Beckwith insists he is not an intelligent design advocate and his interests lie in the legal and cultural questions raised by the movement. Francis J. Beckwith. Letter to the Editor. Academe/ May June 2005 Critics of intelligent design, like PZ Myers and Barbara Forrest , consider Beckwith a proponent, and point to various statements by Beckwith to support their view.[http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/comments/whats_that_whining_noise/ What's that whining noise? PZ Myers. pharyngula.org, March 30 2004. ''Is It Science Yet?: Intelligent Design, Creationism And The Constitution'' , Matthew J. Brauer, Barbara Forrest, Steven G. Gey, Washington University Law Quarterly, Volume 83, Number 1, 2005. (PDF file) Beckwith often speaks on the legal permissibility of teaching intelligent design in public school science classes, arguing that it is legally permissible and arguing against the ruling in , both from his arguments and writings being often repeated and promoted by the Discovery Institute, and as a subject of one while a Institute Fellow; Beckwith benefited from a Discovery Institute campaign to counter objections to his tenure at Baylor. Beckwith served on the pro-ID Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness (IDEA) Center's Advisory Board through August of 2003.[http://www.ideacenter.org/contentmgr/showdetails.php/id/1129#five Corrections and Comments to statements made about the IDEA Center in Creationism's Trojan Horse IDEA Center staff. Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness. EDUCATION AND CAREER Beckwith is a graduate of the University Of Nevada, Las Vegas (B.A. in Philosophy), Simon Greenleaf School Of Law , Anaheim (MA in apologetics), Fordham University (Ph.D. and M.A. in philosophy) and the Washington University School Of Law, St. Louis (Master of Juridical Studies). A condensed version of Beckwith's 1984 MA thesis on the Bahá'í Faith was published by Bethany House in 1985. Much of the apologetic method he employed was based within the Evidentialist School Of Thought . Other social ethics questions to which he has contributed include the influence of relativism on public culture, Affirmative Action and Discrimination , Same-sex Marriage , Bioethics generally (including cloning), and interpreting constitutional issues as they touch on religious liberty and practices, such as the inclusion of intelligent design in public school science curricula. The latter work was the result of his Wash. U. M.J.S dissertation, which he completed in 2001 under the mentorship of philosopher of law Stanley Paulsen and was published in revised and expanded form in 2003 by Rowman & Littlefield. Beckwith has held full-time academic appointments at the University Of Nevada Las Vegas (1989-1996), Whittier College (1996-1997), and Trinity International University (1997-2002). In November 2005, Professor Beckwith became the President-elect of the Evangelical Theological Society , a professional organization of theologians. He is also a member of the American Philosophical Association's Committee on Philosophy and Law. In May 2007 Professor Beckwith made public his return to the Roman Catholic Church , which took place in late April 2007, and resigned as both President of the Evangelical Theological Society and a member of the society, effective May 7, 2007. OTHER WORK Beckwith has applied analytic forms of philosophical argument into his critical writings on non-mainstream Christian and non-Christian religious groups, notably the Mormon view of God. In keeping with the Christian Countercult Movement , Beckwith argues that the Mormon concept of God is incompatible with orthodox Christian teaching about the Trinity . Part of his analysis is grounded in comparing Mormon sacred texts with passages from the Bible. Another part of his analysis involves a technical argument concerning the Omniscience of God, where Beckwith argues that the Mormon position of God's limited knowledge is flawed on metaphysical and logical categories. His philosophical works on the Mormon faith have led to critical clashes with Mormon scholars such as David Paulsen and Blake Ostler , and even to robust disagreements with other Evangelical apologists on methodological issues (see ''The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism'' and his chapter in ''The New Mormon Challenge''). In addition to his writings about the Bahá'í faith and Mormon theology, Beckwith has also published philosophical arguments critical of the teachings of various New Age writers. He has also questioned the role of New Age practices of yogic meditation and tarot readings intruding into the public school system. His work, however, extends beyond the sphere of the Christian countercult movement and traditional topics in apologetics. Beckwith has written on the topic of Bioethics , and is opposed to Abortion , Active Euthanasia , and Human Cloning , and once defended the moral permissibility of direct intervention protests at abortion clinics (though has since changed his views). He has also been involved as an advisor in Pro-life litigation and legislation. HUNTER BAKER / NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE CONTROVERSY In 2004 