Darwinists, Skeptics Pressure Smithsonian to Yank Intelligent Design Film Sponsorship
by Jim Brown
June 21, 2005
(AgapePress) - The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, has reneged on its commitment to co-sponsor the June 23 national premiere of a film produced by a prominent "intelligent design" think tank.The Smithsonian initially agreed to sponsor the presentation of "The Privileged Planet: The Search for Purpose in the Universe," a 60-minute science documentary that presents the view that the universe is designed for scientific discovery. However, after facing intense pressure from Darwinists and skeptics across the United States who oppose the film, the museum partially buckled by dropping its co-sponsorship while allowing the event to go forward on Thursday.
Discovery Institute vice president Jay Richards, who wrote the book on which "The Privileged Planet" is based, feels the Smithsonian's snub of the film demonstrates a disturbing pattern. "We wish that the argument about intelligent design would be an intellectual argument that would be talking about the evidence," he says, "and not about motivations or theological implications."
But Richards contends that is not the case. "Unfortunately, this is one of a number of examples of opponents of intelligent design theory preferring to simply try to get discussion squelched," he says. "They don't want to see a public debate about the evidence for design take place."
The Smithsonian claims the content of "The Privileged Planet" film is not consistent with the mission of the museum's scientific research. Richards believes the museum will likely come to regret its move to drop sponsorship of the film in the future.
"The reality is that attempts at censorship and suppressing ideas that people are interested in -- it never works in the long run," the Discovery Institute spokesman notes. "It may work in the short run, but whenever someone tries to silence a public debate about intelligent design in one place, it seems to spring up in 20 other places."
Although the Smithsonian is no longer sponsoring "The Privileged Planet" documentary debut, Richards says the film will still be premiering at the museum's Baird Auditorium on Thursday.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
