Although hinted at in various messages, I'm not sure a couple of things 
are coming though to those new to the creationist world. For one, it's 
long been a favorite ploy to set up "debates" between scientists and 
"scientific creationsts" which does two things. First, it implies to 
laypeople that there are two scientific viewpoints being debated. The 
Smithsonian event falls into this general category in that it implies 
acceptance as a scientific theory.

Second, the scientific creationists almost always win debates: a flow of 
scientific-sounding absurdities are rapidly produced by professional 
debaters, with any one of them taking far too long (in terms of debate 
time) to refute to a scientifically naive audience. How, for example, do 
you make clear in 5 minutes or less to a lay audience that the geologic 
column is erected on firm, scientific foundations and what those 
foundations are, while the scientific creationist is busily claiming 
that scientists use circular reasoning: that geologists tell the age of 
rocks by the fossils in them and the age of fossils by the rocks they're 
in?

Some commenters have sort of implied that this is a matter between faith 
and science, while others seem to view it as two different scientific 
views. It is neither. By  definition, science concerns only the material 
universe of matter and energy and thus--as science--can say nothing 
about the supernatural (which does not mean that philosophies can't use 
science or the supernatural or some combination in their formation--just 
that science can't handle the supernatural). Also, by most views of 
science, a hypothesis or theory has to be testable; if there is no way 
to potentially falsify them, then they have no place in science. As 
currently formulated, ID is not testable and thus not science. That an 
intelligent designer is critically involved in evolution fits the 
philosophy of many Americans, but unless a way can be found to test this 
scientifically, it belongs in philosophy, with no place for it in science.

ID is a political program designed to convince non-scientists that a 
particular religious viewpoint, masquerading as science, should be 
taught in schools. I have no particular difficulty in someone familiar 
with the evidence for evolution deciding that they cannot accept it on 
religious grounds; I have a great difficulty in people rejecting 
evolution because they are being misled into believing that the science 
is other than what it is.

Cheers,

Art Harris


Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum
University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX  79968-0915
[log in to unmask]   http://museum.utep.edu/
http://museum.utep.edu/chih/chihdes.htm

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