Dear Stephen,

The current New Yorker has an excellent article on Intelligent Design. It appears that ID, not surprisingly, is not a unified movement, several of the proponents disagree. The documents outlining the philosophy of the Discovery Institute were leaked onto the Internet and said their goal is to overturn the materialistic philosophy that has been promulgated by Marx, Freud, and Darwin. ID's arguments have become much more sophisticated and I found reading about them interesting because they were more in-depth than I had realized.

Since the staff who watched the film approved it; it will be interesting to see what the actual content is for ourselves.

Thank you,
Sioux
 
On Saturday, May 28, 2005, at 03:13PM, Stephen Nowlin <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>	> Mr Kremer, and Smithsonian, have you no shame!
>
>It is, indeed, troubling when as prestigious a symbol of science and reason as the National Museum of Natural History appears not to have the slightest understanding of why it shouldn't screen this movie.
>
>If a stand against anti-science is not taken there, then where?  That the museum would accept money, with strings attached, from the Discovery Institute is mind-boggling.  I hope it was just someone asleep at the wheel, and I hope they own up to this stupid mistake...
>
>
>Stephen Nowlin
>Director, Williamson Gallery
>Art Center College of Design
>http://www.williamsongallery.net
>
>-------------------------------------------------
>
>May 28, 2005
>Smithsonian to Screen a Movie That Makes a Case Against Evolution
>By JOHN SCHWARTZ
>Fossils at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural 
>History have been used to prove the theory of evolution. Next month 
>the museum will play host to a film intended to undercut evolution.
>The Discovery Institute, a group in Seattle that supports an 
>alternative theory, "intelligent design," is announcing on its Web 
>site that it and the director of the museum "are happy to announce 
>the national premiere and private evening reception" on June 23 for 
>the movie, "The Privileged Planet: The Search for Purpose in the 
>Universe."
>The film is a documentary based on a 2004 book by Guillermo Gonzalez, 
>an assistant professor of astronomy at Iowa State University, and Jay 
>W. Richards, a vice president of the Discovery Institute, that makes 
>the case for the hand of a creator in the design of Earth and the 
>universe.
>News of the Discovery Institute's announcement appeared on a blog 
>maintained by Denyse O'Leary, a proponent of the intelligent design 
>theory, who called it "a stunning development." But a museum 
>spokesman, Randall Kremer, said the event should not be taken as 
>support for the views expressed in the film. "It is incorrect for 
>anyone to infer that we are somehow endorsing the video or the 
>content of the video," he said.
>The museum, he said, offers its Baird Auditorium to many 
>organizations and corporations in return for contributions - in the 
>case of the Discovery Institute, $16,000.
>When the language of the Discovery Institute's Web site was read to 
>him, with its suggestion of support, Mr. Kremer said, "We'll have to 
>look into that."
>He added, "We're happy to receive this contribution from the 
>Discovery Institute to further our scientific research."
>The president of the Discovery Institute, Bruce Chapman, said his 
>organization approached the museum through its public relations 
>company and the museum staff asked to see the film. "They said that 
>they liked it very much - and not only would they have the event at 
>the museum, but they said they would co-sponsor it," he recalled. 
>"That was their suggestion. Of course we're delighted."
>Mr. Kremer said he heard about the event only on Thursday. He added 
>that staff members viewed the film before approving the event to make 
>sure that it complied with the museum's policy, which states that 
>"events of a religious or partisan political nature" are not 
>permitted, along with personal events such as weddings, or 
>fund-raisers, raffles and cash bars. It also states that "all events 
>at the National Museum of Natural History are co-sponsored by the 
>museum."
>Evolution has become a major battleground in the culture wars, with 
>bitter debates in legislatures and school boards, national parks and 
>museums. Although Charles Darwin's theory is widely viewed as having 
>been proved by fossil records and modern biological phenomena, it is 
>challenged by those who say that it is flawed and that alternatives 
>need to be taught.
>When asked whether the announcement on the Discovery Institute's Web 
>site meant to imply that the museum supports the film and the event, 
>Mr. Chapman replied:
>"We are not implying in any sense that they endorsed the content, but 
>they are co-sponsoring it, and we are delighted. We're not claiming 
>anything more than that. They certainly didn't say, 'We're really 
>warming up to intelligent design, and therefore we're going to 
>sponsor this.' "
>
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Sioux Harvey, Ph.D.
Historian & Estate Consultant
http://www.SiouxHarvey.com
[log in to unmask]
(310) 503-1314

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