Intelligent design advocate denies religious agenda

By Jon Hurdle

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – A leading critic of
teaching evolution in a Pennsylvania school district denied on
Thursday he wanted students to learn about biblical accounts of
the origins of life.

William Buckingham, who headed the curriculum committee of
Dover Area School Board, told federal court he had not meant to
cite creationism as an alternative to evolution when
interviewed by local TV in 2004.

“I was like a deer in the headlights of a car,” Buckingham
said. “That was the first time I had ever been interviewed, and
I misspoke.”

The court was shown a video of the interview in which
Buckingham said students should be taught evolution as well as
alternatives such as creationism, based on biblical teachings.

The court is hearing arguments in the fourth week of a
trial in which a group of parents is suing the school district
for its decision to include “intelligent design” in biology
classes.

Intelligent design holds that some aspects of nature are so
complex they must have been the work of an intelligent creator,
rather than the result of natural selection as argued by
Charles Darwin in his 1859 theory of evolution.

Proponents contend intelligent design is not a religious
concept and has scientific underpinnings.

The parents, represented by the American Civil Liberties
Union, say the policy violates the constitutional separation of
church and state because intelligent design is a religious
concept and so may not be taught in public schools.

The case is the first legal challenge to the teaching of
intelligent design and is being watched in at least 30 states
where Christian conservatives are planning similar initiatives.

The school board’s policy, adopted in October of 2004,
requires students be read a four-paragraph statement saying
there are gaps in the theory of evolution. Teachers have
refused to read the statement, which has so far been read by
administrators.

COUNTRY ‘FOUNDED ON CHRISTIANITY’

Buckingham, a retired prison supervisor, admitted to the
court he had attacked evolution and argued for students to be
taught Christianity at various times before the school board
adopted its policy.

He acknowledged telling a reporter in June of 2004 “this
country was not founded on Muslim beliefs or evolution. This
country was founded on Christianity and our students should be
taught as such.”

But he denied a report in a local newspaper, the York Daily
Record, that he had complained in a school board meeting that
“liberals and black robes are taking away the rights of
Christians.”

Buckingham acknowledged he had collected about $850 from
members of his church to pay for about 60 copies of “Of Pandas
And People,” a textbook provided to students who wanted to
learn more about intelligent design.

Stephen Harvey, an attorney for the parents, accused
Buckingham of trying to hide the source of the money to avoid
accusations the books were religiously motivated.

Harvey also accused Buckingham of telling the court a
different story about the source of the money from the account
he had provided in a deposition in January. “Mr. Buckingham,
you lied to me in deposition, isn’t that true,” Harvey said.

Buckingham also said he was concerned that students were
being taught that “men descended from monkeys.”

He acknowledged having disparaged the separation of church
and state as “mythical” and having referred to the biology
curriculum as laced with Darwinism.

The trial, which began September 26, is expected to end on
November 4. The school district is being represented by the
Thomas More Law Center, a group of Christian litigators based
in Michigan that told Buckingham about the textbook, “Of Pandas
And People.”