the Harvard Law Review published a note praising a book written by Beckwith that defended the teaching of intelligent design in schools. In response to a scathing review of the note by lawyer and Professor of Philosophy consistently casts ID proponents as the victims of efforts to curtail academic freedom. Leiter revealed that Hunter Baker was Beckwith's teaching assistant when he wrote the defense of Beckwith for the National Review, something both Beckwith and Hunter did not disclose. Political Animal, Intelligent Design Kevin Drum. Washington Monthly, March 24 2004. A Case Study in How the Right-Wing Slime-and-Smear Machine Works Brian Leiter. The Leiter Reports, March 17 2004. This prompted Leiter to question the journalistic integrity of Hunter and to describe such tactics as "fraud" and a "right-wing slime and smear job." During the controversy over Beckwith's tenure Hunter Baker went on to write another National Review article arguing that the denial of tenure was an attack on academic freedom, again without disclosing his relationship to Beckwith. Sloan’s Struggle, What Baylor University can prove about Christian scholarship Hunter Baker. National Review Online, January 10 2005. According to Kevin Drum of the Washington Monthly , this controversy gave rise to creation of The Panda's Thumb (weblog) , which has been one of the most notable fora for critics of intelligent design. BAYLOR CONTROVERSIES In 2003 twenty-nine members of the J.M. Dawson family called on Baylor University to remove Beckwith as associate director of the Baylor's J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies. In a letter the Dawson family members questioned the appointment of Beckwith as associate director of the institute. The letter accused Beckwith of holding church-state positions contrary to the strong stand for separation advocated by J.M. Dawson: "We are troubled because Dr. Beckwith is a fellow of the Discovery Institute. The activities of this organization are widely recognized in the academic community as engaging in political activities that contravene the fundamental principle of the separation of church and state for which J.M. Dawson stood." ... "The Discovery Institute works to get the concept called 'intelligent design' into the science curriculum of public school textbooks, claiming that intelligent design is a scientific, not a religious, concept. In our judgment and in the judgment of the scientific community, this is a ruse for getting a religious notion into the public schools--clearly a violation of the separation of church and state." Dawson family protests Beckwith's appointment to Baylor institute Marv Knox. Baptist Standard. September 19. 2003. The university ultimately allowed Beckwith to remain in the position. On March 24 , 2006, Beckwith was denied tenure by Baylor University . As is typical in such cases, the reasons for denying tenure were not released. According to a March 31, 2006 BPNews article Beckwith stated that he was following an appeals process in hopes of having the decision reversed. "Baylor denies tenure to highly regarded Beckwith" by Erin Roach, article dated March 31, 2006, from BPNews.net. Accessed September 1, 2006. In early September 2006 stories concerning the reasons for Beckwith's denial of tenure and the political intrigue behind it were published in the ''Chronicle of Higher Education'' and ''World Magazine''[http://www.worldmag.com/articles/12236 . On September 22, 2006, Beckwith won his appeal and was tenured by Baylor University [http://telicthoughts.com/?p=953 , The Discovery Institute, where Beckwith served as a Fellow, lobbied extensively on his behalf during the controversy,[http://www.evolutionnews.org/2006/03/scandal_at_baylor_university_d.html Scandal Brewing at Baylor University? Denial of Tenure to Francis Beckwith Raises Serious Questions about Fairness and Academic Freedom John West. Discovery Institute's EvolutionNews.org, March 28, 2006 Baylor University in the Hot Seat John West Discovery Institute's EvolutionNews.org, March 28, 2006 Pressure on Baylor University Building to Right the Wrong Done to Dr. Beckwith Robert Crowther. Discovery Institute's EvolutionNews.org, April 5, 2006"Given that Baylor's president John Lilley is apparently about to make his decision regarding Beckwith's appeal, those who want stand up for Beckwith's academic freedom might consider weighing in with an e-mail to Dr. Lilley at John_Lilley@baylor.edu. Alumni, donors, and parents of potential Baylor students are particularly important voices for the Baylor administration to hear right now." New Disclosures in Baylor Tenure Scandal John West. Discovery Institute's EvolutionNews.org, September 5, 2006 comparing him to others connected to the Institute who've alleged academic or employment discrimination due to their advocacy of intelligent design such as Richard Sternberg and his Peer Review Controversy . Beckwith also received support from an opponent of intelligent design, Ed Brayton, on his blog ''Dispatches from the Culture War''. [http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2006/09/beckwith_tenure_denial_reverse.php BIBLIOGRAPHY
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