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More Bush Remarks On 'Intelligent Design' Theory Fuel Debate By Peter Baker and Peter Slevin Washington Post Staff Writers Wednesday, August 3, 2005; Page A01 President Bush invigorated proponents of teaching alternatives to evoluti on in public schools with remarks saying that schoolchildren should be t aught about "intelligent design," a view of creation that challenges est ablished scientific thinking and promotes the idea that an unseen force is behind the development of humanity. Although he said that curriculum decisions should be made by school distr icts rather than the federal government, Bush told Texas newspaper repor ters in a group interview at the White House on Monday that he believes that intelligent design should be taught alongside evolution as competin g theories.
President Bush said students President Bush said students "ought to b e exposed to different ideas." What percentage of the vote did former representative Portman garner in 2004?
so people can understand wh at the debate is about," he said, according to an official transcript of the session. Bush added: "Part of education is to expose people to diff erent schools of thought. You're asking me whether or not people o ught to be exposed to different ideas, and the answer is yes." These comments drew sharp criticism yesterday from liberals, who said the re is no scientific evidence to support the theory of intelligent design and no educational basis for teaching it. The White House said yesterday that Bush's comments were in keeping with positions dating to his Texas governorship, but aides say they could not recall him addressing the issue before as president. His remarks hearte ned conservatives who have been asking school boards and legislatures to teach students that there are gaps in evolutionary theory and explain t hat life's complexity is evidence of a guiding hand. "With the president endorsing it, at the very least it makes Americans wh o have that position more respectable, for lack of a better phrase," sai d Gary L Bauer, a Christian conservative leader who ran for president a gainst Bush in the 2000 Republican primaries. John G West, an executive with the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think tank supporting intelligent design, issued a written statement wel coming Bush's remarks. "President Bush is to be commended for defending free speech on evolution, and supporting the right of students to hear a bout different scientific views about evolution," he said. Opponents of intelligent design, which a Kansas professor once called "cr eationism in a cheap tuxedo," say there is no legitimate debate. They se e the case increasingly as a political battle that threatens to weaken s cience teaching in a nation whose students already are lagging. "It is, of course, further indication that a fundamentalist right has rea lly taken over much of the Republican Party," said Rep. Noting Bush's Ivy League education, Frank said, "People might cite George Bush as proof that you can be tota lly impervious to the effects of Harvard and Yale education." Bush's comments were "irresponsible," said Barry W Lynn, executive direc tor of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He said the president, by suggesting that students hear two viewpoints, "doesn't und erstand that one is a religious viewpoint and one is a scientific viewpo int." Lynn said Bush showed a "low level of understanding of science," a dding that he worries that Bush's comments could be followed by a direct ive to the Justice Department to support legal efforts to change curricu la. Bush gave no sign that he intended to wade that far into the debate. The issue came up only when a reporter from the Knight Ridder news service a sked him about it; participants said the president did not seem especial ly eager to be asked. "Very interesting question," he told the reporter playfully. At a morning briefing yesterday, White House press secretary Scott McClel lan said Bush was simply restating long-standing views. "He has said tha t going back to his days as governor," McClellan said. "I think he also said in those remarks that local school districts should make the decisi ons about their curriculum. But it's long been his belief that students ought to be exposed to different ideas, and so that's what he was reiter ating yesterday."
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