Discovery Institute 43089 224981247 2008-07-11T08:30:00Z Hrafn 3939239 Rvt: no evidence given of their involvement in this {{Intelligent Design}} The '''Discovery Institute''' is a [[U.S.]] [[think tank]] based in [[Seattle, Washington]], best known for its advocacy of [[intelligent design]] and its [[Teach the Controversy]] campaign to teach [[creationism|creationist]] anti-[[evolution]] beliefs in United States [[public high school]] [[Science education|science courses]].<ref name=ForrestMayPaper>{{citation | url= http://www.centerforinquiry.net/uploads/attachments/intelligent-design.pdf| title = Understanding the Intelligent Design Creationist Movement: Its True Nature and Goals. A Position Paper from the Center for Inquiry, Office of Public Policy| first = Barbara| last = Forrest| author-link = Barbara Forrest | date = May,2007| month = May| year = 2007| publisher = Center for Inquiry, Inc.| place = Washington, D.C.|accessdate = 2007-08-06}}.</ref><ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1297170&WNT=true Small Group Wields Major Influence in Intelligent Design Debate] ABC News, November 9 2005</ref><ref>"ID's home base is the Center for Science and Culture at Seattle's conservative Discovery Institute. Meyer directs the center; former Reagan adviser Bruce Chapman heads the larger institute, with input from the Christian supply-sider and former American Spectator owner George Gilder (also a Discovery senior fellow). From this perch, the ID crowd has pushed a "teach the controversy" approach to evolution that closely influenced the Ohio State Board of Education's recently proposed science standards, which would require students to learn how scientists "continue to investigate and critically analyze" aspects of Darwin's theory." Chris Mooney. The American Prospect. December 2, 2002 [http://web.archive.org/web/20021218104528/http://www.prospect.org/print/V13/22/mooney-c.html Survival of the Slickest: How anti-evolutionists are mutating their message]. Archived from [http://www.prospect.org/print/V13/22/mooney-c.html the original] on [[2002-12-18]].</ref><ref>[http://www.arn.org/docs/dembski/wd_teachingid0201.htm Teaching Intelligent Design: What Happened When?] by [[William A. Dembski]] "The clarion call of the intelligent design movement is to "teach the controversy." There is a very real controversy centering on how properly to account for biological complexity (cf. the ongoing events in Kansas), and it is a scientific controversy."</ref><ref>Nick Matzke's analysis shows how teaching the controversy using the ''Critical Analysis of Evolution'' model lesson plan is a means of teaching all the intelligent design arguments without using the intelligent design label.[http://www.pandasthumb.org/archives/2006/07/no_one_here_but.html No one here but us Critical Analysis-ists...] Nick Matzke. The Panda's Thumb, July 11 2006</ref> A federal court, along with the majority of scientific organizations, including the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]], say the Institute has manufactured the controversy they want to teach by promoting a false perception that evolution is "a theory in crisis", through incorrectly claiming that it is the subject of wide controversy and debate within the scientific community.<ref name="kitzmiller_pg89">"ID's backers have sought to avoid the scientific scrutiny which we have now determined that it cannot withstand by advocating that the ''controversy'', but not ID itself, should be taught in science class. This tactic is at best disingenuous, and at worst a canard." [[Wikisource:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District/4:Whether ID Is Science#Page 89 of 139|Ruling, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, page 89]]</ref><ref name="nejm">"That this controversy is one largely manufactured by the proponents of creationism and intelligent design may not matter, and as long as the controversy is taught in classes on current affairs, politics, or religion, and not in science classes, neither scientists nor citizens should be concerned." [http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/354/21/2277 Intelligent Judging — Evolution in the Classroom and the Courtroom] George J. Annas, [[New England Journal of Medicine]], Volume 354:2277-2281 May 25, 2006</ref><ref name=AAAS> "Some bills seek to discredit evolution by emphasizing so-called "flaws" in the theory of evolution or "disagreements" within the scientific community. Others insist that teachers have absolute freedom within their classrooms and cannot be disciplined for teaching non-scientific "alternatives" to evolution. A number of bills require that students be taught to "critically analyze" evolution or to understand "the controversy." But there is no significant controversy within the scientific community about the validity of the theory of evolution. The current controversy surrounding the teaching of evolution is not a scientific one." [http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2006/pdf/0219boardstatement.pdf AAAS Statement on the Teaching of Evolution] [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]]. February 16, 2006 </ref> In 2005, a federal court ruled that the Discovery Institute pursues "demonstrably religious, cultural, and legal missions",<ref>[[wikisource:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District/6:Curriculum, Conclusion#Page 131 of 139|Ruling, page 131]] [[Kitzmiller v. Dover]].</ref> and the institute's manifesto, the [[Wedge strategy]], describes a religious goal: to "reverse the stifling dominance of the materialist worldview, and to replace it with a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions".<ref name="wedge_and_response">"Design theory promises to reverse the stifling dominance of the materialist worldview, and to replace it with a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions." ... "If we view the predominant materialistic science as a giant tree, our strategy is intended to function as a "wedge" that, while relatively small, can split the trunk when applied at its weakest points."[http://www.antievolution.org/features/wedge.pdf Wedge Strategy] Discovery Institute, 1999. The institute's response to the leaking of the Wedge strategy, [http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&program=CSC%20Responses&id=2101 The "Wedge Document": So What?] raises the same objection to the materialistic worldview: "We think the materialist world-view that has dominated Western intellectual life since the 19th century is false and we want to refute it. We further want to reverse the influence of such materialistic thinking on our culture".</ref><ref>{{cite news | first = Tapper | last = Jake | title = McCain Speech Tied to Intelligent Design Group Draws Fire | url = http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2897153&page=1 | format = | work = | publisher = ABC News | date = 2007-02-22 | accessdate = 2007-12-05 }}</ref> ==History== The institute was founded in 1990<ref>[http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=2190 CSC - Media Backgrounder: Intelligent Design Article Sparks Controversy<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> as a non-profit educational foundation and think tank based upon the Christian [[apologetics]] of [[C. S. Lewis]]. It was founded as a branch of the [[Hudson Institute]], an Indianapolis-based [[Conservatism|conservative]] [[think tank]], and is named after the [[Royal Navy]] ship [[HMS Discovery (1789)|HMS ''Discovery'']] in which [[George Vancouver]] explored [[Puget Sound]] in 1792. In 1966 the institute's founder and president, [[Bruce Chapman]] and Harvard roommate [[George Gilder]], participated in the [[Ripon Society]], a group for Republican liberals, and collaborated on ''Advance'', dubbed "the unofficial Republican magazine," which criticized the party from within for catering to segregationists, [[John Birch Society| John Birchers]], and other "extremists". Following their graduation, Chapman and Gilder advanced their "progressive" Republican campaign in their 1966 [[polemic]] book ''The Party That Lost Its Head''. The book critiqued [[Barry Goldwater]]’s 1964 presidential candidacy and dismissed the GOP’s embrace of rising star [[Ronald Reagan]] as the party's hope to "usurp reality with the fading world of the class-B movie." ''The Party That Lost Its Head'' denounced Goldwater’s conservative backers for their "rampant" and "paranoid distrust" of intellectuals. The book labeled the Goldwater campaign a "brute assault on the entire intellectual world," and places the blame for this development on what they viewed as a wrong political tactic; "In recent years the Republicans as a party have been alienating intellectuals deliberately, as a matter of taste and strategy." Chapman moved to the [[Right-wing politics|right]] in the [[Reagan administration]],<ref>[http://www.waronscience.com/excerpt.php ''Chapter 11: "Creation Science" 2.0, The Republican War on Science''] [[Chris Mooney]]. [[Basic Books]], 2005.