Intelligent Design - God, We're Stupid

Intelligent Design (ID) v. Evolution. Why is this even an issue. Isn't there something in the Constitution or Bill of Rights about separation between church and state? Listen, I know that evolution is only a 150 year old theory, but theories are backed by scientific evidence and can be verified multiple times by independent research. I can't just create the 'Theory that Ian Heffernan is the coolest person in the world', however likely that may be. In order for that to be considered a theory we'd need to round up everyone in the world, measure their coolness factor (if such a thing was possible), and demonstrate that it was less than mine. And even then we would still need to test every newborn human to verify that my coolness factor was greater. Difficult, yes, but attainable. However, one couldn't even consider ID a hypothesis because it is impossible to prove or disprove. It is faith, which is by definition, a belief in something that cannot rest on logical proof or material evidence.

There are many differences between a scientific theory and faith, but one of them is that faith is not taught in the science classrooms of our public schools. I went to Catholic school for 16 years. In our religion classes we learned about the bible and all the world's religions (which have surprisingly similar creation stories if one were so inclined to do the research). In our science classes we learned about the theory of evolution. My teachers were smart enough to stress that evolution was still a theory, but they never even attempted to put ID in the same discussion or on the same plane as evolution. It was either evolution or we're really off track.

If private or parochial schools want to teach ID, I guess one can't complain. Afterall, people have a choice to not send their children to private schools. Public schools are another matter. Sometimes there is no choice to be made. ID has no place in public schools.

I'm not offended by the concept of ID as much as I am by people calling it an alternative to evolution. So what if my great¹⁰⁰⁰-grandfather was a chimp? That just explains why I like bananas, climbing trees, and throwing my poo so much. But of course I'd like to think that our lives are not random chance, that there was some spark to get this ball we call Earth rolling, but it's likely we'll never be able to prove that. What we can prove - and, more importantly, test - is evolution. And until that changes, evolution is not only the best choice for explaining how we came to be, it is the only choice.

The fact that this discussion must even be taken to the courts is an embarrassment. It's an embarrassment to me as a Christian, as a logician, and as an American. Those responsible for pushing this issue should be ashamed. Another example of the dumbening of American society...