Prof. Phillip E. Johnson is a Professor Emeritus of Law at UC Berkeley and a senior advisor and cofounder of The Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture (Catchy name for a right-wing think tank dedicated in large part to discrediting science). As the story goes, following an emotionally exhausting mid-life reevaluation of some sort, Johnson was born again and eventually set out to destroy what he calls materialist science.

The mission of the Intelligent Design PR movement as originally envisioned by Johnson is not limited to attacks on evolutionary biology. They see all science as lacking a proper theistic basis. As best I can discern, Johnson and his ilk want every field of science and indeed all public policy to be held hostage to some vague theocratic organization, with members of their own ultra-conservative religious faith occupying those seats of power. It is in this context that Johnson uses evolution to attack science. He calls evolution the 'thin edge of the wedge' with which to 'split the log of materialism open'.....

This anti-science movement and Johnson's influence on it should be taken seriously. He's an influential opinion maker and/or a political lobbyist for IDC in the evangelical grass roots community. Johnson combines down home charm and sophistication with eloquence. He is/was a polished public speaker, who knew how to tailor his language for widely varying audiences. He passed on this skill to other members of the Discovery Institute, and they have developed a substantial following who accept uncritically every word they speak or write. Johnson has and continues to inspire hundreds of thousands of his fellow fundamentalist Christians, many of whom are emboldened with recent political victories.

It is refreshing when a progressive commentator takes people with whom he disagrees seriously, and urges his readers to do the same.

In the wake of the courtroom victory in the Dover case, there is a temptation to declare victory and say to oneself that, whew, that's one we don't have to worry about any more.  However, people who jump to that conclusion have not been paying attention for the past, oh, three decades.

The advocates of creationism and it's public relations variant "intelligent design" are the core institutions of the Christian Right. They are well established, and are not going away anytime soon.