Gates Funding Intelligent Design 


This Salon article gives a good summary about something I've seen mentioned a few times during the great ID debate: That the Gates Foundation (Bill Gates' charitable arm) has given over $10 million to the Discovery Institute, the prime pushed of intelligent design around the world. This "think tank" is responsible for just about every piece of ID propaganda in the US. However, they do have other projects, including one called the Cascadia Project, a program aimed at improving transportation in the Northwest. It is to this project Gates' foundation is providing money. So he's not directly funding intelligent design research. But he is funding a good portion of the Discovery Institutes' founder and current director, Bruce Chapman - to the tune of $50,000 a year. Ostensibly for the work on the transportation project.

Check out this quote from the Salon Article:
In an e-mail, Keith Pennock, the program administrator of Discovery's Center for Science and Culture (which runs its intelligent design work), concurs. "Mr. Martin is a member of the Discovery Board in his individual capacity and does not represent the Microsoft Corporation. Does Microsoft support Discovery's work on intelligent design? No."

Kennock ends his e-mail to Salon with criticism over the inquiry into the groups that finance Discovery's work. "Finally, I have been asked to advise you that it is unseemly for people who dislike one program at a think tank (or a university -- or an on-line magazine, for that matter) to try to pressure funders of other programs there," he writes. "It is illiberal and contrary to the spirit of free speech."
Yes, well, that's a nice sentiment, and one I'd be generally inclined to agree with. Except that the Discovery Institute's pushing of intelligent design is so odious and so contrary to Bill Gates' statements about the poor quality of science education in the states that it merits special attention.

Maybe this explains why Windows sucks so much - they're relying on the mythical creator to fix all it's problems. :-) 

 

Posted: Thu - August 25, 2005 at 09:50 PM          

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