A bill challenging the teaching of evolution in public schools cleared its first hurdle Tuesday as members of a committee voted 4-2 to send it to the Senate floor for further consideration.

Its supporters described the legislation as a check on the dogma of Darwinian evolution that would allow students to be exposed to a wider assortment of ideas.

The bill, by Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, would prohibit state science instruction from endorsing any theory "on the origins of life or the origins or present state of the human race," and require curriculum to "stress that not all scientists agree on which theory is correct."

Detractors said the bill was a stealth attempt to get religious ideas into the science classroom and that it would send a message that science isn't taken seriously in Utah -- a message that could hurt economic development and recruitment at colleges and universities.

Buttars and other supporters on the Senate Education Committee maintained that the legislation wouldn't require creationism, Intelligent Design or any other specific viewpoint be taught.

"I'm not asking for anything to be presented. There's no faith-based in here," said Buttars. "All the bill says is, 'Don't overstate what you know.'"

And, he said, there's plenty that science doesn't know: "They don't know how life began and they don't know how human beings got to how they are today."

Sen. Patrice Arent, D-Salt Lake City, countered that the Legislature would be overstepping its role if Buttars' proposal becomes law. "We are not the school board. We are not the curriculum specialists," Arent said. "Our role should not be to determine curriculum, or to say whether a specific theory is the only theory.

"I'm not a scientist. I'm not qualified to make these decisions."

Critics pointed to the plural language in the bill -- "critically analyze theories regarding the origins of life," "consider opposing viewpoints," "instruction to students on any theory" -- as evidence that the legislation seeks to introduce ideas like creationism.

That would be a mistake and a misrepresentation of scientific thought, said Kent Harrison, professor emeritus of physics and astronomy at Brigham Young University.

"There are really no competing theories," he said. "It is a great, unifying idea. The basic idea of evolution is not in question." He said he was sympathetic to Buttars' stated concerns that instruction in evolution causes young people to lose their religious faith -- but, he added, this kind of legislation isn't the answer.

"Evolution and religion can be compatible. Do not pit them against each other," he said. "There are many scientists, like myself, who accept both a belief in God and evolution. Evolution is simply the method that God used to create the human body."

State curriculum director Brett Moulding, meanwhile, told committee members that the legislation wasn't necessary because existing guidelines already include the idea that scientific knowledge is always changing and must be continuously re-evaluated.

"That's the expectation," Moulding said. "If new theories come along ... the core curriculum will be adjusted to reflect that."

SB 96: Instruction and Policy Relating to the Origins of Life.

Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan

This bill would amend public school curriculum to state that there is disagreement concerning the origins of life and the human race, and instruction could not teach evolution as an established fact.

Senate Education Committee vote on SB 96, "Instruction and Policy Relating to the Origins of Life." A "yea" vote was a vote to forward the bill out of committee.

YEA

David Thomas

Chris Buttars

Mark Madsen

Howard Stephenson

NAY

Patrice Arent

Karen Hale

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.