Faribault teacher holds firm on his design belief

November 26, 2005

Rodney LeVake still teaches science in Faribault, Minn. And he still wishes he'd had a chance to tell the Supreme Court why he believes that students should be taught about alternatives to evolution.

"I never believed a person should teach a creation account in a public school situation," he said. But students "have got to know about the controversies in science," and he considers intelligent design one of those issues.

"The best way is to hit it head-on," and preferably in biology class, he said last week.

LeVake sued school officials after they learned of his feelings in 1998 and transferred him to a ninth-grade physical science class that does not include evolution.

LeVake, backed by the American Center for Law and Justice, a public-interest firm founded by evangelist Pat Robertson, contended that the school district's action infringed his freedom of speech and religion. The argument failed to convince a series of courts, including the Minnesota Court of Appeals. The Minnesota and U.S. Supreme Courts declined to hear it.

LeVake, 51, said he accepts two or three invitations a year to speak about his views.

For him, the variations among living creatures cannot be fully explained by evolution, he said.

"It's real hard to make a case that things come about by thoughtless mutation over time," he said.

But intelligent design, which holds that life is so complex that it had to spring from a conscious, intelligent source, is "kind of cool," he said. It offers a way for some people to account for those variations, he said.

"And for me it's a small step to recognize who that 'intelligence' is," he said.

He said that many colleagues give him "the cold shoulder" and that he misses the deeper conversations he used to have with them. But he said, "You have to kind of forgive and forget."

He said that even during the litigation he was struggling to reconcile his scientific knowledge and his religious beliefs. He concluded that "science can support the personal faith that I have." But he added: "My job is to teach science."

He said he still enjoys teaching ninth-grade science and coaching 10th-grade football.

"But the frosting on the cake would be if I were teaching biology."

Faribault teacher holds firm on his design belief