The Foundation for Thought and Ethics (FTE) was a Christian

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Kitzmiller v. Dover: July 14 Hearing: Jon A. Buell
/ref> based in

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the University of ...

, which represented itself as a “ Christian think tank”. It published textbooks and articles promoting

pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...

creation science Creation science or scientific creationism is a pseudoscientific form of Young Earth creationism which claims to offer scientific arguments for certain literalist and inerrantist interpretations of the Bible. It is often presented without ove ...

and

intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins". Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for its bold attempt to ...

abstinence Abstinence is a self-enforced restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, but it can also mean abstinence from alcohol, drugs, food, etc. ...

, and

Christian nationalism Christian nationalism is Christianity-affiliated religious nationalism. Christian nationalists primarily focus on internal politics, such as passing laws that reflect their view of Christianity and its role in political and social life. In count ...

. In addition, the foundation's officers and editors became some of the leading proponents of intelligent design. The FTE developed close associations with the Discovery Institute, hub of the

intelligent design movement The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist religious campaign for broad social, academic and political change to promote and support the pseudoscientific Article available froUniversiteit Gent/ref> idea of intelligent design (ID), which ...

and other religious

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

groups. The FTE operated from 1981 to 2016. Foundation for Thought and Ethics Books is now listed as an

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

of Discovery Institute Press. From the outset its aim was to develop a "scientific critique" of

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

, which was published as '' The Mystery of Life's Origin'' in 1984, to be followed by "a two-model high school biology textbook". The FTE is best known for publishing the textbook ''

Of Pandas and People ''Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins'' is a controversial 1989 (2nd edition 1993) school-level supplementary textbook written by Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon, edited by Charles Thaxton and published by the Texas ...

'' in 1989, an attempt to relabel creationism and introduce it into public school science classrooms by raising questions about evolution while presenting intelligent design as an alternative. The book played a significant part in the court case ''

Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District ''Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District'', 400 F. Supp. 2d 707 (M.D. Pa. 2005) was the first direct challenge brought in the United States federal courts testing a public school district policy that required the teaching of intelligent design ...

'', known as the 'Dover Trial,' the first direct challenge brought in

United States federal courts The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government of the United States organized under the Constitution of the United States, United States Constitution and Law of the United States, laws of the fed ...

against a public school district which tried to mandate the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution. While FTE did not become a party, Jon A. Buell, the president of FTE testified on July 14, 2005 at the Dover pretrial hearings. Buell denied having known about actions of the

Thomas More Law Center The Thomas More Law Center is a Christian, conservative, nonprofit, public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and active throughout the United States. According to its website, its goals are to "preserve America's Judeo-Christ ...

to which the Judge said it "strains credulity." In the case, the plaintiffs successfully argued that

was a form of

creationism Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism is 't ...

, and thus it was ruled

unconstitutional Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...

to teach in public schools.

Mission

FTE was founded in December 1980, and in 1981 its

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

filing included a document headed "What is the Foundation for Thought and Ethics?" describing its aims: They outlined their first two projects: The foundation described its mission on its website as: A previous statement described the foundation's mission as "proclaiming, publishing, preaching ndteaching…the Christian Gospel and understanding of the Bible and the light it sheds on the academic and social issues of the 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: Critics argue the foundation's publications are vehicles to promote

faith through veiled wording.

Organization, funding, and revenues

The foundation is a

501(c) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exe ...

(3) non-profit organization headed by Jon A. Buell, its founder and President. Former intelligent design proponent and Discovery Institute Senior Fellow William A. Dembski has served as the foundation's Academic Editor. According to the foundation's 2004 federal tax filing, the majority of the foundation's income, $382,865, was in the form of donations, "direct public support," with sales of textbooks and video tapes providing $23,539 of net income.

Publications

*Cole DD, Duran MG. ''Sex and Character''. 1998: Haughton publishing Company, . *Amos G, Gardiner R. ''Never Before In History''. 1998: Haughton Publishing Company, . *Davis P, Kenyon DH, Thaxton CB. ''

'' 1999; Haughton Publishing Company, 4th ed. (). * Phillip E. Johnson. ''Darwinism: Science or Philosophy?'', July 1994, * William A. Dembski, Jonathan Wells, '' The Design of Life'' (third edition of ''Of Pandas and People''), November 19, 2007, * David K. DeWolf, Stephen C. Meyer, and Mark E. DeForrest. ''Intelligent Design in Public School Science Curriculum: A Legal Guidebook''. Foundation for Thought and Ethics, 1999.

References

External links

SourceWatch - Foundation for Thought and Ethics1987 FTE marketing letter endorsing the inclusion of creationism in public school science curriculum
*Rob Boston,
Science Test
', Church & State, February 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Foundation For Thought And Ethics Intelligent design organizations Political organizations based in the United States Christian advocacy groups Companies based in Richardson, Texas Ethics organizations