Intelligent designs grand agenda
The week's news at a glance.
Harrisburg, Pa.
Leaders of the intelligent design movement said in a 1999 internal “strategy” document that they hoped to overthrow the “materialistic worldview” of modern science and replace it with beliefs “consonant with Christian and theistic convictions.” The document was placed into evidence last week, in the so-called “Scopes II” trial, pitting evolution against intelligent design. Eleven parents are suing the Dover school board for requiring that students be taught intelligent design, on the grounds that it is creationism in disguise, and thus violates the separation of church and state. Defense lawyers say that intelligent design is a nonreligious scientific theory that explains gaps in the Darwinian model of evolution. Officials at the Discovery Institute, which is promoting intelligent design, said the strategy document was written merely as a fund-raising tool.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Gandhi arrests: Narendra Modi's 'vendetta' against India's opposition
The Explainer Another episode threatens to spark uproar in the Indian PM's long-running battle against the country's first family
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK
-
How the woke right gained power in the US
Under the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Codeword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff