http://mediamatters.org/items/200509270008September 26 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, host Dobbs failed to inform viewers of guest Frank Sherwin's overt support for creationism, a literal belief in the biblical account of how the universe and human life were created. Dobbs also left unchallenged Sherwin's disingenuous statements on the views that he and his group, the Institute of Creation Research, are advocating.
Sherwin appeared alongside Eugenie Scott, the executive director of the National Center for Science Education, to discuss a recent decision by the Dover Area School District in Pennsylvania to teach high school students about "intelligent design" (ID). Intelligent design purports to be a "scientific theory" maintaining that "life is not the result of purely natural processes, but that it was in some way designed by an 'intelligence,' " according to the Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness Center (IDEA), a group that claims its mission is "to promote intelligent design theory." The debate between Sherwin and Scott echoed the Dover case, where several families have argued that teaching intelligent design in school classrooms violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which calls for the separation of church and state. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), representing these families, has argued that proponents of intelligent design are engaging in a thinly veiled effort to import the biblical account of creation into public school classroom. The school district has defended its actions by denying that it is promoting a religious explanation for life and claiming; rather, the school board claims that it seeks only to show students the genuine controversy and skepticism over evolutionary theory.
On Lou Dobbs Tonight, Sherwin spoke in favor of intelligent design against Scott, who opposed teaching the theory in classrooms. But in introducing Sherwin, Dobbs merely stated that he represented "the Institute of Creation Research" and is a supporter of "teaching the theory {intelligent design} to students," without providing details on the organization's clear goal of advancing creationism as a Christian orthodoxy. As the Institute of Creation Research's (ICR) website proclaims:
We believe God has raised up ICR to spearhead Biblical Christianity's defense against the godless and compromising dogma of evolutionary humanism. Only by showing the scientific bankruptcy of evolution, while exalting Christ and the Bible, will Christians be successful in "the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (II Corinthians 10:4,5).
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