Intelligent Design
The Story
Today on NPR they had a story about intelligent design, the theory opposite of Darwin’s evolution theory. The story can be heard here . I am bias towards the idea of intelligent design and would consider myself a Christian Creationist. The fact of my beliefs, should not sway the reader to say that I cannot write on the subject. I would also say that my beliefs are very well founded and have scientific evidence on it’s side.
Basic Argument for Intelligent Design
Darwin’s theory is the idea of natural selection and macro and micro evolution. But it has some presuppositions that are fallacious. 1.) something (the universe, earth, humans) coming from nothing; 2.) out of the chaos of that something, it being turned into an ordered something (chaos turning into order). Both of these presuppositions do not make logical sense. First, it is impossible to start with nothing and then from nowhere have something. Second, order can turn into chaos (you can look at my room, almost every night) but for chaos to turn into order by means of random chance is a statistical impossibility. This is a very basic understanding of the differences, and only one avenue of looking at it. There are many other factors that also show the theory of intelligent design as being most probable. This post is not trying to prove or disprove either theory. It is looking at these lawsuits that are going though our court systems.
Basic’s of the Article
A school district in Pennsylvania (Dover) is being sued, for a decision made that forces teachers to teach both theories of evolution and intelligent design. One of the audio clips (used in story) is a man who describes this requirement for teachers as a kind of “Trojan Horse” of religion, trying to force it’s way back into schools. He also briefly mentioned the study of world religions, in history classes, as being acceptable.
The Problem
Although, the idea of intelligent design points to a more advanced being that created us, it has nothing to do with religion. Evolution is a theory. The Oxford Dictionary describes a theory as “1 a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the ting to be explained. 2 an idea accounting for or justifying something.” Basically it’s something that isn’t proven yet. Well that is true for both evolution and intelligent design. They are both looking at the same data, and each of them interprets that date slightly differently. Schools should promote learning and understanding. The majority of our lives are not made up of black and white issues, but most of them can be seen from different points of view. When we can look at the different sides of an issue, and then make an educated decision based on all of the information, then we are truly educated. When schools attempt to only teach one side of an idea, they are doing a disservice to those being taught.
Some Resources
The Discovery Institute has many articles on the idea of intelligent design.
Alpha Omega institute has links to a lot of different web sites and a good listing of books on the subject of creation. I got to hear a seminar put on by them at my college.
Today on NPR they had a story about intelligent design, the theory opposite of Darwin’s evolution theory. The story can be heard here . I am bias towards the idea of intelligent design and would consider myself a Christian Creationist. The fact of my beliefs, should not sway the reader to say that I cannot write on the subject. I would also say that my beliefs are very well founded and have scientific evidence on it’s side.
Basic Argument for Intelligent Design
Darwin’s theory is the idea of natural selection and macro and micro evolution. But it has some presuppositions that are fallacious. 1.) something (the universe, earth, humans) coming from nothing; 2.) out of the chaos of that something, it being turned into an ordered something (chaos turning into order). Both of these presuppositions do not make logical sense. First, it is impossible to start with nothing and then from nowhere have something. Second, order can turn into chaos (you can look at my room, almost every night) but for chaos to turn into order by means of random chance is a statistical impossibility. This is a very basic understanding of the differences, and only one avenue of looking at it. There are many other factors that also show the theory of intelligent design as being most probable. This post is not trying to prove or disprove either theory. It is looking at these lawsuits that are going though our court systems.
Basic’s of the Article
A school district in Pennsylvania (Dover) is being sued, for a decision made that forces teachers to teach both theories of evolution and intelligent design. One of the audio clips (used in story) is a man who describes this requirement for teachers as a kind of “Trojan Horse” of religion, trying to force it’s way back into schools. He also briefly mentioned the study of world religions, in history classes, as being acceptable.
The Problem
Although, the idea of intelligent design points to a more advanced being that created us, it has nothing to do with religion. Evolution is a theory. The Oxford Dictionary describes a theory as “1 a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the ting to be explained. 2 an idea accounting for or justifying something.” Basically it’s something that isn’t proven yet. Well that is true for both evolution and intelligent design. They are both looking at the same data, and each of them interprets that date slightly differently. Schools should promote learning and understanding. The majority of our lives are not made up of black and white issues, but most of them can be seen from different points of view. When we can look at the different sides of an issue, and then make an educated decision based on all of the information, then we are truly educated. When schools attempt to only teach one side of an idea, they are doing a disservice to those being taught.
Some Resources
The Discovery Institute has many articles on the idea of intelligent design.
Alpha Omega institute has links to a lot of different web sites and a good listing of books on the subject of creation. I got to hear a seminar put on by them at my college.
posted by Jacob at
6:08 PM
