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June 11, 2005
ID Creationism is Also Bad News for Faith
Ed Brayton of Dispatches from the Cultural Wars calls our attention to a column in the Chicago Sun-Times . "Intelligent design has no place in science classes" was written by Richard G. Colling PhD, chair of the biology department at Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois and a devout Christian. Dr. Collings gives a very clear and coherent argument for why Intelligent Design Creationism should not be in the classroom. While I think his column should be required reading for every school board member and perhaps every voter, one point he makes is particularly important when considering science, Intelligent Design Creationism and religious faith.
If the goal of religious conservatives is to preserve an element of faith, intelligent design ideas provide but a temporary solution by positing an intelligent designer to explain perceived gaps in current scientific understanding. This approach is fraught with liability, and actually counterproductive to the stated purpose. If history teaches any lesson, it is this: As understanding in science and biology inexorably march on, the perceived scientific mysteries of today will inevitably give way to well-understood processes, and science will systematically erase the prospects of a designer -- one data point at a time.
It turns out that pseudoscience is also bad for faith.
Posted by Duane Smith at June 11, 2005 11:43 AM | Read more on Evolution |
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