An attorney representing a Baylor University professor whose website was shut down because it promoted intelligent design says the Baptist school is guilty of viewpoint discrimination.
Hear this ReportBaylor University electrical and chemical engineering professor Robert J. Marks maintains a website called "Evolutionary Informatics," which features links to the professor's personal publications and presentations on intelligent design. But just before the school year began, Baylor shut down the website, claiming Marks had violated university procedure for hosting websites.
Attorney John Gilmore, however, says it had nothing to do with procedures -- he claims Baylor did not like the professor's intelligent design stance. He is accusing the university of viewpoint discrimination.
"No other website that we're aware of has been shut down at Baylor," says the attorney. "The dean of his engineering department, who is a good man -- but [who] I think had pressure brought to bear on him -- shut down his website without any investigation, without any discussion with my client."
Gilmore says universities claim to represent academic freedom, yet censor a viewpoint they do not agree with. "It's ironic this is happening at the same time that the dictator of Iran gets to speak at Columbia University. It's that sort of mindset; they see nothing inconsistent in having Ahmadinejad speak at Columbia, but [they] shut down Bob Marks' website because they're afraid of I.D. [intelligent design]."
Gilmore claims that Baylor University has a history of trouble with intelligent design and creationism.
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