インテリジェントデザイン支持勢力によるBaylor University学長解任

Baptist Baylor University学長が、インテリジェントデザイン支持勢力の巻き返しにより、解任された：

John M. Lilley who took over Baptist Baylor University less that 3 years ago was surprisingly and abruptly fired yesterday. His short response was "I deeply regret the action of the board, and I do not believe that it reflects the best interests of Baylor University." John Lilley.

3年弱前にBaptist Baylor University学長となったJohn M. Lilleyが昨日、突如として解任された。これについての彼のメッセージは「委員会決定を非常に残念に思う。私のこの決定が、Baylor Universityの最善を反映したものとは思わない。」

Though matters of tenure and logo design (believe it or not) are reported as the reasons, it was about no such thing. Rather it is the revenge of Baptist fundamentalists over encroaching secularism regards Intelligent Design. Ever since ID guru William Dembski resigned in 2000 because Baylor closed the door on his Intelligent Design department room (as it had became the laughing stock of World academia) the Taliban wing at Baylor has been festering to make its move.

テニュアおよびロゴデザイン問題が理由だと報じられているが、そんなものではない。むしろ、インテリジェントデザインについて、世俗主義を侵害するバプティスト原理主義者の巻き返しである。インテリジェントデザインの指導者であるWilliam Dembsiが2000年に、彼のインテリジェントデザイン学科の扉を閉じたために、辞職したときから、Baylorの宗教右翼の怒りが高じていた。

[Rack Jite: "Baylor University President John M. Lilley Fired">
via Pharyngula (2008/07/25)]

Dembski辞職以外に、2007年9月の、電気工学およびコンピュータ工学のRobert Marks教授のインテリジェントデザイン支持サイトを大学ドメインに持ったことに対して、大学側がサイト閉鎖を強制したことに対する反応でもある。

Baylor University officials ordered the shutdown of a personal website of one of a handful of the school's distinguished professors because of anonymous concerns that the site, hosted on the university’s server, supported Intelligent Design.

Robert Marks, distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering at Baylor, launched a website called the Evolutionary Informatics Lab in June to examine whether Darwinian processes like random mutation and natural selection can generate new information.

Marks' conclusions, as explained on the website, placed limits on the scope of Darwinism and offered scientific support for Intelligent Design.

In July, a podcast interview with Marks appeared on a website run by the pro-ID Discovery Institute, and a week later Benjamin Kelley, dean of engineering at Baylor, told Marks to remove the Evolutionary Informatics website immediately.

"This is a big story, perhaps the biggest story yet of academic suppression relating to ID," William Dembski, a research professor in philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, told Baptist Press.

[Erin Roach: "I.D. rift hits Baylor again" (2007/09/05) on Baptist Press (Google Cache
via Answers in Genesis (2007/09/15) via Notes From A Retired Preacher (2008/04/23)
via Pharyngula (2008/07/25)]