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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