Bill Gates Foundation supports Intelligent Design?
The New York Times is running a series on the Evolution/Intelligent Design 'debate'. Quite interesting. I was startled to see this in the article, though:
Referring to the Discovery Institute, one of the main think tanks pushing the ID agenda, the New York Times says:
"A closer look shows a multidimensional organization, financed by missionary and mainstream groups - the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provides $1 million a year, including $50,000 of Mr. Chapman's $141,000 annual salary - and asserting itself on questions on issues as varied as local transportation and foreign affairs." (from "Politicized Scholars Put Evolution on the Defensive", New York Times)The New York Times series is just beginning (2 articles so far) and seems to be a good survey of the issue.
Comments
I blogged about this here: http://smokey.rhs.com/web/blog/PowerOfTheSchwartz.nsf/d6plinks/RSCZ-6FFSTV
Given Gates' publicly stated positions on the impending shortage of qualified scientists and engineers, the need to drop H-1B quotas, and the need to fix broken science and engineering education in the US, the inconsistency in being even indirectly associated with ID seems quite glaring. IMHO, Gates should at least make some kind of public statement to distance himself from Discovery Institute's agenda with respect to ID.
-rich
Posted by: Richard Schwartz | August 22, 2005 02:47 PM