Why Fight Over Intelligent Design?

Foxnews.com/Cato ^ | November 22, 2005 | Andrew J. Coulson

[MRMEAN]

Andrew J. Coulson is director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute.

Supporters of the theory of human origins known as "intelligent design" want it taught alongside the theory of evolution. Opponents will do anything to keep it out of science classrooms. The disagreement is clear.

But why does everyone assume that we must settle it through an ideological death-match in the town square?

Intelligent design contends that life on Earth is too complex to have evolved naturally, and so must be the product of an unspecified intelligent designer. Most adherents of this idea would undoubtedly be happy just to have it taught to their own children, and most of my fellow evolutionists presumably believe they should have that right. So why are we fighting?

We're fighting because the institution of public schooling forces us to, by permitting only one government-sanctioned explanation of human origins. The only way for one side to have its views reflected in the official curriculum is at the expense of the other side.

This manufactured conflict serves no public good. After all, does it really matter if some Americans believe intelligent design is a valid scientific theory while others see it as a Lamb of God in sheep's clothing? Surely not. While there are certainly issues on which consensus is key — respect for the rule of law and the rights of fellow citizens, tolerance of differing viewpoints, etc. — the origin of species is not one of them.

The sad truth is that state-run schooling has created a multitude of similarly pointless battles. Nothing is gained, for instance, by compelling conformity on school prayer, random drug testing, the set of religious holidays that are worth observing, or the most appropriate forms of sex education.

Not only are these conflicts unnecessary, they are socially corrosive. Every time we fight over the official government curriculum, it breeds more resentment and animosity within our communities. These public-schooling-induced battles have done much to inflame tensions between Red and Blue America.

But while Americans bicker incessantly over pedagogical teachings, we seldom fight over theological ones. The difference, of course, is that the Bill of Rights precludes the establishment of an official religion. Our founding fathers were prescient in calling for the separation of church and state, but failed to foresee the dire social consequences of entangling education and state. Those consequences are now all too apparent.

Fortunately, there is a way to end the cycle of educational violence: parental choice. Why not reorganize our schools so that parents can easily get the sort of education they value for their own children without having to force it on their neighbors?

Doing so would not be difficult. A combination of tax relief for middle income families and financial assistance for low-income families would give everyone access to the independent education marketplace. A few strokes of the legislative pen could thus bring peace along the entire "education front" of America's culture war.

But let's be honest. At least a few Americans see our recurrent battles over the government curriculum as a price worth paying. Even in the "land of the free," there is a temptation to seize the apparatus of state schooling and use it to proselytize our neighbors with our own ideas or beliefs.

In addition to being socially divisive and utterly incompatible with American ideals, such propagandizing is also ineffectual. After generations in which evolution has been public schooling's sole explanation of human origins, only a third of Americans consider it a theory well-supported by scientific evidence. By contrast, 51 percent of Americans believe "God created human beings in their present form."

These findings should give pause not only to evolutionists but to supporters of intelligent design as well. After all, if public schooling has made such a hash of teaching evolution, why expect it to do any better with I.D.?

Admittedly, the promotion of social harmony is an unusual justification for replacing public schools with parent-driven education markets. Most arguments for parental choice rest on the private sector's superior academic performance or cost-effectiveness. But when you stop and think about it, doesn't the combination of these advantages suggest that free markets would be a far more intelligent design for American education?

This article appeared on FOXNews.com on November 18, 2005.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Hi Elsie!

Can't really argue with your edits.

[Thatcherite]

The reason I stay around, is to post some really great Scripture to those who seem to be unaware of it.

That'll be on the scripture threads then? ;-)

[Thatcherite]

And your reduction tof the wonder of life to random combinations of mud, water, and rocks (i.e. life accidentally came from non-living objects) serves only to belittle and further degrade our school systems and society into a godless, government-worshipping, self-indulgent country that will fall just like every other great civilization.

I assure you, I find wonder of life a marvellous thing, and I don't need a holy book to tell me that. But accepting your perceived consequences (for the sake of argument) was have they got to do with whether or not evolution is true. Why not theistic evolution?

Your ultimate message is this: "Life means nothing. You came from random chemical reactions and exist only to procreate. There is no being who created anything. When you die, you will be dead and gone forever. If you can get away with it on this earth, you will never have to answer for it. You have no more right to live than a bacteria because you are nothing more than a descendent of bacteria."

So that is what you'd teach your children if you didn't believe in the Christian God? I hope that you never get a crisis of faith. Me, despite being an atheist, I teach my children to respect others, to avoid doing harm, and to do good when the good path is clear to them. Societies whose members do this are successful societies. Societies whose members don't do this fail. I enhance the life-chances of my children by teaching them those principals, regardless of religious considerations.

With a message like that, there should be no wonder that our children have little value for human life. Yet all in the name of your god, "science", you plow steadily on and to hell with the consequences.

I am sorry that your children have little value for human life. Perhaps you should concentrate on giving them values that will serve them well in life, rather than trying to overturn established scientific knowledge. You cannot put knowledge back in the box, even when it is knowledge that upsets your religious preconceptions.

[Elsie]

... the way you all want ID taught...

And this is HOW?

[aNYCguy]

If you had an ounce of honesty in your body you would admit that this doesn't change my argument one bit.

As I've said, I'm not addressing your lack of biological knowledge, as others are doing a fine job of that; no, I was simply addressing your faulty math.

You incorrectly did a trivial combinatorial problem, causing you to use a value in your argument which was off by well over a thousand orders of magnitude. Again, rather than acknowledge that perhaps you have a thing or two to learn, you are thick-headedly barging ahead in your asinine "argument."

You've demonstrated a lack of basic education in thermodynamics, combinatorics, and biology, yet you continue to insist that you have a novel new thermo-statistical argument against the foundations of modern biological sciences. Can you understand how ridiculous this looks? Can you understand why this might irritate those who have some idea what they're talking about?

[Elsie]

If a conservative supports abortion...

Mighty big IF!

So, the fact that we think LIFE is more important than what ever the Lib/Con fight is about, upsets you how?

[Elsie]

(missed seeing your cute wisecracks as of late...)

You are what you eat!!

I've been all turkeyed out and busy with a kid's Christmas play at church.

[Elsie]

;^)

[Elsie]

That'll be on the scripture threads then? ;-)

If I'm there; that's what they'll be!

;^)

[aNYCguy]

by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

If you can find a verse stating that Jesus' body has eyeball lasers, pecan pie launchers on its shoulders, and a coffee dispenser in the left thumb, I'm sold.

[Elsie]

I assure you, I find wonder of life a marvellous thing, and I don't need a holy book to tell me that.

Indeed!

---

Romans Chapter 2:20

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

[narby]

Where did the Sun get IT'S energy?

Fusion.

The solar system is basically a closed system, energy wise. It's fuel will last another few billion years, plenty enough time for more evolution.

Is'nt Gods invention of fusion and evolution cool?

[Blood of Tyrants]

On what do you base your morals? Why are yours better than the child rapist or the homicide bomber? If we are just a collection of molecules that somehow became human beings, why should it be illegal to kill another human being? Just because a group of people got together and said so? Why should that group have more input than the group that want to legalize sex between adults and children?

Don't try to judge me because as an atheist you must admit that there is no authority other than artificial, man-made ones and thus being artificial and man-made, they are subject to change by other men.

I tell my children that God loves them so much that he sent his divine son to live on earth and become the perfect sacrifice so that one day they may be able to join him.

I tell them that they exist because the Creator of the universe WANTS them to exist.

I tell them that life is precious because it is given by God and therefore NO PERSON has the right to take it away although you can forfeit your right to live.

I tell them that it is a BABY growing inside a woman's body and not a "lump of tissue" similar to a cancerous tumor.

I tell them that this country exists not because the atheists wanted a place in order to worship as they wanted but because Christians did.

I tell them that there is no constitutional separation of church and state and that the first amendment guarantees freedom OF religion, not freedom from religion.

I tell them that they must regurgitate what the schools "teach" but that they must remember that they were CREATED.

I tell them that there has NEVER been a free and open society that was founded and run by atheists and that there never will be.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Okay take off a thousand zeros. Now you have ONLY 200+. Nothing has changed. BTW, if it is so simple, why haven't scientists been able to create a simple, stable, living organism?

Your insistance that evolution is real despite the lack of the ability to prove it is no less a belief than mine. Yet I will admit that creation IS a belief and you won't.

[Elsie]

If you can find a verse stating that Jesus' body has eyeball lasers, pecan pie launchers on its shoulders, and a coffee dispenser in the left thumb, I'm sold.

 

 

How about these???

---

Not quite lasers, but................

 

Revelation 1:14
His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.

 

Revelation 2:18
"To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

 

Revelation 19:12
His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.

 

 

Not exactly pie launchers, but....

 

Revelation 1:16
In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

 

Deuteronomy 33:29
Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD ? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places. "

Matthew 10:34
"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Revelation 1:16
In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

Revelation 2:16
Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Ephesians 6:10-18
 ¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

 

And not quite coffee, but much better!

 

John 4:10-12 

 ¹⁰Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

 ¹¹"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹²Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

John 7:38
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."

 

Revelation 7:17
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

 

[Elsie]

It's fuel will last another few billion years, plenty enough time for more evolution.

And after that, the Judgement.....

[aNYCguy]

LOL! An excellent start. Well done.

[Coyoteman]

It's fuel will last another few billion years, plenty enough time for more evolution. And after that, the Judgement.....

Actually, we'll be ready for a new neighborhood by then. I bet we'll just pack up and move. (The bright folks will have moved long before.)

[tortoise]

Yet all in the name of your god, "science", you plow steadily on and to hell with the consequences.

An argument from adverse consequences is no argument at all, being a well-worn fallacy on this forum. The universe does not conform to your wishful thinking nor does it cater to your desires. Your beliefs do not dictate reality.

The very notion that the universe must be pleasant or nice because you don't like the consequences if it is not is embarrassingly childish and immature. I suppose we should not question the existence of Santa Claus on the same grounds. At a minimum it does not reflect positively on your credibility or emotional maturity.

[dread78645]

Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and the seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he holds to as being certain from reason and experience. Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking non-sense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn. The shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided, but that people outside the household of the faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and, to the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men. If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehoods on facts which they themselves have learnt from experience and the light of reason? Reckless and incompetent expounders of holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren when they are caught in one of their mischievous false opinions and are taken to task by those who are not bound by the authority of our sacred books. For then, to defend their utterly foolish and obviously untrue statements, they will try to call upon Holy Scripture for proof and even recite from memory many passages which they think support their position, although “they understand neither what they say nor the things about which they make assertion.”