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To: Fester Chugabrew
Is there something inherently religious about designers? I know a good many of them, and they don't appear to be supernatural in any way.

What, you think Joe Schmoe down the street designed all life as we know it?

Science does not have a means of discerning the difference between natural and supernatural in the first place

Supernatural is outside the realm of the natural sciences, otherwise it would (if you just look at the word) be natural.

As I read the documents to which you refer I see no reference either to a Christian God or to any efforts at evangelizing the world through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I linked to the Wedge Document earlier. Notice in it that actual science is a small part. They run apologetics seminars for the believers to try to create a grass-roots movement. They've succeeded with that, and with it they have begun their end-run around science, using elected officials to enforce what they've failed to do scientifically.

Expanding on what I said before, the chief architect of that document, and the founder of the ID movement, Phillip Johnson, said in his book Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds,

Darwinian theory isn't true. ... where might you get the truth? ... I start with John 1:1. In the beginning was the word. In the beginning was intelligence, purpose, and wisdom. The Bible had that right. And the materialist scientists are deluding themselves."
Yeah, ID has nothing to do with religion.

Your zeal in painting intelligent design as an inherently Christian concept is misguided.

From the document, the audience is "our natural constituency, namely, Christians." Sure, other religions have various beliefs and philosophies that may include their deity guiding life to the forms it is in now, but they haven't labeled it ID and tried to push it as science.

513 posted on 10/16/2006 1:37:36 PM PDT by antiRepublicrat
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To: antiRepublicrat
What, you think Joe Schmoe down the street designed all life as we know it?

No. There are only five Joe Schmoes listed openly and nationally, none of whom reside in my state, let alone down the street.

Supernatural is outside the realm of the natural sciences, otherwise it would (if you just look at the word) be natural.

Now that is what I call a tautology of the crassest sort: scientifically and semantically meaningless. I would like you to demonstrate precisely what aspect of intelligent design is supernatural, and then tell me why it must be considered as such.

I linked to the Wedge Document earlier.

Your link didn't work so I sought it out. My assertion stands. The Wedge Document is not sectarian and does not espouse evangelism in the strict sense. Even if it did, there is no Constitutional mandate to prohibit teaching or discussing intelligent design in a public school science class. As I said, ID is in accord with many religions, including the Christian Faith. But that does not make the concept of intelligent design inherently religious or unscientific. Meanwhile, if anything, the Wedge Document is a welcome effort at breaking the philosophical logjams of Darwinism and materialistic naturalism foisted upon education in the name of science.

525 posted on 10/16/2006 2:05:56 PM PDT by Fester Chugabrew
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To: antiRepublicrat
What, you think Joe Schmoe down the street designed all life as we know it?

Joe is my half-brother, and I can tell you this: he couldn't design a spitwad.

;?)

538 posted on 10/16/2006 2:45:10 PM PDT by LibertarianSchmoe ("...yeah, but, that's different!" - mating call of the North American Ten-Toed Hypocrite)
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