Editing Santorum Amendment (section)

==Scientific community's response==
The position of scientists and science educators has been that although evolution has generated a great deal of political and philosophical debate it is, in the scientific fields, [[Evolution as theory and fact|regarded as fact]]. They said that the amendment creates a misperception that evolution is not fully accepted in the [[scientific community]], and thus weakens science curricula. As a response, a coalition of 96 scientific and educational organizations wrote a letter to the conference committee, urging that the amendment be stricken from the final bill.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.issues.org/issues/18.3/hill.html#Language|title=Language on evolution attached to education law|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212111532/http://www.issues.org/issues/18.3/hill.html#Language|archive-date=2007-12-12}}</ref>

In addition, opponents of the amendment cite the stated agenda of the [[Discovery Institute|Discovery Institute's]] [[Phillip E. Johnson|Phillip Johnson]] use of the "[[Wedge strategy]]" to "affirm the reality of God by challenging the domination of materialism and naturalism in the world of the mind"<ref>"If we understand our own times, we will know that we should affirm the reality of God by challenging the domination of materialism and naturalism in the world of the mind. With the assistance of many friends I have developed a strategy for doing this. ... We call our strategy the "wedge." {{cite book|first=Phillip E.|last=Johnson|title=Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds|url=https://archive.org/details/defeatingdarwini00john_0|url-access=registration|year=1997|pages=[https://archive.org/details/defeatingdarwini00john_0/page/91 91–92]|publisher=InterVarsity Press |isbn=978-0-8308-1360-5 }}</ref> and thereby return Christian [[creationism]] in the guise of [[intelligent design]] to public school classrooms. Along with the [[Academic Bill of Rights]], the Santorum Amendment and its "[[Teach the Controversy]]" approach is viewed by some academics as a threat to [[academic freedom]].<ref>[https://www.bemidjistate.edu/dsiems/ID/teach.html Intelligent Design: Teach the Controversy?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060910141925/http://www.bemidjistate.edu/dsiems/ID/teach.html |date=2006-09-10 }} Dann P. Siems, Assistant Professor Biology & Integrative Studies, [[Bemidji State University]]</ref>