OK, have it your way: SETI is not a theory. It is a search, intended to try to validate the proposed theory that Extra-Terrestrial intelligence exists. ID is a theory--searching for ID would be equivalent to SETI. I feel much better now.
Except with origin-of-species questions, the "search" has already yielded plenty of results; it's just how those results are interpreted that determines whether ID or Darwinism is the better way of accounting for them. SETI is not at that point yet. If SETI finds signals within the target frequency band, then it would be time to inquire as to whether those signals are natural or artificial, and that could very well involve the same types of questions that are currently engendered by the crevo debate.