:: Running from the Thought Police ::

:: Friday, April 14, 2006 ::

Dumb-De-Dumb-Dumb

In my current blissful ignorance of the Daily Illini opinions page, I nearly missed John Bambenek making an idiot of himself by asking why the university didn't offer a course on Intelligent Design.

Normally, in response to such crap I'd go point-by-point and demonstrate how such objections to evolution actually support evolution, are misunderstandings of scientific knowledge, or are just plain stupid.

Thing is, John doesn't even go for the harder stuff, all his regurgitated objections are explained easily on the Index to Creationist Claims, which means that he's either really, really stupid, or that the scientific issues aren't what's really bothering him. I'm willing, just this once, to be charitable and assume the latter.

As the Dover case recently reaffirmed, Creationism in all its guises, including Intelligent Design, are merely ways for those with various agendas, many of them religious, to introduce religion into the science classroom and undermine the education of our nation's children. Whether intentionally or not, creationists are effectively trying to reduce or eliminate students' exposure to the findings of rational thought and, by extention, rational thought itself.

This is a bad thing.

Anyone who's been around Chambana long enough knows that John wears his Catholicism on his sleeve. In fact, I'm surpised he hasn't had the Vatican coat of arms tatooed on his forehead. Accordingly, my first response to his drivel is to wonder why he hasn't read Communion and Stewardship: Human Persons Created in the Image of God, more specifically Chapter Three, Section One: Science and the stewardship of knowledge. It's got some good stuff, not the least of which a rather decent affirmation of the validity of evolution.

My further response to John's column should be apparent elsewhere in a little while. As always, the comments are open.

UPDATE, 1610, 17 April 2006: My "further response" that I mentioned here hasn't been printed yet, but I the "harder" refutation of his crap that he apparently wanted me to write is here.

:: The Squire 3:25 PM :: email this post :: ::
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