</ref> where he served as director of the [[Census Bureau]]. Chapman left the Census Bureau to work in the [[White House]] under Reagan adviser [[Edwin Meese III]] - now a Discovery Institute Adjunct Fellow,<ref>[http://www.discovery.org/fellows/ Discovery Institute Fellows]</ref> and was appointed U.S. Ambassador to the [[United Nations]] Organizations in Vienna.<ref>[http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/com/12318.htm Official State Department Record of United Nations Office (Vienna)]</ref> Co-founder and Senior Fellow George Gilder wrote several books addressing culture, technology, and poverty, including, ''Visible Man,'' (1978) which criticised American culture for its failure to promote the ideals of the traditional nuclear family.<ref>[http://www.gildertech.com/bios.html Gilder Technology Report]</ref> His next work, ''Wealth and Poverty,'' (1981), was cited by President [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref>[http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=41324 Ronald Reagan Radio Address to the Nation, May 14, 1983]</ref><ref>[http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=37418 Ronald Reagan Radio Address to the Nation, July 7, 1983]</ref> Gilder’s later books have dealt more with developments in technology, such as ''Microcosm'' (1990) and ''Life After Television'' (1994). Chapman had built a political platform, but lacked funding and a defining issue.<ref name=Downey>{{cite web |url=http://seattleweekly.com/2006-02-01/news/discovery-s-creation.php |title=News: Discovery's Creation (Seattle Weekly) |accessdate=2007-08-27 |author= Roger Downey |date=2006-02-01 |publisher= }}</ref> In December 1993 Chapman noticed an essay in the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' by [[Stephen C. Meyer]] about a dispute when biology lecturer [[Dean H. Kenyon]] taught intelligent design creationism in introductory classes.<ref name="wilgoren"> [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/21/national/21evolve.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5088&en=24bc7c9b16cac8a8&ex=1282276800&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss Politicized Scholars Put Evolution on the Defensive], Jodi Wilgoren, [[The New York Times]], August 21 2005.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arn.org/docs/meyer/sm_opendebatelifesorigins.htm |title=Open Debate on Life's Origins: Meyer, Stephen C. |accessdate=2007-08-27 |author= Stephen C. Meyer |authorlink=Stephen C. Meyer |date= 1993-12-06 |publisher=Wall Street Journal }}</ref> Kenyon had co-authored ''[[Of Pandas and People]]'', and in 1993 Meyer had contributed to the teacher's notes for the second edition of ''Pandas''. Meyer was an old friend of [[George Gilder]], and over dinner about a year later they formed the idea of a think tank opposed to [[materialism]]. In the summer of 1995 Chapman and Meyer met a representative of [[Howard Ahmanson, Jr.]]. Meyer, who had previously tutored Ahmanson's son in science, recalls being asked "What could you do if you had some financial backing?" In 1996 the promise of $750,000 over three years from the Ahmansons and a smaller grant from the conservative [[Christian MacLellan Foundation]] was used to fund the institute's ''[[Center for Science and Culture|Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture]]'' which went on to form the motive force behind the [[intelligent design movement]].<ref name="wilgoren"/> In 2002 the name was changed to the ''Center for Science and Culture''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/academe/2005/JF/Feat/forr.htm |title=AAUP: Wedging Creationism into the Academy |accessdate=2007-08-27 |author=Barbara Forrest |authorlink=Barbara Forrest |coauthors= Glenn Branch |date=January-February 2005 |work=Academe Online |publisher=American Association of University Professors }}</ref> ==Organization== The institute is headed by [[Bruce Chapman]], president. Vice presidents are Steven J. Buri, and [[Stephen C. Meyer]] (who also serves as an institute senior fellow and the program director of the Center for Science and Culture). Its board of directors includes: * social and religious conservative [[Howard Ahmanson, Jr.]]. Frederick Clarkson at PublicEye.org says that Howard is a Reconstructionist (another name for a [[Dominionist]])<ref>Clarkson, Frederick. [http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v08n1/chrisre3.html Christian Reconstructionism: Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence.] ''The Public Eye''. March/June 1994. Retrieved on [[2008-07-05]].</ref> * influential local businesspeople [http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromMktGuideIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedMktGuideId=35842 Tom Alberg,] [http://www.baldwinrgi.com/home.html William Baldwin,] [http://www.foster.com/attOverview.aspx?AttorneyID=112 Mike Vaska] * opinion and policy makers: ** former U.S. Senator [[Slade Gorton]] ** [http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=25&isFellow=true Christopher Bayley] ===Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture=== {{main|Center for Science and Culture}} The ''Center for Science and Culture'' (CSC), formerly known as the ''Center for Renewal of Science and Culture'' (CRSC), is the most important subsidiary of the Discovery Institute. It was established in 1996 with the assistance of [[Phillip E. Johnson]] to advance the Wedge strategy. Chapman calls the CSC "our No. 1 project."<ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_9_16/ai_60270494 Scientist Get a Wedgie] Larry Witham. Insight on the News, March 6 2000</ref><ref>[http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/barbara_forrest/wedge.html The Wedge at Work] Chapter 1 of ''Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics''. [[Barbara Forrest]]. MIT Press, 2001.</ref> The CSC offers lucrative fellowships of up to $60,000 a year for "support of significant and original research in the natural sciences, the history and philosophy of science, cognitive science and related fields." Since its founding in 1996, the institute's CSC has spent 39 percent of its $9.3 million on research according to Meyer, underwriting books or papers, or often just paying universities to release professors from some teaching responsibilities so that they can work on intelligent design related scholarship. Over those nine years, $792,585 financed laboratory or field research in biology, paleontology or biophysics, while $93,828 helped graduate students in paleontology, linguistics, history and philosophy. The CSC lobbies aggressively to policymakers for wider acceptance of intelligent design and against the theory of [[evolution]] and what it terms "[[scientific materialism]]." To that end the CSC works to advance a policy it terms the Wedge strategy, of which the "Teach the Controversy" campaign is a major component. The "Teach the Controversy" strategy was announced by Meyer in 2002 [http://www.talkreason.org/articles/Meyer.cfm]. It seeks to portray evolution as a "theory in crisis"<ref>Calling evolution "a theory in crisis," more than two-dozen scientists signed an amicus brief by written by Seth L. Cooper of the Discovery Institute and George M. Weaver and Kevin T. McMurry of Hollberg & Weaver. [http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=2305&program=CSC%20-%20Views%20and%20News Scientists Defend School Board's Use of Evolution Disclaimer Sticker] R. Robin McDonald and Greg Bluestein. Law.com, Fulton County Daily Report, November 12 2004.