Letter to the Editor of the Chanhassen Villager, published October 20, 2005

   I question the self-proclaimed “integrity” of the special interest group TonkaFocus and those school board candidates supporting its views.

   Since TonkaFocus has intervened in a lawsuit challenging the decisions of a board of education in Georgia, one can only conclude that TonkaFocus does not subscribe to the notion that locally elected officials should determine school policy.

   I also question the substance of the TonkaFocus position in the case and in respect to school board policy as it relates to the theories of intelligent design. Those theories are the direct result of awesome knowledge gained from the “science” of biochemistry (not from religion or philosophy). Inquiring minds (students, teachers and administrators alike) should be more than curious as to why Gene Myers (University of Colorado Ph.D. and former vice president at Celera Genomics/mapped the human genome) has stated as to the architecture of DNA, “The system is extremely complex. It’s like it was designed.” He went on to say, “There is a huge intelligence there. I don’t see that as being unscientific. Others may, not me.”  To deny our children scientific information that challenges existing theories is a shameful exercise in indoctrination.

James L. Tucker

Deephaven, MN