Thursday, December 22, 2005

Intelligent Design as an atheist plot

I've mentioned, in letters to the editor, that one effect of Creationism and of Intelligent Design / Intelligent Origin Theory is to make Believers look – well – ID/IOTic.

As one example, I recall an extended discussion with a fellow on the Debunk Creation newsgroup. He came in reciting all the Creationist and ID/IOT lines. One thing he did that set him apart from the run-of-the-mill creationists was listen to the replies. Over time, he discovered the difference between what he'd been fed by his pastor and what the science actually said. He now accepts evolution, but he also rejects religion altogether.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

When you lie about science in order to make it fit your notions of what your religion says, you make your religion look stupid at best, evil at worst. You also violate a commandment.

In this article, James Ringo proposes:

...a simple thought experiment that one is an aggressive atheist planning a propaganda campaign to capture the minds of the young. Such a campaign might look like the following. Begin by tying the question of the existence of God to some poorly supported theory of biology. Next, set up a joint presentation of this weak theory with, and in comparison to, the Darwinian theory of evolution which can and has been demonstrated in the laboratory with short generational microorganisms (both mutation and selection of the “fit” are observed) and has a world of data and modeling support. Finally, have this contest presented, refereed and commented on… by a Darwinist, as the bulk of biology teachers surely are. Diabolical no? Yet such a campaign is not far from what has been happening in Dover, PA, in Kansas and elsewhere.

In this thought experiment, you're betting an awful lot on the assumption that the majority of the world's biologists will turn out to be wrong. If (when) the expected revolution fails to materialize, you'll alienate huge numbers of those students from any and all religion.

Screwtape would be pleased.

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