</ref><ref>"Darwinism is a theory in crisis." --Discovery Institute co-founder, Bruce Chapman. [http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=1574 How Should Schools Teach Evolution?] [[Bruce Chapman]]. Dallas Morning News, September 21 2003.</ref> and leave the [[scientific community]] looking closed-minded,<ref>"Such closed-minded dogmatism is the opposite of good science, and it shouldn't be allowed to dictate what Texas students learn about biology." -- John G. West, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow. [http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=1531 Institute Supports Accurate Science] John G. West. San Angelo Standard-Times, August 8 2003.</ref> opening the public school science curriculum to creation-based alternatives to evolution such as intelligent design,<ref>"In summary, the disclaimer singles out the theory of evolution for special treatment, misrepresents its status in the scientific community, causes students to doubt its validity without scientific justification, presents students with a religious alternative masquerading as a scientific theory, directs them to consult a creationist text as though it were a science resource, and instructs students to forgo scientific inquiry in the public school classroom and instead to seek out religious instruction elsewhere." [[wikisource:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District/3:Disclaimer#Page 49 of 139|Ruling - disclaimer, pg. 49]] [[Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District]].</ref> and thereby undermining "scientific materialism."<ref>[http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=3309 Nature's Book Shelved] Jonathan Witt. Touchstone Magazine, March 1, 2006.</ref> ===Biologic Institute=== {{main|Biologic Institute}} In 2005 the Discovery Institute provided the funding to set up the Biologic Institute in [[Redmond, Washington|Redmond]] and the [[Fremont, Seattle, Washington|Fremont]] district of [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle]], [[Washington]], headed by Douglas Axe. The Biologic Institute claims to conduct research into [[intelligent design]] in response to one of the primary criticisms of intelligent design, that there is no valid research conducted by the scientific community on the topic. According to Axe, the lab's main objective "is to show that the design perspective can lead to better science", and will "contribute substantially to the scientific case for intelligent design".<ref name="god_lab">[http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19225824.000-intelligent-design-the-god-lab.html Intelligent design: The God Lab] Celeste Biever. The New Scientist, December 15 2006.</ref> Biologic's staff consists of "at least three researchers" (Axe, the senior researcher; Zoology PhD Ann Gauger, who like Axe is a signatory to the Discovery Institute's anti-evolution manifesto ''[[A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism]]''; Brendan Dixon, a software developer).<ref name="god_lab"/> In keeping with the Discovery Institute's October 2006 statement that intelligent design research is being conducted by the institute in secret to avoid the scrutiny of the scientific community,<ref>[http://www.evolutionnews.org/2006/10/the_state_of_scientific_resear.html The State of Scientific Research on Intelligent Design] Bruce Chapman. Evolution News, October 2 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.idthefuture.com/2006/08/from_a_senior_scientist_observ.html From A Senior Scientist Observing the ID Debate] Paul Nelson. EvolutionNews.org</ref> both Axe and Discovery Institute spokesperson Rob Crowther portray it as a "separate entity" despite being funded by the Discovery Institute.<ref name="god_lab"/> Previously serving as a director of the institute was George Weber, who is also a member of the local chapter of the creationist group ''[[Hugh Ross (creationist)|Reasons to Believe]]''. In an interview he stated that the lab is a wing of the Discovery Institute and that their goal is to "challenge the scientific community on naturalism" and "What we are doing is necessary to move ID along" which lead to his dismissal from the board of the institute.<ref name="god_lab"/><ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2006/12/the_dis_genuine_imitation_leat.php The DI's Genuine Imitation Leather Research Lab] Ed Brayton. Dispatches from the Culture Wars, December 15 2006.</ref> [[PZ Myers]] likens the Biologic Institute's design research program to [[cargo cult]]s, with "Intelligent Design creationists pretend[ing] that they're doing science."<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/02/happy_intelligent_design_day.php Pharyngula: Happy Intelligent Design Day!<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ==Discovery Institute Programs== The Discovery Institute through the [[Center for Science and Culture]] has been advancing the agenda set forth in its mission statements in both the political and social spheres. That agenda includes the intelligent design movement; transportation in the [[United States|American]] and [[Canadian]] northwest ([[Pacific Northwest|Cascadia]]); a bioethics program opposed to [[assisted suicide]], [[euthanasia]], [[embryonic stem cell research]], human genetic manipulation, [[human cloning]], and the [[animal rights movement]]. Its economics and legal programs advocate [[tort]] reform, lower [[taxation]], and reduced economic regulation of individuals and groups as the best economic policy. The Discovery Institute also maintains a foreign policy program currently focused on Russia and East Asia. The Institute's primary thrust in terms of funding and resources dedicated are those political and cultural campaigns centering around intelligent design. These include the: *[[Wedge strategy]] *[[Intelligent design movement]] *[[Teach the Controversy]] ===Intelligent design and Teach the Controversy=== {{further|[[Discovery Institute intelligent design campaigns]]}} The Discovery Institute's main thrust has been to promote intelligent design politically to the public, education officials and public policymakers, and to portray [[evolution]] as a "theory in crisis" and advocating teachers to "Teach the Controversy" through the [[Center for Science and Culture|CSC]]. It has employed a number of specific political strategies and tactics in the furtherance of its goals. These range from attempts at the state level to undermine or remove altogether the presence of evolutionary theory from the public school classroom, to having the federal government mandate the teaching of intelligent design, to 'stacking' municipal, county and state school boards with ID proponents. The Discovery Institute has been a significant player in many of these cases, through the CSC providing a range of support from material assistance to federal, state and regional elected representatives in the drafting of bills to supporting and advising individual parents confronting their school boards. Some of the political battles which have involved the Discovery Institute include: * [[Kansas evolution hearings]] * [[Santorum Amendment]] * [[Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District]] - the [[Dover, Pennsylvania]] intelligent design controversy In 2004 the institute opened an office in [[Washington, D.C.]], and in 2005 the Discovery Institute hired [[Creative Response Concepts]],<ref>[http://www.crc4pr.com/firm/clients.asp Creative Response Concepts, clients]</ref> the same [[public relations]] firm to promote its intelligent design campaign that promoted the [[Swift Boat Veterans for Truth]] campaign, the [[Republican National Committee]], the [[Christian Coalition of America|Christian Coalition]], and the [[Contract With America]]. Creative Response Concepts scored an early victory for the institute in getting the New York Times to publish an essay by [[Roman Catholic]] [[Christoph Cardinal Schönborn|Cardinal Schönborn]], archbishop of [[Vienna]], condemning evolution, against church teaching and the long-standing Catholic idea that God and evolution are compatible. The essay, ''Finding Design in Nature,''<ref>[http://www.millerandlevine.com/km/evol/catholic/schonborn-NYTimes.html ''Finding Design in Nature''], Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, [[The New York Times]], July 7 2005.