I have been mildly tolerant of the whole Intelligent Design movement under the theory that, as long as religious people accept the principles of evolution, I don’t care if they believe the fundamental rules were designed by God. In fact, being an agnostic, I kind of think of God that way. The Maker of Rules.
The creationism thing does seem to be getting more aggressive, however. There was a movie out last summer called Expelled , which seems to be a rather mean spirited attack on science, biological science anyway. I’ve not been happy with some of this, and I’m not the only one. In 2005, there was a full scale trial on the merits of Intelligent Design and the judge is interviewed here in a very nice article and summary of the case.
The conclusion is that Intelligent Design, rather than a way to link a Creator with the evolution of life, is just creationism in a new package. It is extremely cynical for people as intelligent as Ben Stein to get mixed up in this and I would very strongly advise the Republican party to keep this stuff at arm’s length. It came up a bit with Sarah Palin’s nomination although it seems that she did NOT advocate creationism in the classroom. She did suggest that it could be mentioned. Alaska has a lot of fundamentalist families and I can see where that was an attempt at compromise.
Tags: creationism, evolution, intelligent design
I’m not sure about Ben Stein. He has been apoplectic in wanting large fast ecomomic bailouts. It’s rather surprising.
Smart and religious are almost orthagonal. One can’t be well predicted from the other. There is a deep human need for the solace of belief.
And Now This!
Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) — Bernard Madoff, founder and president of a New York firm that invested funds for wealthy individuals, hedge funds and other institutions, was charged with operating what he told employees was a long-running $50 billion Ponzi scheme in what may be one of the largest frauds in history.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGQSr_LRM_.8&refer=worldwide
Makes J. David Dominelli’s 90M Ponzi look like chump change.
Sigh
Quite a story, Doug. How do those things go on so long? It seems like things should be a little more transparent.
I have a lot of affection for Stein but he has been completely clueless on this economic fiasco, just a reflexive GOP apologist. I don’t know why he got involved with ID – it doesn’t seem to be his style unless it appeals to some contrarian streak in him. I think more or less as Mike does, and I’m a believing Catholic. The Church has gone out of its way in recent years to not try to insult people’s intelligence regarding evolution.
If ID went only so far as Mike indicates I would be fine with it but it sounds like the proponents are trying to flesh it out so that it can be co-equal as an academic subject. ID would be best left to the realm of mystery, but in this secular age which breathes nihilism with every breath, I can understand why some Christians would try to fight back this way.
I think the Catholic Church has done a good job on this. It is the fundamentalists, and Hugh Hewitt shocks me from time to time with denials of evolution on his program. I can’t figure out if he is pandering or really that ignorant about science. I e-mailed him once about it but don’t think he replied. As that judge in the article said, for many years it was just ignored. Now, molecular biology and genetic engineering are so critical to modern science that it cannot be ignored. We are at another Copernican moment. It is no longer possible to avoid facing the fact that evolution explains our world and other worlds, besides. I would not be surprised to find Archea on Mars, for example.
Hi Dr. K. Just back from a conference.
This is an important topic. ID is indeed a wedge, trying to insert Protestant Christian dogma into classrooms. The problems is that many nonreligious people overreact and give metaphorical food and drink to the IDers. This is actually good for both sides, giving them power and airtime.
Look at how Dawins and Myers and company act. And then poor Hugh Hewitt becomes their mirror image.
You are correct that the Catholic faith deals well with the concept of modern biology and evolution. I have had many conversations about evolution with Jesuits, in fact.
As for Hugh Hewitt, he has no background at all in science. It is like me railing about lawyers or accountants, having no expertise in either field. And when I do, I am generally reacting to what I consider to be extreme statements by lawyers and accountants. What Hewitt is doing is reacting to folks like Dawkins and Myers. And they to him.
I really recommend Francis Collins’ recent book: “The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.” Collins used to run the Human Genome Project, and is a thoughtful and excellent scientist.
Even though Charlie Rose makes me bilious, here is an interview with Collins:
http://www.charlierose.com/search/?text=evolution&keyword=Human+genome+project
Finally, a more general article from National Geographic:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1018_041018_science_religion.html
The point is that folks like Dawkins, Dennett, and Myers are running the discussion right now. And this makes folks like Hewitt take the extreme opposite side.
For me, a God that makes quanta and quasars, genes and galaxies, is beyond human understanding. That informs many types of human faith, and certainly mine. The most important rule is humility.
The lack of humility is why I get so angry at Dawkins and his pals. They are intellectual bullies, and need to remember they came from dust, and to dust they will return. In between, they should be humble at how minor we are in this grand universe.
And to never disparage people of faith. Particularly because Dawkins et al have a great deal of faith in their own secular humanism, which has taken the place of religious feeling for them.
Just try saying that you question global warming sometime. Tell me that the response is not religious in nature.
The global warmists may have trouble the next year or two as it seems the climate has turned seriously colder since 1998. Last October was the 44th coldest in the last 114 years. I’m not sure if the greatest threat to science is from the left or right.
Hey, don’t worry, Dr. K. Obama is here to save us from global warming, and so is his new physics advisor.
You should read Jerry Pournelle (plus Larry Niven and Mike Flynn)’s book “Fallen Angels.”
It’s relevant.