Some Random Thoughts on Intelligent Design

A member of the radical religious right said something on talk radio the other night that caught my attention. This person actually admitted that global warming is real. He explained it like this: Due to the increase in "liberal" influence these past few decades, the folks who go to Hell nowadays burn much hotter than the average hell-bound soul did just 50 years ago. What that means of course is that the center of the Earth -- the place where Hell is located -- is much warmer than it used to be due to all this extra fuel for the hell fires; and a lot of this additional heat escapes from the Earth's core and causes the planet's overall temperature to rise.

Although I laughed pretty hard as this very funny gentleman was explaining his theory (to his credit, he did indirectly admit that the Earth is round), his words were troubling. Could this be the direction in which science in America is heading?

As noted here, the Kansas Board of Education recently approved the teaching of "intelligent design" in Kansas classrooms. Now, I went to a Catholic grade school and a Catholic high school, so I don't have any personal experience to fall back on -- but I do remember friends of mine from the public schools taking religion classes in high school. I think they were courses that covered and compared the belief systems of many different religions.

Are such classes still taught in public schools, and if so, why can't the radical right's intelligent design concept be taught in classes like that? Why are the religious extremists demanding that a matter of faith be taught in science classes? They don't even like science.

At first I assumed that the religious right wants intelligent design taught in science classes and not in comparative religion classes because they do not want their beliefs about creation held up next to the belief systems of other "inferior" religions. But there appears to be a lot more to it than that.

Clearly, the radical religious right's hatred of science is behind all of this. And don't think this attack is limited merely to the push for intelligent design. Science has recently come under attack in the areas of stem cell research, climate change, and controlling the spread of AIDS. Even our National Park system is in the sights of America's radical fundamental extremists:

In a series of recent decisions, the National Park Service has approved the display of religious symbols and Bible verses, as well as the sale of creationist books giving a non-evolutionary explanation for the Grand Canyon and other natural wonders within national parks, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

This anti-science crusade is particularly troubling from a national security standpoint. The United States has one of the highest high school dropout rates in the industrialized world. China, meanwhile, graduates twice as many students with bachelor degrees as does the U.S., and has six times as many graduates majoring in engineering.

In other words, this dumbing down of America couldn't be happening at a worse time. Last year, the Pentagon admitted that global warming is one of the great security threats facing this country in the years ahead. The time has come for America's radical religious extremists to be viewed in the same way.

UPDATE: Martin referred me to this site. Finally, a theory re: the origin of the universe that makes sense.