</ref> submitted directly to The Times by Creative Response Concepts, was prompted by the institute's vice president Mark Ryland.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/09/science/09cardinal.html?ex=1278561600&en=0c183426986e5e77&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss Leading Cardinal Redefines Church's View on Evolution] Cornelia Dean, Laurie Goodstein. New York Times, July 9 2005.</ref> ===Cascadia Center === Discovery Institute's Cascadia Center for Regional Development (former Cascadia project)<ref>[http://www.discovery.org/cascadia/ Discovery Institute's Cascadia project]</ref> focuses on regional transportation. The Cascadia Project started in 1992 with [[Bruce Agnew]], former Chief of Staff for U.S. Representative [[John Miller (politician)|John Miller]], serving as the director. In 2003, [[Thomas Till]] was brought in as Managing Director, after leaving his post as Executive Director of the [[Amtrak Reform Council]].<ref> [http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/arc/ A Message from the Amtrak Reform Council]</ref> Cascadia attempts to forge alliances between local governments to ease traffic congestion in the Pacific Northwest, utilizing focus groups<ref>[http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&program=News&id=1622 Transportation package: What will voters support?] Eric Pryne. The Seattle Times, October 30 2003</ref> as well as forming citizen panels and public forums.<ref>[http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&program=Cascadia%20-%20Passenger%20Ferries&id=1505 Private Firms Seek Support to Run Ferries] Kery Murakami. Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 1 2003</ref> In conjunction with [[Microsoft]], Cascadia sponsored a session involving elected officials, entrepreneurs and public policy experts including Washington State Representative [[Dave Reichert]] and former CIA director [[James Woolsey]] to discuss varying proposals for securing U.S. ports and diversifying America's energy portfolio.<ref> [http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=danews.story&STORY=/www/story/05-24-2006/0004368599&EDATE=WED+May+24+2006,+09:01+PM U.S. Senators and Congressmen to Address Homeland Security, Alternative Energy at Cascadia Conference] PR Newswire, May 24 2006</ref> The Cascadia project is funded in part by a large grant from the [[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation|Gates Foundation]].<ref>[http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/08/26/gatesfoundation/index.html Intelligent donation?] Farhad Manjoo. Salon, August 26 2005</ref> It recently created its own Web site to ensure an individual identity and distance itself from the institute's controversial role in promoting intelligent design.<ref name="wilgoren" /> ===Bioethics=== Discovery Institute's Bioethics program is headed up by Senior Fellow [[Wesley J. Smith]]. Formerly a [[Ralph Nader]] collaborator, Smith is also an attorney, author of several books, and a frequent contributor to the conservative publications [[The Weekly Standard]] and [[National Review]]. Smith coined the term ''[[human exceptionalism]]''. Research issues include [[euthanasia]], [[right to life]], [[animal rights]] and a related constellation of topics. ===Technology & Democracy=== The Technology and Democracy Project (TDP), has been a part of the Discovery Institute since the beginning; founded by Senior Fellow George Gilder. The project supports technology as a force for economic growth and advocates freeing technological advancement from government regulation. It utilizes national publications, speeches, conferences and public testimony to lobby for pro-technology and pro-free enterprise policies. The Technology and Democracy Project supports pushing deregulation to the forefront of the national debate and maintains a blog, disco-tech.org,<ref>[http://www.disco-tech.org disco-tech.org]</ref> where senior fellows comment on a wide range of issues. ===The Real Russia Project=== The Real Russia Project provides analysis and commentary on the future of democracy in Russia through its internet portal, 'RussiaBlog.'<ref>[http://www.russiablog.org RussiaBlog.org]</ref> In addition to maintaining the weblog, the program organizes conferences and events to address current events and daily public life in Russia (i.e. the killings of [[Anna Politkovskaya]] and [[Alexander Litvinenko]], U.S.-Russian business relations, etc).<ref> [http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=247&program=Russia%20Project&isEvent=true How Do Western Stereotypes Harm U.S.-Russia Relations?] Discovery Institute Events, October 11 2006</ref> ===C. S. Lewis & Public Life=== The C. S. Lewis & Public Life program<ref>[http://www.discovery.org/cslewis/ The Discovery Institute's C. S. Lewis & Public Life program]</ref> is part of the Discovery Institute's Religion, Liberty & Public Life program<ref>[http://www.discovery.org/religion/ The Discovery Institute's Religion, Liberty & Public Life program]</ref> which seeks to define and promote the role of religion in society. It says what "the proper role of religion is in a free society" is the "animating question behind Discovery's program on religion and civic life." The C. S. Lewis & Public Life program provides analysis and commentary on the writings and thinking of [[C. S. Lewis]], a noted [[Christian apologist]], and how they can influence public policy. Included in the program is <cite>The Lewis Legacy Online</cite>,<ref>[http://www.discovery.org/cslewis/legacy/ The Discovery Institute's <cite>The Lewis Legacy Online</cite>]</ref> a quarterly journal edited by Kathryn Lindskoog and the online archive, ''C. S. Lewis Writings in the Public Domain'',<ref>[http://www.discovery.org/cslewis/articles/writingspblcdmn/ The Discovery Institute's C. S. Lewis Writings in the Public Domain]</ref> which includes the full text of ''Spirits in Bondage'', letters from Lewis, his will, a list of the ten books that influenced him most, and more. ==Controversy== Although it often describes itself as a secular organization,<ref>"Discovery Institute is a secular think tank, and its Board members and Fellows represent a variety of religious traditions" [http://www.discovery.org/csc/topQuestions.php Is Discovery Institute a religious organization?] Center for Science and Culture</ref><ref name="abc">[http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1297170&WNT=true Small Group Wields Major Influence in Intelligent Design Debate] ABC News, November 9 2005</ref> critics, members of the press and former institute fellows consider the Discovery Institute to be an explicitly conservative Christian organization,<ref name="trojan horse">"Although it purports to be a secular organization, its religious moorings are clearly recognizable. Patricia O'Connell Killen, a religion professor at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma whose work centers around the regional religious identity of the Pacific Northwest, recently wrote that "religiously inspired think tanks such as the conservative evangelical Discovery Institute" are part of the "religious landscape" of that area." [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3944/is_200502/ai_n9521923 Intelligent Design: Creationsim's Trojan Horse] Barbara Forrest. Church & State, February 2005. Page 2.</ref><ref name="lrb">"The Discovery Institute is a conservative Christian think-tank - although some of its fellows are quick to deny they are either of those things..." [https://www.lrb.co.uk/v23/n21/jone01_.html Short Cuts] Thomas Jones. London Review of Books, November 1, 2001.</ref><ref name="nerve">"More recently, he helped fund the Discovery Institute, a conservative Christian think tank that mounted a public relations campaign and financed 'research' into intelligent design." [http://www.nerve.com/dispatches/clark/citizenanschutz/printcopy.asp Citizen Anschutz] Justin Clark. Nerve.com , March 23 2006</ref><ref name="wilgoren" /><ref name="radar">"conservative Christian think tank Discovery Institute" [http://www.radarmagazine.com/web-only/kulture-klub/2005/10/intelligent-deception.php Intelligent Deception] Steven I. Weiss. Radar Magazine. October 18 2005.