Foundation for Thought and Ethics

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The Foundation for Thought and Ethics (FTE), based in Texas, USA, is an organization involved in promoting the concept of Intelligent Design and Christian values in public school classrooms. For this reason, they have come under fire for blurring the separation of church and state. The FTE has associations with the Discovery Institute and other religious Christian groups.

The FTE is best known for publishing Of Pandas and People, an attempt to promote Intelligent Design by raising questions about evolution. The book played a significant part in the court case Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, the first direct challenge brought in United States federal courts against a public school district which tried to mandate the teaching of Intelligent Design as an alternative to evolution.

The FTE's articles of incorporation announce a religious agenda. Article 5 states:

"The purposes for which the corporation is formed are, 1) the primary purpose is both religious and educational, which includes, but is not limited to, proclaiming, publishing, preaching, teaching, promoting, broadcasting, disseminating, and otherwise making known the Christian gospel and understanding of the Bible and the light it sheds on the academic and social issues of our day."

In its publication The Foundation of Rationale, written in 1983 by Charles B. Thaxton and Jon A. Buell, the FTE argued not only that creationism should be taught, but also that teaching evolution undermined the moral values and the religious beliefs of young students:

"Many of the same Christian parents, however, are not concerned about the teaching of evolution in public schools. Falling SAT scores and increasing drug abuse, violence, abortion, and homosexual activity are the concerns of these parents. Why the fuss about creation being taught in public schools anyway they ask. As we shall show, there line of reasoning which usually lies hidden when either the subject of origins or morality is discussed, but which actually ties the two concerns together. Once this reasoning is understood it becomes evident that not only does the exclusive teaching of evolution encourage our children's rejection of Judeo-Christian morality, but it also prepares young minds for the reception of religious view which these same parents find unacceptable."

"Our commitment is to see the monopoly of naturalistic curriculum in the schools broken. Presently, school curriculum reflects a deep hostility to traditional Christian views and values and indoctrinates students to a mindset through subtle but persuasive arguments. This is not merely a war over ideas, but over young people and how their lives will be shaped. The current deplorable condition of our schools results in large part from denying the dignity of man created in God's image. Even junior high students recognize that if there is no creator, as textbooks teach, then there is no law giver to whom they must answer, and therefore no need of a moral lifestyle, much less a respect for the life of their fellow man. The message of the foundation is that this is simply unacceptable."

[edit] Publications

Cole DD, Duran MG. Sex and Character. 1998: Haughton (ISBN 0-914513-50-8).
Amos G, Gardiner R. Never Before In History. 1998: Haughton (ISBN 0-914513-51-6).
Davis P, Kenyon DH, Thaxton CB. Of Pandas and People 1999; Haughton, 4th ed. (ISBN 0-914513-40-0).

Critics argue these publications are vehicles to promote Christian ideology through veiled wording.