What Intelligent Design Is and Isn’t
The more scientifically sophisticated we get, the stronger the argument for intelligent design. BeliefnetUnless you've been hiding in a cave, you've heard of "intelligent design" (ID) and some of its leading proponents-Phillip Johnson, Michael Behe, William Dembski. Unfortunately, you probably got the mainstream media's spin. It's so predictable, I sometimes wonder if reporters aren't using computer macros.
The reporter types control-alt "CE" and out pops the witty headline: "Creationism Evolves." Control-alt "Scopes Trope" and out pops a lead referencing the old Spencer Tracy film "Inherit the Wind," a cartoon-like caricature of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial over evolution in the classroom.
Control-alt "Conspiracy" and, presto, a paragraph about the religious right and its scheme to smuggle Bibles into the science class as the first step toward establishing a theocracy. Next comes a quotation supposedly representing the view of all "serious scientists," with the phrase "overwhelming evidence" thrown in for good measure. The story practically writes itself, and it possesses this virtue: it saves the reporter the bother of actually investigating what design theory really is.
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