Intelligent Design.
That phrase alone should ignite a firestorm of controversy.
The NOVA special, Judgement Day, on the recent Dover Pennsylvania trial now can be viewed online.
Let us begin with two moral principles: HONESTY and CONSISTENCY. I know of no one who can disagree with the importance of these ideas. These ideas are central to religions all over the world. And as my friend Ariel Caticha points out, they are central to science as well. If someone is dishonest, that person cannot be trusted. Likewise, if someone is inconsistent, that person cannot be trusted. Consistency and Honesty are central to trust.
I am not going to go into a lengthy discussion of Intelligent Design. However, there are two aspects of this idea that strike me.
The first is due to the fact that Intelligent Design proponents cannot imagine that the complexity one sees in the universe could happen by accident. As if the truth was ever constrained by our imaginations.
For some reason, not being able to understand the mind of a Creator is acceptable, but not being able to understand how accidents can lead to complexity is not. This is an example of INCONSISTENCY. To be consistent, we must choose one or the other. I myself will chose to not accept not being able to understand… period!
The second aspect that strikes me is related to the fact that every Intelligent Design discussion eventually comes down to the idea that “I am not an ape!” Next you’ll be telling me that you are not a civilization of single-celled organisms? That your mass is not 20% bacteria? That you are not made of atoms? I am sorry, but you can be oxidized like any other bag of organic molecules my friend.
Being an ape is the very least of your worries!
Let’s focus on what seems to be the real issue here. What is wrong with being an ape? Do you really need to be created in God’s image to be special? Really? If there is a God, is his creation not sufficiently divine such that if you were an ape you would be any less glorious? For all the shouting about the magnificent complexity of life, Intelligent Design proponents sure seem to think very little of the creation.
God’s strongest proponents often trash his glorious work.
Let’s be HONEST, the issue here is human arrogance.
Human’s do not want to be apes because they are arrogant. We believe we are better than apes. We are not allowed to believe we are gods, so we cling to the idea that we are created in the image of god. If this belief causes you to look down on the rest of creation, then you are arrogant.
Arrogance, there is a fine moral principle!
The NOVA special, Judgement Day, on the recent Dover Pennsylvania trial now can be viewed online. It does an excellent job of presenting the issues and the evidence. In addition, it makes clear the difference between: theory, fact, and belief.
Kevin Knuth
Albany NY
Posted under Biology, Evolution, Philosophy
