February 2, 2005
Forrest in Church and State
Barbara Forrest was interviewed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State about her book (coauthored with Paul R. Gross) Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design (Oxford University Press, 2004). An excerpt from the interview will appear in the February 2005 issue of Church and State, the monthly journal of Americans United, and the complete text appears on the Americans United web site. In it, Forrest describes the Wedge strategy for promoting "intelligent design" and the role of the Foundation for Thought and Ethics and the Discovery Institute in proselytizing for it, discusses the uneasy relationship between "intelligent design" and old-fashioned young-earth creationism, and argues that the claim that "intelligent design" is not a religious view "is a complete sham. ... when speaking to what the Wedge Document calls their 'natural constituency, namely [conservative] Christians,' ID creationists express themselves unambiguously in religious language." She also documents the scientific bankruptcy of "intelligent design," commenting, "As far as publishing original scientific data to support ID is concerned, their scorecard is still blank." And she concludes by warning both of the threat that "intelligent design" creationism poses to the quality of science education and of its broader impications: "intelligent design," she writes, "is more than just creationism's Trojan horse -- it is a stalking horse for the Religious Right's effort to steamroll its way into American education and public policy." Forrest is Professor of Philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University and a member of NCSE's board of directors.