Background: Senate Bill 2355 would require inclusion of “intelligent design” in state science standards.
Our position: The ACLU of North Dakota opposes Senate Bill 2355. Intelligent design is a religious belief about the origin of life, akin to creationism, and it is unconstitutional to teach or promote it in public school science classes.
School science curricula should be based on sound scientific principle, not religious doctrine. Undermining public school science education in the name of religion will leave our children unprepared for higher education and will prevent them from obtaining desirable jobs in the sciences.
In 2005's Kitzmiller v. Dover, a federal court concluded that the Dover Area School Board's policy requiring the teaching of "intelligent design" was unconstitutional, violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Parents, not public schools, are entitled to instill religious beliefs in their children. Religion belongs where it prospers best—with individuals, families and religious communities, not in the science classroom.
