Bush backs teaching alternative to evolution in US schools

Washington, USA - President George W. Bush has said he supports teaching US science students "intelligent design" -- a God-centered alternative to the traditional theory of evolution, US media reported.

During a round-table interview Monday with reporters from several US newspapers, Bush said that alongside traditional views about the origin of life, science instructors should teach intelligent design, which says random genetic mutations, central to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection were, in fact, guided by God's hand.

Many Christian conservatives in the United States say intelligent design, which seeks to bridge science and theology, should receive equal standing alongside the teaching of evolution -- a position Bush endorsed.

"I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought," the US president said.

"You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas. The answer is yes," said Bush, who has often put views about his faith at the center of social policy.

Many mainstream scientists and educators, however, call intelligent design a backdoor attempt to introduce religion into public education.

Two leading research groups, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, have concluded that there is no scientific basis for intelligent design, and oppose its inclusion in US science curricula.

But a conservative think-tank, the Seattle, Washington-based Discovery Institute, has become a leading proponent of intelligent design, and has compiled a list of more than 400 scientists, including 70 biologists, who are skeptical about evolution.

While governor of Texas, Bush advocated that, alongside evolution, students should learn about "creationism," the literal, biblical account that all living things were created in a seven-day period.