The Darwinism/Intelligent Design debate

I often think of The Christian Century as the theologically moderate and politically left-leaning magazine with the ridiculous name (the magazine was started in the early 20th century which was expected to be the Christian Century) that often has a negative opinion of conservative evangelicals.

SO, I must confess that (because of my own stereotyping) I was pleasantly surprised to find one of the most thoughtful articles that I have ever run across on the Intelligent Design controversy right in the pages of The Christian Century's June 12 issue.

J. Scott Turner, addresses insightfully in a few short pages, the philosophical underpinnings of science in general, the history of the Darwinianism debate and the various historical incarnations of what is now being called "Intelligent Design" (ID).

As a biologist himself, he addresses very well the reaction of scientists which has been too often dismissive, fallacious, irrational and occasionally even a bit histerical: "Rather than simply lament that so many people take ID seriously, scientists would do better to ask WHY so many take it seriously..."

Even more significant perhaps than his calls for intellectual honesty on the part of scientists whe are supposedly committed to impartial investigation and free exploration of ideas, near the end of the article, he addresses the potentially dangerous trend of defering the issue to the lawyers and the courts who will decide what is and is not good science and what constitutes proper education.

These issues are, in my opinion, highly significant to the larger question of how a society engages in reasoned and fair debate so as to make well-informed and wise decisions (or if it does so). So the article is very much worth the read: Click here.