</ref> and point to the institute's own publications and the statements of its members that endorse a religious ideology. [[Americans United for Separation of Church and State]] notes, "Though the Discovery Institute describes itself as a think tank 'specializing in national and international affairs,' the group's real purpose is to undercut church-state separation and turn public schools into religious indoctrination centers."<ref>[http://www.au.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5582&abbr=cs_ The Discovery Institute] Steve Benen. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, May 2002.</ref> The 2005 judge in the "Dover Trial", [[Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District]], came to a similar conclusion about the Institute in his ruling: "CSRC expressly announces, in the Wedge Document, a program of Christian apologetics to promote ID. A careful review of the Wedge Document's goals and language throughout the document reveals cultural and religious goals, as opposed to scientific ones."<ref>[[s:Kitzmiller_v._Dover_Area_School_District/2:Context#Page_29_of_139|Ruling, Kitzmiller v. Dover]], page 29.</ref> As evidence of the institute's organized campaign to mask or downplay its religious origins and agenda, critics point to the Discovery Institute's renaming of its ''Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture'' to ''Center for Science and Culture'' in 2002 to avoid religious overtones implied with trying to "renew" society. They claim the name change "followed hard on the heels of accusations that the center's real interest was not science but reforming culture along lines favored by conservative Christians".<ref>[http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/academe/2005/JF/Feat/forr.htm Wedging Creationism into the Academy, Proponents of a controversial theory struggle to gain purchase within academia. A case study of the quest for academic legitimacy] [[Barbara Forrest]], [[Glenn Branch]]. Academe, 2005</ref> As further evidence that the institute is promoting a Christian agenda, observers of the institute also point to the fact that the Discovery Institute' members are largely outspoken Christians,<ref name="wilgoren" /> who are promoting an explicitly Christian agenda,<ref name="wedge">[http://www.antievolution.org/features/wedge.pdf Wedge Document] Discovery Institute, 1999. (PDF file)</ref> funded largely by conservative Christians,<ref name="fps_aps">[http://www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/2005/january/reviews.cfm Review, Creationism’s Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design] [[Lawrence S. Lerner]]. Forum on Physics and Society, American Physical Society.</ref><ref name="nerve"/> catering to an almost exclusively Christian constituency.<ref name="discover_mag">[http://www.discover.com/web-exclusives-archive/intelligent-design/ Intelligent Decision What the judge said about intelligent design in schools'] [[Susan Kruglinski]]. Discover Magazine, December 22 2005</ref><ref>[http://austringer.net/files/csicop2002/wre_desinf_csicop_15min_trim.ppt Beyond the "Wedge": Intelligent Design, Science, and Culture] [[Wesley R. Elsberry]]. (PowerPoint file)</ref><ref name="wedge"/> Nina Shapiro in the Seattle Weekly article, <cite>The New Creationists</cite>, cites Bruce Chapman when she wrote that behind all Discovery Institute programs there is an underlying hidden religious agenda: {{quotation|"Yet the Discovery Institute as an organization didn't get involved in the issue in order to solve the mysteries of the universe. Chapman is up front about having a social and political agenda. He sees design intelligence as a way to combat the growing reliance on genetic explanations for human behavior and what he sees as an undermining of personal responsibility. As an example of this phenomenon, Chapman cites the infamous 'Twinkie defense' used by a murder defendant claiming his sugar high made him do it. Others associated with the institute take a bigger leap of logic to argue that welfare, as currently dispensed, is a misguided consequence of the Darwinian outlook. 'If you see human beings as nothing but matter and motion, than all you do is treat them like mouths to feed,' says Jay Richards, program director for the institutes Center for Science and Culture. 'If they're more than that, you treat the whole person,' he argues, which would mean looking at such things as family structure and the role of moral and religious values in their lives. Do you really have to attack a whole branch of science in order to counter liberal views on welfare? The Discovery Institute folk think they do. 'Unless you get the science right,' Chapman says, 'it's very hard to contend with the other arguments.'"<ref name="new_creationists">[http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/0116/news-shapiro.php The New Creationists] Nina Shapiro. Seattle Weekly, April 18 2001</ref> --''Nina Shapiro, The New Creationists''}} The evolution of Discovery Institute President Bruce Chapman and Senior Fellow George Gilder from liberal Republicans criticizing their party for alienating intellectuals in the 1960s to running a conservative think tank whose main thrust has been to seek the undermining of evolution through campaigns like [[Teach the Controversy]] has prompted [[Chris Mooney]] to write in his book ''[[The Republican War on Science]]'': "You see, despite the poignant accuracy of their critique, the authors of The Party That Lost Its Head—Bruce K. Chapman and George Gilder—have since bitten their tongues and morphed from liberal Republicans into staunch conservatives. In fact, you could say that they have become everything they once criticized. Once opponents of right-wing anti-intellectualism, they are now prominent supporters of conservative attacks on the theory of evolution, not just a bedrock of modern science but one of the greatest intellectual achievements of human history."<ref name="mooney_chpt_11">[http://www.waronscience.com/excerpt.php The Republican War on Science] Chris Mooney. Chapter 11, "Creation Science" 2.0. </ref> At the foundation of most criticism of the Discovery Institute is the charge that the institute and its Center for Science and Culture intentionally misrepresent or omit many important facts in promoting their agenda. [[Intellectual dishonesty]], in the form of misleading impressions created by the use of rhetoric, intentional ambiguity, and misrepresented evidence, form the foundation of most of the criticisms of the institute.<ref>"ID supporters present fallacious arguments, use dishonest rhetoric, and often present non-contemptuous responses as evidence that their theories are gaining acceptance." [http://www.math.jmu.edu/~rosenhjd/BioScience.pdf Leaders and Followers in the Intelligent Design Movement] Jason Rosenhouse. BioScience, Vol. 53 No. 1, January 2003.</ref><ref>[http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2004_03/003541.php Political Animal, Intelligent Design] Kevin Drum. Washington Monthly, March 24 2004.</ref> It is alleged that its goal is to lead an unwary public to reach certain conclusions, and that many have been deceived as a result. Its critics, such as [[Eugenie Scott]], [[Robert Pennock]], [[Richard Dawkins]] and [[Barbara Forrest]], claim that the Discovery Institute knowingly misquotes scientists and other experts, deceptively omits contextual text through [[ellipsis]], and makes unsupported amplifications of relationships and credentials, and are often said to claim support from scientists when no such support exists.<ref>"The proponents of Intelligent Design (and creationism) are notorious for claiming support from scientists when no such support exists." [http://bcseweb.org.uk/index.php/Main/WhoIsWho#9. 9. Intelligent Design Advocates in Academia] Who's Who in the Creationist Movement in the UK. British Centre for Science Education.</ref> A wide spectrum of critics level this charge; from educators, scientists and the Smithsonian Institute to individuals who oppose the teaching of creationism alongside science on ideological grounds. Specific objections with examples are listed at the [[Center for Science and Culture]] article.