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Discovery Institute intelligent design campaigns are a series of related . May, 2007. The Discovery Institute is the driving force behind the Intelligent Design Movement and the Institute directs these campaigns through its Center For Science And Culture division with guidance its public relations firm, Creative Response Concepts . Creative Response Concepts, clients Notable campaigns conducted by Institute are , March 23, 2007. The response of the whereas intelligent design has been rejected by the overwhelming majority of the scientific community. GOAL OF THE CAMPAIGNS See Also: Wedge strategy The over-arching goal of the Institute in conducting the intelligent design campaigns is religious; to replace campaigns. The governing strategy of these various campaigns is called the Wedge Strategy and was first made public when the Institute's "''Wedge Document''" was leaked on the World Wide Web in 1999. The Discovery Institute argues that science, due to its reliance on Naturalism , is an inherently Materialistic and Atheistic enterprise and thus the source of many of society's ills, and that "Design theory design promises to reverse the stifling dominance of the materialist worldview." None of the campaigns are aimed at directly influencing the scientific community, which the Institute considers Dogmatic and hidebound, but rather are focused on swaying the opinions of the public and public policy makers, which, if effective, it is hoped will respond by forcing the academic institutions supporting the scientific community to accept the Discovery Institute's redefinition of science. Public high school science curricula has been the most common and visible target of the campaigns, with the Institute publishing its own model lesson plan, the Critical Analysis Of Evolution . In a Seattle Weekly article, The New Creationists, Nina Shapiro quoted Institute founder and president Bruce Chapman when she wrote that behind all Discovery Institute programs there is an underlying hidden religious agenda: CAMPAIGN TO "TEACH THE CONTROVERSY" See Also: Teach the Controversy Previously, attempts to introduce Creationism into public high school science curricula had been derailed when this was found to have violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment To The United States Constitution . In an attempt to avoid repeating this violation, the Institute today avoids directly advocating for intelligent design in high school curricula. Instead, it advocates teaching methods that introduce intelligent design ideas (and textbooks) indirectly through a campaign to " Teach The Controversy " by "presenting all the evidence, both for and against, evolution" and teaching " Critical Analysis Of Evolution " (the name of the Institute's model lesson plans on the subject). The Discovery Institute describes their approach as: An example of the indirect method the Institute uses to introduce intelligent design into science curricula is its ''Teaching Guide About Intelligent Design And The Nature Of Science''. This "teacher's guide" relies upon an incomplete quote from the President of the National Academy Of Sciences as justification for 'teaching the controversy' and thereby introducing intelligent design as an "alternative theory" . Teaching Guide About Intelligent Design And The Nature Of Science Discovery Institute, 2006. These teaching methods were promoted by the Institute at the '', as part of this campaign. In his decision in '' Kitzmiller V. Dover Area School District '', Judge John E. Jones III criticised this strategy: Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, p89 CAMPAIGNS CLAIMING DISCRIMINATION See Also: Free Speech on Evolution A claim common to many of these campaigns is that "scientists, teachers, and students are under attack for questioning evolution" and have been discriminated against, Free Speech on Evolution Campaign Main Page , Center For Science And Culture . Other purported instances of discrimination publicised by the Discovery Institute include:
Court cases (such as Webster V. New Lenox School District and Bishop V. Aronov ) have upheld school districts' and universities' right to restrict teaching to a specified curriculum. None of these purported cases of discrimination have been subjected to formal legal or congressional scrutiny. In August 2007, an upcoming movie publicising a number of these incidents was announced. It is entitled ''Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed'' and stars Ben Stein . ''Expelled'' Press Release PETITION CAMPAIGNS The Discovery Institute has created a number of petitions to give the impression that there are widespread doubts about the Theory of Evolution among scientists and scientifically-literate professionals. These petitions include A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism , Physicians And Surgeons For Scientific Integrity , and Stand Up For Science . "INTELLIGENT DESIGN IS NOT CREATIONISM" One of the principal rationales behind Intelligent Design's However this assertion has been refuted both in court (in and Paul R. Gross ' '' Creationism's Trojan Horse - The Wedge of Intelligent Design'' and Ronald Numbers ' ''The Creationists'', which contains a chapter on ID). CRITICISM OF THE CAMPAIGNS Critics say that the Institute is conducting a deliberate , who once provided grants for conferences and courses to debate intelligent design has since rejected the Discovery Institute's entreaties for more funding, Foundation senior vice president Charles L. Harper Jr. said "They're political - that for us is problematic," and that while Discovery has "always claimed to be focused on the science," "what I see is much more focused on public policy, on public persuasion, on educational advocacy and so forth." Politicized Scholars Put Evolution on the Defensive Jodi Wilgoren. The New York Times, August 21 2005. Anti-Evolutionism John Templeton Foundation. SEE ALSO
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