I was going to take a pass on this topic. I've spoken to it before, and I don't want to give offense; but I am increasingly mindful of my mortality... today I do my autologous blood donation... and it begs reflection.
People are pushing... again... to include the teaching of so-called "intelligent design" in science classes as a contrast to evolutionary theory. I don't believe there's a scientific argument to be made for that.
There is a mystery of life. Any competent biologist can expain the soup of hydrocarbons and enzymes that constitute the forms of life, but there has been no scientific explanation of the instant of creation when life itself actually began. That's where religion lives... in that instant.
As I've said before, I grew up in a Baptist church in the rural midwest. Every good thing that happened was said to be a miracle... a blessing from God... while every bad thing was dismissed as beyond our understanding. Eventually that started to piss me off. I'm not a rocket scientist, but I'm not stupid either.
I've seen intelligent designs. I've never seen a car born with only three wheels. I've never seen a house sprout an extra room. I'm sorry, but if you're going to teach religion as science... that we were created by an omniscient and omnipotent being... you're going to have to explain genetic mutation. Why do we have a blind spot in our eye? Frogs don't. Explain cancer! It looks like trial and error and survival of the fittest to me!
I could reflect for days on life... where it comes from, what it means... if all life was created in the same instant then how can there be good life and bad life, or superior and inferior life?... if life is precious then how can some life not be precious? These are not scientific questions. There is no proof to be found... not in this lifetime anyway.
2 comments:
You're more thoughtful in writing about teaching tarted-up creationism along side evolution than I am, AQ. I can't write about it because I can't be reasonable at all. And I keep wondering, didn't we already go through this about 80 years ago with the Scopes trial?
I wonder. If we are to believe that teaching 'Intelligent' Design is merely to give another view-point, are we going to require teachers to also elaborate on "Flat-Earth" geology, as well. Perhaps medical students can also learn the "Evil-Spirits" theory of disease transmission. Ridiculous when you follow the I-D road to it's conclusion, isn't it?
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