Centre for Intelligent Design Strategy
We have absolutely no doubt that the prime objective of CID is religious, to undermine the teaching of sound science in the school classroom. Intelligent Design was put together as a smokescreen to hide the religious intentions of its backers and was also intended as a vehicle to re-engineer society, through education, along conservative fundamentalist evangelical religious lines. It's a product of the US culture wars.
We also perceive it as “Truth in Science Mark 2” - a successor to the all-UK young earth creationist organisation launched in 2006. Truth in Science has, from day one of its existence, used Intelligent Design as a vehicle to undermine sound science education. This is only to be expected since Truth in Science consists entirely of young earth creationists. Despite grand claims, including its intention “to expose as charlatans” anyone that disagrees with it, Truth in Science is largely perceived as a monumental failure. It basically so mishandled its launch that teaching of creationism and ID was banned from English schools. All it's managed to do is distribute two CDs and copies of one book to state school science teachers. It's taken over half a decade to do so. It has had no impact or influence at all.
As we shall see, though, there appear to be numerous close links between people involved in Truth in Science and CID.
What we think has happened is that some in the creationist movement, possibly including the Discovery Institute, have so found TiS to be wanting that they have set up CID as an ostensibly “religion free” vehicle to undermine education. They could well fool many members of the public. Unlike TiS, CID has no fundamentalist pastors on board and some of the people involved are not young earth creationists. Nothing on CID's two web sites suggest it is motivated by religious objectives or backed by religious activists.
Nevertheless, it looks possible that CID has a more radically different strategy than the failed Truth in Science. CID is based in Scotland, a kingdom which has traditionally been Calvinistic and therefore (perhaps) more open to the fundamentalist Calvinism and Sola Scriptura which underpin creationism and Intelligent Design.
Moreover, CID's President is a well connected Northern Irishman, resident within Northern Ireland – Norman Nevin. Belief in creationism is rampant amongst Northern Ireland's Protestants. The province's largest political party, the Democratic Unionist Party, is basically openly creationist and has also had creationist MPs for years sitting in the British Parliament. Northern Ireland's protestants are basically Scots-Irish and Western Scotland (where CID is based, in Glasgow) has long been the province's hinterland.
TiS's launch in 2006 did not really affect Scotland, so the Scottish sate education system remains more open to creationism than does its much bigger counterpart in England.
It therefore looks plausible that CID's strategy is to concentrate where it can have most impact – in Scotland and Northern Ireland – before moving on to attack education in England. Such a strategy allows it to spread scarce resources more effectively but, we must add, is not entirely consistent with the venues of Michael Behe's November 2010 tour of Britain.
In terms of gaining influence, organisations like CID probably need to concentrate their resources not on universities (usually a waste of space as universities are essentially liberal) but on the seminaries and theological colleges. If they are protestant, they are often open to creationism and Intelligent design. It's through them that the creationist pastors are turned out. The creationists now appear to control the Presbyterian theological college in Northern Ireland and creationism is now rampant in that denomination.
Navigate your way around this report with the following links:
First Page: Centre for Intelligent Design Executive Summary
Introduction to the Centre for Intelligent Design
How Many People are Behind the Centre for Intelligent Design?
Timing of the Centre for Intelligent Design
Who Runs and Organises the Centre for Intelligent Design?
Professor Norman Nevin OBE
Dr Alastair Noble
Dr David Galloway
John Langlois OBE, Centre for ID Guernsey
Previous Page: Peter Loose
Current Page: Centre for Intelligent Design Strategy
Next Page: The Channel Islands Connection
Centre for Intelligent Design's Headquarters
Supporting the Show – Messrs Michael Behe, Steve Fuller and Geoff Barnard
Miscellaneous Intelligence