<ref name="mooney_chpt_11"/> This criticism is not limited to those in the scientific community that oppose the teaching of intelligent design and the suppression of evolution, but also includes former Discovery Institute donors. The [[Bullitt Foundation]], which gave $10,000 in 2001 for transportation causes, withdrew all funding of the institute; its director, Denis Hayes, called the institute "the institutional love child of [[Ayn Rand]] and [[Jerry Falwell]]," and said, "I can think of no circumstances in which the Bullitt Foundation would fund anything at Discovery today."<ref>[http://rightweb.irc-online.org/rw/501 The Glue that Binds the Movement] Michael Flynn. International Relations Center, September 8 2005.</ref> According to a New York Times article, The [[Templeton Foundation]], who provided grants for conferences and courses to debate intelligent design, later asked intelligent design proponents to submit proposals for actual research. Charles L. Harper Jr., senior vice president at the Templeton Foundation, was quoted as saying "They never came in." He also said that while he was skeptical from the beginning, other foundation officials were initially intrigued and later grew disillusioned. "From the point of view of [[rigour|rigor]] and intellectual seriousness, the intelligent design people don't come out very well in our world of scientific review," he said.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/weekinreview/04good.html Ideas & Trends; Intelligent Design Might Be Meeting Its Maker] Laurie Goodstein. New York Times, December 4 2005</ref> The Templeton Foundation has since rejected the Discovery Institute's entreaties for more funding, Harper states. "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."<ref name="wilgoren" /><ref>[http://www.templeton.org/topics_in_the_news/Statement_Anti_Evolutionism.pdf Anti-Evolutionism] John Templeton Foundation. (PDF file)</ref> In 2007 in the LA Times Pamela Thompson, Vice President for Communications of the Templeton Foundation wrote "We do not believe that the science underpinning the intelligent-design movement is sound, we do not support research or programs that deny large areas of well-documented scientific knowledge, and the foundation is a nonpolitical entity and does not engage in or support political movements."[http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-letters4.2feb04,1,4960042.story?coll=la-headlines-business] The same day the Wall Street Journal also included a letter from the same Pamela Thompson making much the same point: "The foundation doesn't support the political movement known as 'Intelligent Design.' This is for three reasons: We don't believe the science underpinning the 'Intelligent Design' movement is sound, we don't support research or programs that deny large areas of well-documented scientific knowledge and the foundation is a non-political entity and does not engage in, or support, political movements." [http://online.wsj.com/page/2_0048.html] In February 2007 the Discovery Institute began a campaign to counter the unfavorable statements of Harper and Thompson citing a "report" published on the intelligent design [[wiki]], ResearchID.<ref>[http://www.evolutionnews.org/2007/02/uncommondescent_and_researchid.html#more UncommonDescent and ResearchID.org Report: New York Times Falsely Claimed ID Theorists Failed to Respond to Call for Research Proposals] Evolution News, Discovery Institute.</ref> This campaign quoted clarifications from Charles Harper of the Templeton Foundation denouncing intelligent design and distancing the Templeton Foundation from the intelligent design movement, notably a clarification by Harper that a Wall Street Journal article published "false information" that "mention[ed] the John Templeton Foundation in a way suggesting that the Foundation has been a concerted patron and sponsor of the so-called Intelligent Design ("ID") position,"<ref>[http://www.templeton.org/newsroom/Intelligent_Design/Official_Statement.html Official statement on the false and misleading information published in the Wall Street Journal November 14.] Charles L. Harper, Jr. John Templeton Foundation.</ref> ResearchID and Discovery Institute claimed that this was indicative of larger errors and bias: "The media has misrepresented the record of the intelligent design research community."<ref>[http://www.researchintelligentdesign.org/wiki/Media_Misreports_Intelligent_Design_Research_and_the_John_Templeton_Foundation Media Misreports Intelligent Design Research and the John Templeton Foundation] Joseph C. Campana, ResearchID.org</ref> Critics of intelligent design responded by noting that though Harper appears to have "confirmed that while the first statement about a formal call for applications was false, the real point of the article, that ID advocates don't do very well in terms of actual research and scientific review, remains true and valid" a point the Discovery Institute glosses over.<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2007/03/the_iders_who_went_up_a_molehi_1.php#more Dispatches from the Culture Wars]</ref> The Templeton Foundation posted a response to the Discovery Institute's campaign, saying: {{quotation|In response to errors and misrepresentations stated in the February 28, 2007 ResearchID.com blog post: 1. The John Templeton Foundation has never made a call-for-proposals to the ID Community. 2. The Henry Schaefer grant was from the Origins of Biological Complexity program. Schaefer is a world's leading chemist, and his research has nothing whatsoever to do with ID. 3. Bill Dembski's grant was not for the book 'No Free Lunch.' Dembski was given funds to write another book on Orthodox Theology, which was not on ID, however he has never written the book. From our FAQ... Does the Foundation support I.D.? No. We do not support the political movement known as "Intelligent Design." This is for three reasons 1) we do not believe the science underpinning the "Intelligent Design" movement is sound, 2) we do not support research or programs that deny large areas of well-documented scientific knowledge, and 3) the Foundation is a non-political entity and does not engage in, or support, political movements. It is important to note that in the past we have given grants to scientists who have gone on to identify themselves as members of the Intelligent Design community. We understand that this could be misconstrued by some to suggest that we implicitly support the Intelligent Design movement, but, as outlined above, this was not our intention at the time nor is it today. -- ''Templeton Foundation''<ref>[http://www.templeton.org/newsroom/Intelligent%5FDesign/ Templeton Foundation Statement on Intelligent Design]</ref>}} The [[Wedge strategy|Wedge document]], a widely circulated 1998 internal memo, laid out Discovery's original, ambitious plan to "drive a wedge" into the heart of "scientific materialism," "thereby divorcing science from its purely observational and naturalistic methodology and reversing the deleterious effects of evolution on Western culture." The two governing goals of the Wedge document are: *To defeat scientific materialism and its destructive moral, cultural and political legacies *To replace materialistic explanations with the theistic understanding that nature and human beings are created by God Meyer says that the Wedge document "was stolen from our offices and placed on the Web without permission."<ref>[http://www.prospect.org/print/V13/22/mooney-c.html Survival of the Slickest: How anti-evolutionists are mutating their message] By Chris Mooney, The American Prospect, 16 December 2002</ref> The central item of this agenda - establishing intelligent design as legitimate science through conducting actual scientific research - has not been achieved.<ref>[[Wikisource:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District 4: whether ID is science|Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District 4: whether ID is science]] Ruling, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (2005)</ref> Michelle Goldberg has said "... the Center for Science and Culture takes creationism and tries to legitimize it in scientific terms, and make it sound as if it’s really just a kind of competing scientific theory. It hires people with a lot of impressive degrees, although, in many cases, they got the degrees specifically with the idea of using them to discredit Darwinism for religious reasons. It’ll put someone forward like Jonathan Wells, who has a Ph.D. from Berkeley, and yet here he is, defending intelligent design. So they’ve given a lot of thought to packaging intelligent design to make it seem like legitimate science. And they’ve given a lot of thought to how to try to infiltrate their ideas into the culture."