President Bush’s remarks on August 1st that endorsed public school children learning about intelligent design alongside evolution are drawing praise from some and criticism from others. His comments about the teaching of origins, made to reporters from five Texas newspapers, made headlines around the world with reports that either bashed or backed Bush’s statements.
    When asked whether he accepted the view that intelligent design (the idea that certain features of living and non-living things were designed by an intelligent cause as opposed to being formed through natural causes) was an alternative to evolution, Bush told the reporters in a Washington Post article, “Both sides ought to be properly taught … so people can understand what the debate is about.” He then added, “Part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought. You’re asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, and the answer is yes.”
    Those critical of Bush’s comments include the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), an organization devoted to helping teachers teach evolution in public schools and to combat creationists. Susan Spath, an NCSE spokesperson, said in a New York Times article on August 3rd, “It sounds like you’re being fair, but creationism is a sectarian religious viewpoint, and intelligent design is a sectarian religious viewpoint.”

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