I was talking to my friend Kristen today on the phone. She’s a conservative but I never viewed her as that. She was always just my friend Kristen. She wasn’t what I think of when I hear the word Republican or conservative. But she is and we had an interesting conversation. We talked about gays, guns, and god. On one of three issues she agreed with me. On the other two she differed. On guns slightly and on God, specifically creationism, very much. Its not that she thinks it should be taught in school. Its that she believes teaching evolution causes a problem for people of faith. I don’t care.
See, evolution is science. Science is not perfect and does not claim to have all the answers. But when it does they are observable and can be repeated. Intelligent Design however is the same thing as saying “God did it with his magic”. Please don’t tell me creationism and Intelligent Design are different. One comes from the other. Intelligent design has thrown in just enough pseudo-science so as to be able to be advocated for as if it were a real science. But when it comes right down to it Intelligent design is a fancy form of Creationism. Religion can’t be taught in schools so the Bible thumpers needed a clever way to get around that.
Evolution is a theory based on observation. It isn’t perfect or complete but it is as yet our best model for understanding how human life changes over time. It doesn’t purport to know how life started but offers several plausible explanations. It is rooted in real science. The kind that explains the physical world.
If any low or theory of science were to fall under the lax standards Intelligent Design has for itself every time an answer was too hard to find we would just say “God did it with his magic” and never take a second look. Religion and religious beliefs and spirituality are fine to have but they have no place in science. I’ve never heard of a scientist coming into a Church and telling everyone that the communion wine really doesn’t turn into the blood of Christ so I expect Intelligent Design proponents, who are overwhelmingly part of a religious agenda, to stay out of schools and laboratories peddling their garbage. Kids who haven’t learned to compartmentalize the physical world of science from the faith based world of their religion might start believing that this ID crap is true science.
No one is telling you not to believe. Believe all you want. But when you start peddling beliefs as fact you are selling someone a bill of goods. Teach whatever you want to your kids at home. But allow them to learn facts at school. You can reconcile evolution with religion. Science doesn’t want to tell anyone why they are here, just how things work now that we are here. God is the why and science is the how.
To start teaching that Intelligent Design can be just as correct as evolution is to take a step backward in our path toward knowledge as humans. One must have faith yet still keep himself firmly grounded in reality.
