Lehigh University on Behe
Department (of Biological Sciences) Position on Evolution and "Intelligent Design"
The faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences is committed to the highest standards of scientific integrity and academic function. This commitment carries with it unwavering support for academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas. It also demands the utmost respect for the scientific method, integrity in the conduct of research, and recognition that the validity of any scientific model comes only as a result of rational hypothesis testing, sound experimentation, and findings that can be replicated by others.
The department faculty, then, are unequivocal in their support of evolutionary theory, which has its roots in the seminal work of Charles Darwin and has been supported by findings accumulated over 140 years. The sole dissenter from this position, Prof. Michael Behe, is a well-known proponent of “intelligent design.” While we respect Prof. Behe's right to express his views, they are his alone and are in no way endorsed by the department. It is our collective position that intelligent design has no basis in science, has not been tested experimentally, and should not be regarded as scientific.
My opinion, if I may?
ReplyDeleteThere's plenty of rich believers out there that probably contribute to Lehigh simply because Behe is there. This is the only hypothesis I can come up with as to why any accredited U would allow this maniac to teach any type of science class.
The fact that "intelligent design" vs. evolution is even on the table is thanks to the fact that a well organized Christian right has mobilized every believer with scientific credentials to publish and speak on the subject.
ReplyDeleteWhen you look at the Web, if you were born yesterday and had no sense of how this
"vigorous debate within the scientific community," so to speak, just happened to coincide with the rise of the religious right, then you might actually think that some spontaneous groundswell of scientific opinion had come to accept "intelligent design" as a competing "theory" based on science.
Some major scientific body with unimpeachable credentials really should make a statement on this. Maybe it's already happened, but been drowned out in the background noise created by the "controversy."
And people who aren't actually in the field can't usually answer, in detail, every statement made in a book by a "faithful" (tendentious) scientist. So for every layperson who says evolution is a real theory and intelligent design is bogus, just read x,y, and z, you've got another layperson ready to cite three "scientists" who support intelligent design.
If people just knew the basics of the scientific method, that might help a bit. Most people seem really undereducated even in that much science...