A "Must-Read" Article on Intelligent Design! [View All]

[LongTomH]

This article from "The American Scientist" explains why we need to take the "intelligent design" movement seriously; in brief, it's the leading edge of the Right Wing War on Science:

Being Stalked by Intelligent Design

The Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute states its purpose as:

challenging various aspects of neo-Darwinian theory; ... developing the scientific theory known as intelligent design; ... encouraging schools to improve science education by teaching students more fully about the theory of evolution, including the theory's scientific weaknesses as well strengths .

With these statements, the Center hides its true agenda behind a false claim that it is promoting intellectual freedom when, in fact, it is doing the opposite: stunting intellectual growth by encouraging students to believe that a scientific theory is the same as a philosophical assertion.

Intelligent Design is part of a calculated strategy that Johnson calls the "Wedge," referring to the tool used to split a solid object—in this case, the cornerstone of biological science. According to a document that appeared on the Discovery Institute's Web site in 1999, the goal of this plan is "nothing less than the overthrow of materialism and its cultural legacies." The document also makes sweeping, inaccurate claims such as "new developments in biology, physics and cognitive science raise serious doubts about scientific materialism and have re-opened the case for a broadly theistic understanding of nature." This statement is pure propaganda. (The document can still be found on the Discovery Institute's Web site by searching for "wedge," although it is now prefaced by 12 pages of insistent justification.)

In the ID lexicon, "scientific materialism"—the idea that the world around us can be explained without resorting to supernatural forces—is the enemy. ID advocates favor instead something they call "theistic realism," which "assumes that the universe and all its creatures were brought into existence for a purpose by God." The most revealing word in this statement is assumes. Scientists rely not on assumption but on evidence, and there is none for ID. Theistic realism and ID are statements of religious faith, which does not require evidence.

Even in Kansas, where I moved a few months ago, people are starting to realize that teaching pseudo-science in schools may drive away the scientifically trained people needed to build the state's economy. I fear the battle in Kansas is already lost; I just hope Kansas becomes the "bad example" for the rest of the country when its economy tanks.