Buying Credibility

Well, the Discovery Institute certainly got what they wanted for their $16,000. They got a reception for an anti-evolution movie at the Smithsonian, co-sponsored by the museum itself, and an article about the soiree in the New York Times.

Fossils at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History have been used to prove the theory of evolution. Next month the museum will play host to a film intended to undercut evolution.

The Discovery Institute, a group in Seattle that supports an alternative theory, "intelligent design," is announcing on its Web site that it and the director of the museum "are happy to announce the national premiere and private evening reception" on June 23 for the movie, "The Privileged Planet: The Search for Purpose in the Universe."

So, is the Smithsonian really in bed with the nouveau creationists? Not really. As they have done in the past, the Discovery Institute is using a respected venue to purposefully misrepresent the support that it has in the scientific community.

[Museum spokesman] Mr. [Randall] Kremer said he heard about the event only on Thursday. He added that staff members viewed the film before approving the event to make sure that it complied with the museum's policy, which states that "events of a religious or partisan political nature" are not permitted, along with personal events such as weddings, or fund-raisers, raffles and cash bars. It also states that "all events at the National Museum of Natural History are co-sponsored by the museum."

In the end, such qualifiers don't matter — this event will be promoted endlessly by the Discovery Institute's PR machine. The reason is simple: the Discovery Institute doesn't care about doing actual science, but only in being seen as part of the legitimate scientific establishment. Their goal isn't only to take evolution down, but to discredit the idea of a purely secular science from inside the academy.