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Unintelligent Design [Evolution vs. Creationism in Kansas]
Reason Magazine Online ^
| 25 May 2005
| Ronald Bailey
Posted on 05/25/2005 2:01:34 PM PDT by PatrickHenry
Who needs to make monkeys out of the Kansas Board of Education when its members are doing such a good job of it themselves?
Members of the Kansas board convened hearings this month to hear testimony from proponents of the theory of intelligent design that the theory of evolution is bunk. How deliciously wacky of the board to hold their kangaroo court on evolutionary theory on the 80th anniversary of the arrest of Tennessee high school teacher John T. Scopes for illegally teaching biology to his students. And like the Tennessee court back in 1925, the Kansas education officials in the 21st century have found evolutionary theory guilty again. [The Scopes Trial.]
Intelligent design claims that life and the universe are too complex to have happened by accident. "Evolution has been proven false. ID (Intelligent Design) is science-based and strong in facts," declared board member Kathy Martin before the hearings began. And nothing Martin heard at the proceedings evidently changed her mind, saying at their conclusion that evolution is "an unproven, often disproven" theory.
The lovely and brilliant Kathy Martin
Based on these hearings, the Kansas Board of Education will consider modifying the science curriculum in its public schools.
At the Scopes trial, when William Jennings Bryan was asked what the purpose of the trial was, Bryan magisterially replied, "The purpose is to cast ridicule on everybody who believes in the Bible, and I am perfectly willing that the world shall know that these gentleman have no other purpose than ridiculing every person who believes in the Bible." In those days that was enough to convict Scopes.
Today, opponents of evolutionary theory know that they can't teach religion in public schools. If they're going to smuggle religion in, they need to be sneakier. So they strip off any part of their "intelligent design" theory that might sound like it is religious and pose as simple scientists asking "hard" questions of narrow-minded evolutionists.
The anti-evolutionists affect not to know who or what the "intelligent designer" of their theory might be. He, she, it, or they could be little green men or purple space squid or a race of intelligent supercomputers or maybe, just maybe, an omnipotent God. Who knows? We're all just innocently asking "scientific" questions here.
But away from the glare of media attention, this pose of scientific objectivity cracks. "ID has theological implications. ID is not strictly Christian, but it is theistic," admitted board member Martin. The intelligent design proponents in Kansas ask: Why not let children in public schools hear arguments for intelligent design in biology classes? Schools could "teach the controversy."
Biologists retort by asking, "So it's OK then for high schools to teach astrology, phrenology, mesmerism, tarot card reading, crystal healing, astral projection and water witching, too?"
Intelligent design theorists aside, the people who want intelligent design taught in public schools hope the theory will undercut the corrosive effects of evolutionary biology on the religious beliefs of their children. They don't know and couldn't care less about the scientific details of the evolution of species or the origin of life they just want Darwinism kept away from their kids.
What they don't understand, however, is that religious belief and evolution are compatible.
In 1996 no less a religious authority than Pope John Paul II declared, "New knowledge has led to the recognition in the theory of evolution of more than a hypothesis." [The Pope's 1996 statement on evolution.]
In response to Bryan's assertions about the purpose of the Scopes monkey trial, defense attorney Clarence Darrow retorted, "We have the purpose of preventing bigots and ignoramuses from controlling the education of the United States, and you know it, and that is all." As the hearings in Kansas showed, they are still trying.
Ronald Bailey [the author of this article] is Reason's science correspondent. His book Liberation Biology: The Moral and Scientific Defense of the Biotech Rvolution will be published in June by Prometheus Books
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; Philosophy; US: Kansas
KEYWORDS: cary; crevolist; kansas
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Links, bolding, and the pic of the lovely Kathy Martin added by me. Everyone be nice.
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2
posted on
05/25/2005 2:02:45 PM PDT
by
PatrickHenry
(Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas. The List-O-Links is at my homepage.)
To: PatrickHenry
... and the gift to the ignorant thread's still going strong.
Thanks.
To: PatrickHenry
To: fire and forget; PatrickHenry
PH is just trying to teach us to juggle. Just keep a jug of Advil and Guinness handy.
5
posted on
05/25/2005 2:13:03 PM PDT
by
b_sharp
(Science adjusts theories to fit evidence, creationism distorts evidence to fit the Bible.)
To: b_sharp
Get a browser with tabs. Like FireFox. You can handle several active threads at once.
6
posted on
05/25/2005 2:14:38 PM PDT
by
PatrickHenry
(Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas. The List-O-Links is at my homepage.)