<ref>[http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/06/06/int06020.html Michelle Goldberg's Gone To the MegaChurch and She Found Christian Nationalism There] Mark Karlin. BuzzFlash, June, 2006.</ref> Several Discovery Institute fellows have left the institute over its religious positions and campaigns, such as political scientist Donald Hellmann, described by the Seattle Metropolitan as a "disillusioned former Discovery Fellow."<ref>''The Evolution of Bruce Chapman'' by [[Eric Scigliano]]. Seattle Metropolitan, March 2006.</ref> Another former senior fellow, Philip Gold, resigned his post as a defense analyst with the institute in 2002, says the institute had grown increasingly religious. "It evolved from a policy institute that had a religious focus to an organization whose primary mission is Christian conservatism."<ref name="wilgoren" /> One controversy erupted when it was made public in the online journal Salon that, in the summer of 2000, Discovery Institute President Chapman advised a breakaway faction of Episcopalians opposed to the ordination of gays on how to fund their desired [[schism (religion)|schism]] from the mainline denomination and suggested that funds from multi-millionaire and institute board member Howard Ahmanson, who was also a fellow Episcopalian, might be available for this task. In a memo Chapman sent to fellow dissident Episcopalians he stated that for their campaign to succeed fund-raising was critical, but "is going to be affected greatly by whether we have a clear, compelling forward strategy" and "the Ahmansons are only going to be available to us if we have such a strategy and I think it would be wise to involve them directly in settling on it. . . ."<ref name="salon_ahmanson">[http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/01/06/ahmanson/index.html Avenging angel of the religious right] Max Blumenthal. Salon.com, January 6 2004.</ref><ref name="downey_di_creation">[http://seattleweekly.com/news/0605/discovery-darwin.php Discovery's Creation] Roger Downey. Seattle Weekly, February 1 2006.</ref> In 2000 and 2001 Chapman was successful in securing more than $1 million from Ahmanson for the Anglican Council, but is no longer personally involved in the schism in the American Episcopal community; Chapman converted to Catholicism in 2002.<ref name="downey_di_creation"/> ==="Study" criticizing Judge Jones=== Controversy was stirred up again in December 2006 by the Discovery Institute and its fellows publishing several articles describing a "study" performed by the Discovery Institute criticizing the judge in the [[Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District]] trial. It claims that "90.9% of [[John E. Jones III|Judge Jones]]’ [opinion] on intelligent design as science was taken virtually verbatim from the [[American Civil Liberties Union|ACLU]]’s proposed 'Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law' submitted to Judge Jones nearly a month before his ruling."<ref>[http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/filesDB-download.php?command=download&id=1186 A Comparison of Judge Jones’ Opinion in Kitzmiller v. Dover with Plaintiffs' "Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law"] (pdf) John G. West and David K. DeWolf. Discovery Institute, December 12 2006.</ref> The study, though making no specific allegations of wrongdoing, implies that Judge Jones relied upon the plaintiff's submissions in writing his own conclusions of law. Within a day, the president of the York County Bar Association had pointed out that parties are required by the courts to submit findings of fact and "a judge can adopt some, all or none of the proposed findings." She added that in the final ruling, a judge's decision "is the judge's findings and it doesn't matter who submitted them". A partner in a York law firm said that "Any attempt to make a stink out of it is absurd."<ref>[http://www.ydr.com/newsfull/ci_4830900 Judges' wording often borrowed], Rick Lee, The York Daily Record, December 12 2006.</ref> Several commentators pointed out that Jones' use of the plaintiff's submissions were limited to his opinion, not his conclusion of law, and that "Vice President for Legal Affairs John West is not a lawyer, so he may not be familiar with the fact that this is exactly what proposed findings of fact are for. They are proposed findings which a judge, if he or she agrees, then incorporates as his or her own findings. ... The press release suggests that Judge Jones did something improper in adopting the plaintiffs’ proposed findings as his own—but that is just what a judge does when he finds that the party has proven its case."<ref name="sandefur_behes">[http://www.pandasthumb.org/archives/2006/12/weekend_at_behe.html Weekend At Behe’s] Timothy Sandefur. The Panda's Thumb, December 12 2006.</ref> Others noted that the institute's reliance on [[Microsoft Word|MS Word]]'s "Word Count" function to conduct their study was flawed and resulted in inflated numbers, and that the bulk of the document Discovery studied was written by the law firm of [[Pepper Hamilton LLP]], not the ACLU.<ref name="brayton_fisking">[http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2006/12/fisking_the_dis_study_on_the_d.php Fisking the DI's "Study" on the Dover Ruling] Ed Brayton. Dispatches from the Culture Wars, December 13 2006.</ref> Witold Walczak, legal director for the ACLU of Pennsylvania and the ACLU's lead attorney on the case called the Institute's report a stunt: "They're getting no traction in the scientific world so they're trying to do something ... as a PR stunt to get attention, ... That's not how scientists work, ... Discovery Institute is trying to litigate a year-old case in the media." He also said the Discovery Institute staff is not, as it claims, interested in finding scientific truths; it is more interested in a "cultural war," pushing for intelligent design and publicly criticizing a judge.<ref>[http://www.yorkdispatch.com/local/ci_4825206 New criticism for Dover intelligent design ruling] Christina Kauffman. The York Dispatch, December 12 2006.</ref> A subsequent study was performed by [[Wesley Elsberry]], author of the text comparison program that was partly responsible for the decision in the case, indicated that only 38% of the complete ruling by Judge Jones actually incorporated the findings of fact and conclusions of law that the plaintiffs proposed that he incorporate, and only 66% of the section (on whether intelligent design was science) incorporated the proposals, not the 90.9% the Discovery Institute claimed was copied in that section. Significantly, Judge Jones adopted only 48% of the plaintiffs’s proposed findings of fact for that section, and rejected 52%, clearly showing that he did not accept the section verbatim.<ref>[http://vangogh.fdisk.net/~welsberr/kvd/ Text Comparison source documents, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District] Wesley Elsberry.</ref><ref>[http://austringer.net/wp/index.php/2007/01/31/jones-luskin-and-text/ ''Jones, Luskin, and Text''], [[Wesley R. Elsberry]], [[The Austringer]], 31 Jan 2007</ref> ==Funding== The institute is a non-profit educational foundation funded by philanthropic foundation grants, corporate and individual contributions and the dues of Institute members. Contributions made to it are tax deductible, as provided by law. The institute does not provide details about its backers, out of "harassment" fears according to Chapman.