Evolution-vs.-design debate focusing on what to teach

Ever since humans first peered into the night sky and wondered, "Where did all this come from? What started the universe? Where did we come from?" mankind has tried to find the answers.

The scientific explanation of at least how some things got the way they are involves natural selection, the force behind evolution. Organisms mutate; some mutations are harmful, and the offspring die, while others make the offspring more fitted to survive, and these better genes are passed on, according to most scientists.

Opponents of evolution have argued it is mistaken, does not jibe with their understanding of Scripture or is inadequate to explain the complexity of life.

Recent attacks are in the form of an argument known as intelligent design. It holds that life is just too complex to be attributed to natural forces. Intelligent design supporters say that if evolution is taught in school, it should be as a conjecture and intelligent design should be discussed, too.

While the matter of classroom instruction is sparking debate, not everyone is lining up on one side or the other.

Dale Bills, spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said, "The church has not taken a position" on the question.

Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, an outspoken critic of evolution, is considering legislation that would require schools to teach intelligent design ideas to help explain the origin of life.

If the school system agrees to talk about human evolution "only as a theory," he said, "I'm fine." Otherwise, "then there's a problem."

The trouble, Buttars said, is that while there's a scientific standard, when it comes to evolution "they've never found anything that meets that standard."

What about scientists who cite fossils showing that humans evolved? "Well, they're wrong," Buttars said.

"The Neanderthal man is totally human. That's been proven. And Lucy is totally ape," he said.

Neanderthals lived in Africa and Europe from 230,000 to between 29,000 and 28,000 years ago, and are believed to be fully human but not in the direct line of modern people. Lucy, considered by many paleontologists as possibly in modern humanity's direct line, is a hominid dated to about 3.18 million years ago.

"They've never found anything in any of these fossils that is somewhere between," Buttars said.