To: PatrickHenry
7
posted on
05/25/2005 2:15:40 PM PDT
by
OmegaMan
To: PatrickHenry
"The anti-evolutionists affect not to know who or what the "intelligent designer" of their theory might be. He, she, it, or they could be little green men or purple space squid or a race of intelligent supercomputers or maybe, just maybe, an omnipotent God. Who knows? We're all just innocently asking "scientific" questions here."
That's just it - whenever you mention the fact that ID's "designer" could be little green men from Mars, or anyone other than God, the IDers go absolutely ballistic.
ID is creationism in a lab coat and has no more place being taught in school science classes than does the 'scientific theory' that Odin created the world from the flesh of the frost giant Ymir. That said, any and all holes in the ToE should be taught to students, and the ToE should not be taught as fact, but rather, the best theory put forth thus far to explain the origins of species on present-day Earth. That's all the ToE is; the best theory we've come up with so far.
8
posted on
05/25/2005 2:15:44 PM PDT
by
NJ_gent
(Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.)
To: NJ_gent
That's just it - whenever you mention the fact that ID's "designer" could be little green men from Mars, or anyone other than God, the IDers go absolutely ballistic.The Raelian Theory. Intelligent Design finds support among the Raelians.
9
posted on
05/25/2005 2:18:16 PM PDT
by
PatrickHenry
(Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas. The List-O-Links is at my homepage.)
To: PatrickHenry
ayy... water-witching has something real going on. I suspect electromagnetism is the mechanical actor.
10
posted on
05/25/2005 2:18:27 PM PDT
by
King Prout
(blast and char it among fetid buzzard guts!)
Comment #11 Removed by Moderator
To: PatrickHenry
and, one would think, among the NoI
12
posted on
05/25/2005 2:19:49 PM PDT
by
King Prout
(blast and char it among fetid buzzard guts!)
To: hugoball; PatrickHenry
you are new here. endure a few CREVO/ID threads before you rush to credit ID with being anything other than what the author imputes.
13
posted on
05/25/2005 2:21:43 PM PDT
by
King Prout
(blast and char it among fetid buzzard guts!)
To: b_sharp
I find a nice Burgundy helps, too.
14
posted on
05/25/2005 2:22:50 PM PDT
by
Junior
(“Even if you are one-in-a-million, there are still 6,000 others just like you.”)
To: PatrickHenry
I opt for Cthulhu being the designer:
15
posted on
05/25/2005 2:27:32 PM PDT
by
Junior
(“Even if you are one-in-a-million, there are still 6,000 others just like you.”)
To: PatrickHenry
Intelligent design claims that life and the universe are too complex to have happened by accident.Two problems with this statement. First, "intellegent design" makes no claims; it is claimed by it's supporters though. Second, it's rather obvious that the Life And The Universe are far too complex to have been designed; they must have random component.
16
posted on
05/25/2005 2:27:58 PM PDT
by
Doctor Stochastic
(Vegetabilisch = chaotisch is der Charakter der Modernen. - Friedrich Schlegel)
To: PatrickHenry
I gather that all of this is not one giant spoof.
Sheesh. Where do these people come from?
Well, the Dims have their lunatic fringe. I guess we have ours, too. These people are an embarassment.
To: PatrickHenry
"The Raelian Theory. Intelligent Design finds support among the Raelians."
If opponents of ID were smarter, they'd attack IDers from this angle. "So, according to your theory, mankind could have been created by space aliens?" Asking one of them that question at a public hearing would be fantastic. They must either admit that they're trying to teach kids that humans may have been created by space aliens, or they must admit they're trying to teach creationism - truly a lose-lose for the IDers.
18
posted on
05/25/2005 2:30:08 PM PDT
by
NJ_gent
(Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.)
To: PatrickHenry
And the Designer Herself must have been designed by someone even more
complex.But not nearly as complex as ii.
19
posted on
05/25/2005 2:31:52 PM PDT
by
Doctor Stochastic
(Vegetabilisch = chaotisch is der Charakter der Modernen. - Friedrich Schlegel)
To: PatrickHenry
Our presence is somewhat like gravity, we know it exist and we see its results, but we don't have a clue as to its origin (or what it is) -- only that it was present when we realized our presence. Further, it seems what is responsible for the presence one is probably responsible for the other - but we will probably never know for sure.
20
posted on
05/25/2005 2:37:27 PM PDT
by
RAY
(They that do right are all heroes!)
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