The Failure of "Intelligent Design"

Townhall.com ^ | Monday, April 7, 2008 | Dinesh D'Souza

[Coyoteman]

ID advocates have sought to convince courts to require that their work be taught alongside Darwinian evolution, yet such efforts have been resoundingly defeated. Why has the ID legal strategy proven to be such a failure, even at the hands of conservative judges?

Because ID is religion in disguise, dishonestly trying to sneak into classrooms. Everyone knows it. And its not even a very good disguise.

Argue against ID on these threads and you will eventually be greeted by scriptural passages or condemned to hell. (Lots of scientific evidence in those rebuttals, eh?)

[mountn man]

I SERIOUSLY DOUBT you’ve been condemned to hell by anybody on this board.

[tokenatheist]

You might be surprised.

[LiteKeeper]

ID advocates have sought to convince courts to require that their work be taught alongside Darwinian evolution

The leaders of the ID movement mentioned in the article have NEVER sought to have ID taught in the classroom. The author has erected a strawman!

[andysandmikesmom]

Here is just one example of what you asked for ...

To: BuckeyeForever
Oh, and where you’re headed, you have two choices...

...Terriyaki or Barbeque sauce?

;-/
711 posted on 06/30/2007 8:45:41 AM PDT by Gargantua
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1851882/posts?page=711#711

Now, I suppose you could go with the idea that this poster was talking about cooking something in his home, but given the context of the post, I doubt it...this ‘Terriyaki or Barbeque sauce?’ quote was just not a one time thing either...it has been repeatedly used by this poster, towards those who say they support evolution...perhaps the poster himself can tell us, just what he means by this...however, I would wager, that most folks take that phrase to mean, that where you are going, you are gonna burn, so what is it to be, Terriyaki or BBq Sauce...perhaps you have another interpretation

This is certainly not the first time, this type of sentiment has been directed by other posters to those posters who support evolution.....

[Coyoteman]

The leaders of the ID movement mentioned in the article have NEVER sought to have ID taught in the classroom. The author has erected a strawman!

Read up on them: Academic Freedom bills

They "Discovery" Institute is not promoting these "academic freedom bills" because they love science.

The whole sordid plot was laid out in the Wedge Strategy which was inconveniently leaked and posted on the internet.

Here's a sample. What do you think they are promoting?

We are building on this momentum, broadening the wedge with a positive scientific alternative to materialistic scientific theories, which has come to be called the theory of intelligent design (ID). Design theory promises to reverse the stifling dominance of the materialist worldview, and to replace it with a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions.

[BibChr]

D’Souza’s been assimilated. You expect this of a lockstep statist; disappointing to see a conservative gorked out on the kool aid.

[mountn man]

If you were on a plane headed for Russia, and someone told you you were headed to Russia, would that equate into THEM sending you to Russia?

A person telling a non-believer in the God of the universe, that they are going to hell, is not a condemnation or sentence, its a stated fact.

Myself or any one else on this planet have the power or authority to send anyone else to hell. Neither does anyone have the ability to prevent it.

But I will admit, that some of my brothers and sisters can be rather harsh in their statements.

[freespirited]

The problem with evolution is not that it is unscientific but that it is routinely taught in textbooks and in the classroom in an atheist way. Textbooks frequently go beyond the scientific evidence to make metaphysical claims about how evolution renders the idea of a Creator superfluous.

I find this very difficult to believe. I have read numerous biology texts and never seen such a comment. If deSouza has found examples, I have to wonder if they aren't in books that are rarely used.

I am sure I have spent far more time in biology instruction than Dinesh. I never once had a teacher or professor suggest that evolution makes the idea of a Creator superfluous. But I've had the opposite experience--teachers affirming their belief in both evolution and a Creator.

[andysandmikesmom]

You seem to making the assumption, that those who support evolution, are all atheists, you seem to equate those who support evolution with those who do not believe in God...if indeed, this is your assumption, then you are mistaken...millions of people who consider themselves to be Christians, also support evolution...If I am misinterpretating what you are saying here, then please tell me...but you do seem to be making the general assumption, that anyone who supports evolution, is also a non-believer in the God of the Universe, and if this is what you are stating, it is in error...

