Wedge Strategy

The Wedge Strategy is a strategy described within the Discovery Institute publication known as the Wedge Document. The Wedge Document outlines the DI's goal of bringing the "controversy" over "evolution" versus "intelligent design" into the public arena, in a way politically contrived to get less informed members of the public to side with the idea of "teach both sides" (one side being "science", the other religion). It is the smoking gun that demonstrates that "intelligent design" is "creationism" in a thin disguise. The full text of the document can be found at Text of The Wedge Strategy.
The story of how it came into the public domain can be found in this Seattle Weekly newspaper article.Discovery's Creation: A Seattle think tank launched the modern intelligent-design movement with a simple memo. The idea has evolved into a media sensation. And the cause has mutated beyond rational control by Roger Downey (Mon., Oct 9 2006 at 12:00AM) Seattle Weekly. (archive)
Similar documents have leaked from various astroturf campaigns, especially anti-environmentalist and denialist efforts by industries opposed to regulation. The most notorious of these are probably the 1969 Brown and Williamson tobacco memo containing the infamous phrase "doubt is our product", and the global warming memo authored by Frank Luntz that was leaked in the early 2000s.
==Teach the controversy==
One part of the Discovery Institute's strategy is the slogan "teach the controversy". It deliberately tries to make opponents look like they are against teaching "all" of science to students. This, of course, only works with people who don't understand the issue.
Dr. Barbara Forrest, of the NCSE, has described creationists' wedge strategy as a "Trojan horse." She says, "A Trojan horse is a proposal to 'teach the controversy' about evolution that appears to have some useful or benign purpose (e.g., to promote critical thinking), but really masks the plan to teach intelligent design creationism." And "In this case, the Trojan horse and the public school system become the Discovery Institute's entry vehicle for teaching a religious belief in the public school science class." 
She continues, "Remember the ID creationists' main goal: to disguise their creationism so that users of the system (parents and children) and federal judges do not realize what the ID movement is up to."Inside Creationism's Trojan Horse (Barbara Forrest) National Center for Science Education (YouTube)
==Excerpts==
The Wedge Document clearly shows that the Discovery Institute intended ID to further their religious ideals. Some selected excerpts follow:
==Hoax?==
Because of the nature of this document, some have claimed that it must be a hoax; this is most definitely not the case. The Discovery Institute has not only acknowledged authorship of the document, but has also defended its content.The "Wedge Document": "So What?" Discovery Institute A scan of the original document is also available in PDF format.The Wedge Center for Renewal of Science & Culture, Discovery Institute (archived copy from July 10, 2012). The introduction to this document also appeared on their website in 1996, as archived by archive.org.Center for Renewal of Science & Culture (archived copy from December 2, 1996).
Although the Discovery Institute acknowledges the authenticity of the document, they want to dismiss the supposed Wedge Document "conspiracy theory" as a "pseudo-intellectual urban legend":
==External links==
* A scan of the wedge document 
==See also==
*Text of The Wedge Strategy
*Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, an article on the movie.
*Expelled: Leader's Guide, a point-by-point refutation of the movie's producers' so-called "Leader's Guide".
*Disproving Intelligent Design
*God of the gaps
*Irreducible complexity
*Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
*Teach the Controversy
==References==
Category:Creationist claims
Category:Culture wars
Category:Discovery Institute
Category:Documents
Category:Evolution
Category:Intelligent design creationism
Category:Political strategery
Category:United States politics