The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and "intelligent design"

[LiviaOlivia]

Intelligent donation?
Why the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave more than $10 million to the Discovery Institute, champions of "intelligent design."

By Farhad Manjoo
Aug. 26, 2005

~snip~

It comes as no small surprise, then, to learn that during the past five years the Gates Foundation has pledged more than $10 million to the Discovery Institute, the Seattle think tank that is leading the charge to bring "intelligent design" to the masses. Advocates of I.D. say Darwin's theory of evolution is flawed and that certain complex biological features -- such as, for instance, the human eye -- point to the presence of a "designer" at the source of creation. The scientific establishment roundly rejects I.D. They say it represents a back door through which religious views are being snuck into public education. Due to the Discovery Institute, I.D. is popping up in school districts all over the country, fueling a renewed controversy over evolution that has even made its way into national politics. George W. Bush recently espoused Discovery's views by urging teachers to make sure "both sides" -- that is, I.D. as well as evolution -- are "properly taught."

The Gates Foundation responds that it hasn't abandoned science to back intelligent design. Greg Shaw, Pacific Northwest director, explains that the grant to Discovery underwrites the institute's "Cascadia Project," which strictly focuses on transportation in the Northwest. The Discovery Web site lists several program goals, including financing of high-speed passenger rail systems and reduction of automobile congestion in the Cascadia region, which encompasses Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. (The Gates Foundation, which is based in Seattle, gives a small slice of its money -- about $40 million in 2004 -- to groups that aim to improve life in the Pacific Northwest.)....He didn't know if people at the foundation were aware of Discovery's I.D. work at the time they decided to fund Cascadia.

~snip~

The Gates Foundation first gave money to Discovery in 2000 -- $1 million for the Cascadia initiative. In 2003, the foundation promised $9.35 million, with $1.1 million distributed annually for the first three years, and the rest dispersed according to Cascadia's progress. Only since Discovery stepped up its promotion of intelligent design has public scrutiny of the conservative think tank increased. Time magazine recently noted the Gates affiliation with Discovery, as did Jodi Wilgoren in her profile of Discovery in Sunday's New York Times. Wilgoren pointed out that an annual $50,000 of the grant goes to the salary of Bruce Chapman, the founder and president of Discovery. Chapman oversees the entire institute -- including both the Gates-funded Cascadia work and the center's promotion of intelligent design...

~snip~

Even if the Gates money doesn't directly fund Discovery's I.D. work, the grant has created an image problem for the foundation. "Its support of the Discovery Institute is not commendable because of the murky situation created," wrote Francisco Ayala, a biologist at the University of California at Irvine, in an e-mail. "Many people will not notice that Gates' support is restricted to one particular project ... I am reminded of the saying, 'The wife of Caesar not only should be chaste, but also appear to be so.'" Ayala raises an intriguing question: As the Discovery Institute becomes increasingly associated with intelligent design, does the Gates foundation worry that its own good name might get tied up in the political storm? "It's a good question," Shaw says. "When a grantee's work is so much associated with something not related to the work you are funding, how does that affect your grant? I don't know the answer to that. It's something we are going to have to look at."

~snip~

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/08/26/gatesfoundation/index.html

[lvx35]

1. If God wanted to prove he existed....

NOBODY would doubt it. Intelligent design is just another branch of fake christiany, trying to spread a false gospel where it takes something other than faith to percieve the divine. Its nonsense! True christianity is enlightened and draws strength from the discoveries of science, it does not contradict. Evolution IS intelligent design! You just have to view it with the eyes of faith. Everything else is simply not science. You can't go into science hoping to define something you have faith in, it defies Popper.

[cornermouse]

2. $10,000,000 would pay the salaries of a lot of employees here

in the good ole USA...

[applegrove]

3. They are just hedging their bets. If they don't then the religious

right will come out with MS-GOD and insist that all Christians switch to that software.

Instead of a helpful paper clip - it will be a helpful angel icon.

A little halo will appear and shine instead of the sand in the hour glass timer.

The pointer will be lightening.

And a Choir singing will be the the sound that you have successfully logged on.

Seriously I'm sure there are already programs to make your computer match your religious convictions. And that is fine. But these are add-ons and unless Gates wants to loose 300 Million users around the world he has to fund them a bit.

That is just the world we live in. If he wants to market to all the people and keep his almost monopoly - he has to fund their charities. The good news is that Bill & Melinda Gates give Billions more to help fight disease in less developed nations.

What percentage of their giving is this? Politics. Marketing. He has a brand too.

[ikri]

4. Now there's a marketing idea

Since it'd be pretty tough to do with Windows as it is proprietary software it'd have to be done with Linux.

Imagine, if you will, the Revelations OS®

Just a standard version of a Linux distro with masses of religious imagery instead of penguins.

Sell it as a packaged product to replace the godless Windows & you'd be able to outsell MS in certain niche markets.

[applegrove]

5. I think they already can replace wallpaper, icons and pointers with

whatever turns your crank and makes you smile.

[LynneSin]

6. I have a feeling that Gates isn't donating for ID support: read the articl

He's funding the Cascadia project which is to bring transportation to the Pacific Northwest which would hopefully allow for low-income people to get needed transportation to better paying jobs:

The Gates Foundation responds that it hasn't abandoned science to back intelligent design. Greg Shaw, Pacific Northwest director, explains that the grant to Discovery underwrites the institute's "Cascadia Project," which strictly focuses on transportation in the Northwest. The Discovery Web site lists several program goals, including financing of high-speed passenger rail systems and reduction of automobile congestion in the Cascadia region, which encompasses Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. (The Gates Foundation, which is based in Seattle, gives a small slice of its money -- about $40 million in 2004 -- to groups that aim to improve life in the Pacific Northwest.) Poor transportation is a key problem for low-income families, Shaw says, and "when Cascadia came to the Foundation, there was a sense that there had not been a regional approach to studying transportation. Cascadia's plan to solve the transportation problem "was very much a bipartisan state, local and regional approach with a variety of states and counties and mayors." He didn't know if people at the foundation were aware of Discovery's I.D. work at the time they decided to fund Cascadia. "It is absolutely true that we care about sound science as it pertains to saving lives," he says. "The question of intelligent design is not something that we have ever considered. It's not something that we fund."

It just happens to be that the project that the Gates funded now seem to have an alternative purpose. It's sad because the Cascadia Transportation inititive would help develop that area and reduce pollution and yet some idiot within the project goes off on an ID trajectory. If the Gates are smart they will withhold their money until ID propaganda is removed from the project!