One Nation, Under Intelligent Design
Another bone thrown to the religious right, Bush has come out in support of teaching “Intelligent Design” in the school curriculum. Is it just me, or, has this issue not already been discussed in the Edwards case? I’ve always thought that the power of religion comes from voluntary belief and the personal experience one gets from choosing to follow a particular faith and its set of beliefs. I’d hate to think that federal $$$ is needed to support the teachings of any particular religion.
The Comments
Mr. Wilson August 4, 2005 at 10:24am
“I’ve always thought that the power of religion comes from voluntary belief and the personal experience one gets from choosing to follow a particular faith and its set of beliefs.”
This statement has two flaws. First, there are no other valid faiths from the perspective of the so-called “religious right”—and, indeed, from the perspective of most of the world’s major religions. The choice is not between religions, but between The One True Faith and heathenism.
Second, members of the religious right are morally obligated to help non-believers make the choice to believe. They cannot passively sit back and let Satan have your soul any more than you can sit back and watch a thug beat a child. They must intervene to protect the welfare of your soul just as you must intervene to protect the welfare of the child. Action is not optional.
The statement is true for you, but viewing the religious right’s actions through that lens won’t get you anywhere.
That being said, this situation is infuriating for a couple reasons. For one thing it perpetuates the notion that the “theory” Bush proposes ("Intelligent Design” nee “Creationism") is on equal footing with a scientific theory like evolution. The former is an example of the sloppy popular definition of “theory,” while the latter is an example of the scientific usage of the term. Intelligent Design is no more (or less) a valid “theory” than the theory that the moon landings were faked. Pharyngula and The Skeptic’s Dictionary are good sources of information on the topic.
Second, as you pointed out taxpayer dollars are involved. You’re very aware of my feelings on wasting taxpayer dollars on baloney.
Steve August 4, 2005 at 2:42pm
I hope Hindus and Native Americans start demanding that their own Creationism stories be taught in biology classes, too. Hindu fundamentalism is on the rise in India right now, too.
Mr. T August 4, 2005 at 8:02pm
“I hope Hindus and Native Americans start demanding that their own Creationism stories be taught in biology classes, too. Hindu fundamentalism is on the rise in India right now, too.”
There is in fact a situation like that which never made it to the courts (at least I don’t believe) which occured in Pennsylvania public schools in 2000 or so. The school opened a ten commandments display but welcomed other documents from other religions to be displayed as well. Sure enough, Wiccans and others began offering documents for the display and...lo and behold...the entire display was later pulled. Had it gone to the courts, I think it would have been analyzed under the public forum/freedom of expression line of decisions rather than establishment clause cases.