Evolution, Creationism and Intelligent Design - Some Random Thoughts

Published on Monday, 8 February 2010

Creationism and Intelligent Design are prescriptive terms for a "God-centered" definition of where we come from and where we are going. These are very specific dogmas that were introduced as a smoke screen into educational curriculum by those who were opposed to evolution as a suitable topic for teaching in school biology courses.

In my earlier contributions to this string of consciousness I have argued that evolution is good science. There is a vast body of evidence to support it. Whereas one can argue that things appear to be intelligently engineered within our and other animals' and plants' anatomical construct. But one can see in the fossil record, in DNA, in embryological studies, in geological records, in cosmology, and in molecular biology a bountiful amount of data to show that the design of all life does not require intelligence - just the stuff of life, mixed with heat, water, and other chemical elements and time to lead to where we and our planetary soul-mates are today.

Faith comes easily to humans. It is part of who we are as a social animal. Faith is not good science. Our ancestors used it to explain what they observed in the physical world that to them appeared incomprehensible.

We have built a mountain of knowledge since first creating our faith-based explanations and it is time to recognize faith for what it is - a place we go to when we are in fear of the unknown, the bump in the night, the shadows where predators lurk, our worst nightmares.

Through our curiosity we can even understand the origins of faith. But the story of humanity in its pursuit of knowledge has left faith in its rightful place, an anachronism that we cling to as an explanation for what is unobservable.