<ref name="wilgoren" />. A review of tax documents on [http://www.guidestar.org/ guidestar.org],<ref name="guidestar">[http://www.guidestar.org/pqShowGsReport.do?partner=guidestar&npoId=625532 GuideStar.org]</ref> a Web site that collects data on foundations, showed grants and gifts totaling $1.4 million in 1997. In 2001, the Baptist Press reported, "Discovery Institute ... with its $4 million annual budget ($1.2 million of which is for the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture) is heavily funded by [[evangelical Christians]]. [[Maclellan Foundation]] of Chattanooga, Tenn., for example, awarded $350,000 to the institute with the hope researchers would be able to prove evolution to be a false theory. Fieldstead & Co., owned by [[Howard Ahmanson, Jr|Howard]] and Robert Ahmanson of Irvine, Calif., pledged $2.8 million through 2003 to support the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture."<ref>[http://www.baptist2baptist.net/b2barticle.asp?ID=147 Discovery Institute emerging as force in creation, public policy] Karen L. Willoughby. Baptist2Baptist, May 15 2001.</ref> In 2003, [http://www.guidestar.org/ guidestar.org],<ref name="guidestar" /> records showed grants and gifts totaling $4.1 million. Included in the supporter were 22 foundations. At least two-thirds of the foundations stated explicitly religious missions. Most Discovery Institute donors have also contributed significantly to the [[George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2004|Bush campaign]].<ref name="salon_ahmanson"/><ref name="wilgoren" /><ref name="nerve"/> In 2005, the Washington Post reported, 'Meyer said the institute accepts money from such wealthy conservatives as [[Howard Ahmanson Jr.]], who once said his goal is "the total integration of biblical law into our lives," and the [[Maclellan Foundation]], which commits itself to "the infallibility of the Scripture." '<ref> [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32444-2005Mar13.html Battle on Teaching Evolution Sharpens] Peter Slevin. Washington Post, March 14 2005</ref> According to [[Charity Navigator]], in [[fiscal year|FYE]] 2005, the Discovery Institute had $2,989,608 in total revenue and $3,878,186 in expenses.<ref>[http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=9757 Research and Public Policy Institutions- Discovery Institute] by [[Charity Navigator]]</ref> The Discovery Institute denies allegations that its intelligent design agenda is religious, and downplays the religious source of much of its funding. In an interview of [[Stephen C. Meyer]] when ABC News' asked about the Discovery Institute's many evangelical Christian donors the institute's public relations representative stopped the interview saying "I don't think we want to go down that path."<ref name="abc"/> Though in the minority, funding also comes from non-conservative sources: The [[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]] gave $1 million in 2000 and pledged $9.35 million over 10 years in 2003, including $50,000 of [[Bruce Chapman|Bruce Chapman's]] $141,000 annual salary. The money of the Gates Foundation grant is "exclusive to the Cascadia project" on regional transportation, according to a Gates Foundation grant maker.<ref name="wilgoren" /> Published reports state that the institute has awarded $3.6 million in fellowships of $5,000 to $60,000 per year to 50 researchers since the CSC's founding in 1996.<ref name="wilgoren" /> "I was one of the early beneficiaries of Discovery largess," says [[William A. Dembski]], who, during the three years after completing graduate school in 1996 could not secure a university position, received what he calls "a standard academic salary" of $40,000 a year through the institute. ==Discovery Institute officers, directors and fellows== {{Div col|cols=3}} '''President''' *Bruce Chapman '''Vice Presidents''' * Steven J. Buri * [[Stephen C. Meyer]] '''Board of Directors''' * Howard Ahmanson, Jr. * Tom Alberg * [[William Baldwin]] * Christopher T. Bayley * Bruce Chapman * Robert J. Cihak * [[Slade Gorton]] * Richard R. Greiling * Robert J. Herbold * Susan Hutchison * Michael D. Martin * Byron Nutley * James Spady * Michael K. Vaska * Raymond J. Waldmann * [[Michael Medved]] '''Program Advisor (CSC)''' *[[Phillip E. Johnson]] '''Senior Fellows''' * Robert J. Cihak * [[George Gilder]] * Hance Haney * [[David Klinghoffer]] * Yuri Y. Mamchur * [[Stephen C. Meyer]] * [[Wesley J. Smith]] * Bret Swanson * [[William Tucker]] * [[Jonathan Wells (intelligent design advocate)|Jonathan Wells]] * [[John G. West]] * John Wohlstetter '''Adjunct Fellows''' * Howard L. Chapman * [[Edwin Meese]] * Richard Rahn * [[Robert Spitzer]] '''Former Fellows''' * Vincent Phillip Muñoz * James J. Na * Mark Ryland {{Div col end}} ==See also== *[[Timeline of intelligent design]] *[[Physicians and Surgeons for Scientific Integrity]] ==References== {{Reflist|2}} ==External links== *[http://www.discovery.org/ Discovery Institute Official Web Site] *[http://www.evolutionnews.org/ Evolution News] Discovery Institute's intelligent design blog *[http://www.discovery.org/csc/topQuestions.php#generalQuestions Discovery Institute's Frequently Asked Questions] *[http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=1027129&page=1 Despite Criticism, 'Intelligent Design' Finds Powerful Backers] ABC News * [http://seattleweekly.com/news/0605/discovery-darwin.php Discovery's Creation] Roger Downey, Seattle Weekly, [[February 1]], [[2006]]. * [http://www.evcforum.net/RefLib/NaturalHistory_200204_Forrest.html The Newest Evolution of Creationism] Intelligent design is about politics and religion, not science. Barbara Forrest Ph.D. From Natural History, April, 2002, page 80 * [http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/barbara_forrest/wedge.html The Wedge at Work: How Intelligent Design Creationism Is Wedging Its Way into the Cultural and Academic Mainstream] Chapter 1 of the book ''Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics'' by Barbara Forrest, Ph.D. MIT Press, 2001 *[http://www.infidels.org/secular_web/feature/1999/wedge.html Infidels.org article with further discussion and analysis on the Wedge strategy] *[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/04/0427_050427_intelligent_design.html Does "Intelligent Design" Threaten the Definition of Science?] John Roach. National Geographic News. [[April 27]], [[2005]] *[http://www.pandasthumb.org/archives/2005/01/id_advocates_tu.html ID Advocates Turning the Media Off-Target] [[The Panda's Thumb]] *[http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/barbara_forrest/naturalism.html Methodological Naturalism and Philosophical Naturalism: Clarifying the Connection] Barbara Forrest. 2000. Originally published in Philo, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Fall-Winter 2000), pp. 7-29. *[http://www.rationalrevolution.net/articles/darwin_nazism.htm The Mis-portrayal of Darwin as a Racist] - Review of Discovery Institute claims that Darwin was a racist or that his views inspired the Nazis. *[http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=3756&program=DI%20Main%20Page%20-%20News&callingPage=discoMainPageDiscovery Discovery Institute Has Put Over $4 Million Towards Scientific and Academic Research into Evolution and Intelligent Design in the Past Decade] - Discovery Institute claims of funding for science and academic research for intelligent design research. *[http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2004/911/521/2004-911521697-01f08279-9.pdf 2004 Form 990 filed with IRS] (may require free registration to view) *[http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19225824.000?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsref=mg19225824.000 ''Intelligent Design: The God Lab'', Celeste Biever New Scientist, 15 December 2006] ===Media=== *[http://www.tvw.org/MediaPlayer/Archived/WME.cfm?EVNum=2006040103&TYPE=V TVW - A Town Hall "Talk of the Times: Intelligent Design vs. Evolution" debate sponsored by the Seattle Times] - Featuring Dr. Peter Ward of the University of Washington, and Dr. Stephen Meyer of the Center for Science and Culture (April 2006). *[http://www.tvw.org/MediaPlayer/Archived/WME.cfm?EVNum=2006090109&TYPE=V TVW - Authors Hour with Dr. Jonathan Wells] - Jonathan Wells discusses his book "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design" in Seattle. * [http://audiomartini.podshowcreator.com/mediaserver/enclosureRedirect_save.aspx?item_id=632847961648166250 Shermer vs. Dembski] - A debate between Michael Shermer (''Skeptic Magazine'') and William Dembski (''Discovery Institute''). 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