ID Tagged
When Guillermo Gonzalez, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, was denied tenure at Iowa State University (ISU) in November 2006, department head Eli Rosenberg said the decision had nothing to do with Gonzalez's support of intelligent design. Recently released documents, however, told a different story.
In Gonzalez's tenure dossier, Rosenberg stated, "The problem here is that Intelligent Design is not a scientific theory. … The fact that Dr. Gonzalez does not understand what constitutes both science and a scientific theory disqualifies him from serving as a science educator."
Gonzalez said he never taught intelligent design (ID) in his classes. "The recent controversy surrounding me is strictly about the research I have done on ID," he said. "My ID research [published in The Privileged Planet] was funded in part by a grant from the Templeton Foundation, which ISU administered."
Faculty members who question Darwinian evolution say they often run into trouble at secular universities. Caroline Crocker, who taught scientific evidence for and against evolution at George Mason University, was released by the school in December 2004. "I wanted students to think for themselves," she said. "My supervisor accused me of teaching creationism and removed me from teaching lectures immediately; at the end of the semester, the job was over."
But according to George Mason spokesperson Daniel Walsch, "[Crocker's] contract was simply not renewed. It had nothing to do with the ID/evolution debate."
At the University of Idaho, where tenured professor Scott Minnich supports intelligent design, president Timothy White issued a statement banning anything other than Darwinian evolution from being taught in science courses.
"Most institutions ...
This article is currently available to CT subscribers only.
To continue reading:
or
Sidelining the Stigma of Mental Illness
Starting a Dialogue with Hip-Hop
The Latest in Movie News, June 17, 2013
It's the Thoughts That Count
(on articles open to the public, you must at least register for a free account).
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Newsletters
Google
Comments
Displaying 1–3 of 11 comments
See all comments
Tom P
The naive idea, that it is possible to draw a clear line between scientific, religious and philosophical ideas is rupturing and breaking down before our very eyes. Those who question the insecure and fragmenting, orthodoxy that is hurriedly trying to paper over the cracks to preserve the possibility of such a demarkation, between philosophy and science, are subjected to rejection and loss of tenure. Not only have we lost our heads, in being unable to tell the difference between an idea and a test tube, but we have truly become men without chests.
Mark Roberts
If you believe "ID isn't based on science but an explanation to justify a belief", what is it in Dr. Gonzalez's "The Privileged Planet" that is not science? Dr. Gonzalez's work in astrophysical habitability zones is stuff of genius! Take a look at Dr. Marks' web site EvoInfo.org. This is astonishing insight into sources of information in the evolutionary process. Don't repeat the mantras of others without being uninformed. Gonzalez and Marks are victims of the thought police in the Darwinian mafia. Check out ExpelledTheMovie.com.
BobC
A faculty member who doesn't understand the science of evolution would give any university a bad reputation. What intelligent student would want to have anything to do with a university that employs a faculty member too dumb to understand important scientific facts? Evolution is accepted by virtually every biologist in the world for a good reason. I would like to quote from a book recently published by the National Academy of Sciences. "Scientists no longer question the basic facts of evolution as a process. The concept has withstood extensive testing by tens of thousands of specialists in biology, medicine, anthropology, geology, chemistry, and other fields. Discoveries in different fields have reinforced one another , and evidence for evolution has continued to accumulate for 150 years." Evolution-denier Guillermo Gonzalez is a disgrace to his profession. Evolution is not an opinion. It's a proven fact. Intelligent Design is a belief in magic.