In his latest step to distance himself from the Bush Administration, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) said Saturday that he doesn't believe "intelligent design" belongs in the science classroom.
Speaking at Geneva College in Pennsylvania, Santorum said that while intelligent design -- the faith-driven belief that a higher power, rather than evolution, best explains the complexity of life on Earth -- is a "legitimate issue," that "science leads you where it leads you."
It's a shift from a position Santorum took several years ago, when, in a
Washington Times editorial, he wrote that intelligent design is a "legitimate scientific theory that should be taught in the classroom."
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As JABBS
noted just a few days ago, Santorum this fall made a noticeable effort to distance himself from President Bush, including on Friday, when he was too busy to attend Bush's Veterans Day
speech in Tobyhanna, Pa. Instead, Santorum said the war has been "less than optimal" and "maybe some blame could be laid" at the White House.
Santorum, a Senate leader in helping pass Bush's first-term agenda, has made his move as Bush's popularity
tanks to new lows. Meanwhile, Santorum continues to trail Democrat Bob Casey Jr. by a
wide margin in his run for re-election next year.
But with "intelligent design," Santorum may be reacting to something else.
A federal trial just wrapped up in which eight families sued Dover Area School District in eastern Pennsylvania. The district's school board members tried to introduce teaching intelligent design into the classroom, but the families said the policy violated the constitutional separation of church and state.
No ruling has been issued on the trial, but Tuesday,
all eight Dover School Board members up for re-election were ousted by voters.
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This item first appeared at
Journalists Against Bush's B.S.
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