ID's Intractible Dilemma

(Hat tip: Talk.Reason). Science and Theology News has a number of pieces relating to the evolution vs. Intelligent Design / Intelligent Origin Theory.

Talk.Reason points to Robert Pennock's piece, a devastating description of how well the best ID/IOT had to offer fared against real science in a court of law.

The center’s lineup of expert witnesses listed five Discovery Institute Fellows, including Dembski and Michael Behe, their two most powerful advocates. The ID movement would have its A-team in the courtroom to present its argument in the strongest terms. Moreover, their opponents would be under oath and would be forced to answer the supposedly damning questions they otherwise purportedly dodged.

Dembski provided Thomas More attorneys with detailed questions that would squeeze the truth from “the Darwinists.” He called this the “vise strategy,” illustrating the idea with pictures of heads — including that of a stuffed Darwin doll — being crushed in vises. To top it off, they got to argue their case before a Republican judge appointed by President George Bush. Judge John E. Jones gave them all the time they needed in the long six-week trial to fully lay out their arguments that ID is not religion but legitimate science.

So, what happened when the creationists unsheathed their swords and their wedge in these ideal circumstances? They suffered a rout.

The result of the trial was a detailed ruling which held that ID/IOT was not science, but Scientific Creationism with the serial numbers filed off. Scienctific Creationism, of course, has already been found to be Biblical Creationism with its serial numbers filed off.

Pennock's conclusion:

Of course, we know that the ID battle cries will be heard again. Although he acknowledged that the Dover defeat was a setback, Dembski said it was not ID’s Waterloo: “We can expect agitation for ID and against evolution to continue. School boards and state legislators may tread more cautiously, but tread on evolution they will — the culture war demands it!”

Zealots will never see reason, but let us hope that more pragmatic heads understand that it is time to lay down their swords and shields and wedges. The ID battle was lost at Dover. It’s time to study war no more.