Advocates of intelligent design at the Seattle-based Discovery Institute have influenced Santorum. They accept many Darwinist concepts, such as the notion that humans and apes evolved from a common ancestor. They see a weakness in Darwinian theory because of the lack of much evidence of natural precursors to the animal body types that emerged in the Cambrian period 500 million years ago. How did we get from random chemicals to creatures with eyes and spines? They say that gap in knowledge leaves open the possibility of intervention by an outside force.But is this really from whence his influence came? Santorum is, in fact, a very conservative man who is adamantly against the teaching of evolution. He has stated:
“I believe in Genesis 1:1 -- God created the heavens and the earth. I don't know exactly how God did it or exactly how long it took him, but I do know that He did it. If Gov. Huntsman wants to believe that he is the descendant of a monkey, then he has the right to believe that -- but I disagree with him on this and the many other liberal beliefs he shares with Democrats.”This does not track with influence from the DI. Santorum may have gotten his “academic freedom” ideas from them, but it is not clear he got much else. What it tracks with is influence from one of the young-earth organizations such as the ICR or AiG.
That is what has people running scared. As far as they are concerned (and I think they are right), he doesn't really want equal footing for evolution and ID. He very plainly derides evolutionary theory and he wants evolution education gone. He just can't come right out and say it.
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