Buttars drops 'divine design' — for now

The Utah lawmaker who was kicking around the idea that Utah's schools should teach the theory of "divine" or "intelligent" design alongside biological evolution is abandoning the effort.

Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, said Thursday that after talks with the state Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington, he's comfortable — at least for now — with what Utah classrooms are teaching.

"She assured me in a phone call and then followed up with a letter, that we should not be teaching human evolution of any kind," Buttars said Thursday.

The state's core science curricula doesn't teach the evolution of the human species as a scientific fact, Harrington said. It does, however, emphasize that biological diversity is a result of millions of years of evolution.

"Science is a way of knowing and a knowing based upon evidence," Harrington said by telephone from Cedar City Thursday. "There is not evidence yet to claim how the earth was created and no evidence to connect the family of apes with the family of man."

Buttars drew a lot of attention in recent weeks over his interest in "intelligent design" or as Buttars calls it, "divine design" — the theory that an intelligent cause is behind the origin of the universes and its life forms. Proponents of the theory say it should be taught in classrooms as an alternative to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection.

Opponents say "intelligent design" is just another form of "creation theory" and that the Bible doesn't belong in public schools.

Buttars believes in Bible teachings and says there are "a lot of people like me who believe that God created man."

He said his interest in "intelligent design" was inspired by at least 10 parents who said schools were telling students "we evolved from apes or monkeys or some other species and teaching it as fact."

"It's not fact," Buttars said. "It's a theory. You know, the trouble with the missing link is that it's still missing."

Harrington says some Utah textbooks include information about the origin of man, along with the familiar drawings of hominoids in various stages of development. But nothing in state curricula suggests this information is the sole explanation for the existence of man.

"We also have a great deal of respect for individual beliefs, whether they come from home or church," she said.

Harrington said she welcomes the scrutiny of both parents and lawmakers. Buttars' concerns were raised as the state Office of Education was preparing materials for a summer core curriculum academy for teachers that includes a review of science instruction, Harrington said.

Buttars said he plans to monitor school teachings and renew a push for legislation if he feels it's warranted.