So your example does not work in this case, not at all...telling someone they are bound for Hell, for the reason, that they support evolution, is just plain silly...and yet that is what happens...because all too often, those who are do not support evolution, automatically suppose that all those who support evolution, must be atheists....millions of Christians would disagree with that..

But indeed, you are right, no one here, or anywhere else, has the power or authority, to send anyone to Heaven or Hell, they are completely powerless in this regard...and that is quite comforting, to know, that it is the Lord, alone, who decides these things....I regard anyone who decides that they know where I am bound, to be irrelevant and unimportant to the Lord, when it comes to the Lord’s decision about me...he can judge on His very own, He does not need any human advisors...

[andysandmikesmom]

placemarker

[LiteKeeper]

Where in that statement do you see the words “classroom” or “school” - they have specifically stated they are not interested in the classroom.

[mountn man]

Sorry. What I'm really trying to say is anyone who doesn't believe in Intelligent Design denies an intelligent designer. From that denying the designer, they condemn themselves.

As far as evolution, I don't believe in it. BUT, I have no problem with evolution BY intelligent design. But I don't believe in evolution WITHOUT intelligent design.

Does this clarify???

[Coyoteman]

Where in that statement do you see the words “classroom” or “school” - they have specifically stated they are not interested in the classroom.

From the Wedge Strategy:

We will also pursue possible legal assistance in response to resistance to the integration of design theory into public school science curricula.

To the lurkers -- read the Wedge Strategy and see if anything there looks like real science, or whether it is religion in disguise.

[LiteKeeper]

That is old strategy. If you look at anything written in the last several years, that is no longer applicable. You might want to catch up.

[billybudd]

I’ve never seen proponents of “intelligent design” put forward any testable theories. Are there any?

[unlearner]

“Because ID is religion in disguise, dishonestly trying to sneak into classrooms. Everyone knows it. And its not even a very good disguise.”

ID is no more a religion than a Protestant work ethic is a religion. It may be religiously motivated. It may be held by people who hope it will soften other’s hearts to their religious viewpoint. But it does not constitute a uniform agreed upon set of tenets regarding DUTIES toward the Creator and the specific means of discharging those duties.

To make ID merely a religious ploy would require you to consider the entirety of our legal system a religion. Our laws are based on natural rights such as ownership. The right to own property and other possessions is the basis of most law. Yet it is merely an extension of the religious proscription against theft. (Thou shalt not steal.)

Your assessment does not fit within any reasonable definition of religion. Would you disqualify Michelangelo from being an artist because his art had religious elements?

The problem with ID is not its lack of volumes of supporting data, experimentation, calculations and testing (though it is admittedly in my mind somewhat lacking). The real problem is that too many well-meaning Christians hope to convert people with scientific arguments which is not according to the principle of faith. And the Bible says whatever is without faith is sin.

Sin and faith are not scientifically quantifiable concepts.

However, it could be possible for God to prove His existence by scientific means. All He has to do is show up.

But what if He did? What if mankind were to discover that the real Deity is not as imagined - some gentlemanly, bearded old man in the sky? What if He is an angry God Who sees mankind as His enemy?

What if the vast majority of mankind is so full of greed, hate, selfishness, theft, murder, betrayal and unrestrained violence that it is a blight upon His creation?

What if the Supreme Being could only respond to mankind’s moral depravity with wrath and unbridled destruction?

What if, due to the supreme dignity of the Creator’s office and authority, not a single person who ever lived proved worthy to see God or enter His presence?

What if there are no good people? Like a man once said to me, just because you don’t rob seven-elevens does not mean you are a good person. What if the best people are not good enough? What if no one is fit for survival?

What if God hid from mankind?

Could any amount of scientific effort ever find Him?

And if it could, what good would it do if it only resulted in God destroying the scientific seekers?

[onewhowatches]

What I'm really trying to say is anyone who doesn't believe in Intelligent Design denies an intelligent designer. From that denying the designer, they condemn themselves.

Still no dice. I believe God set the universe in motion with a built in self-organizing process, of which evolution is but one part.

But I believe it was the evolutionary process, not intelligent design, by which life evolved on this (and, likely, other) planets.

[modican]

The Failure of "Intelligent Design",

That makes it unintelligent Design.
Forgeddd aboud it.
There is only the past, the future is made by you, every Day.
If you don't, you are screwed.