un-intelligent design

Man this is starting to just get depressing.

Eugenie C. Scott, the director of the National Center for Science Education and a prominent defender of evolution, said the findings were not surprising because "Americans react very positively to the fairness or equal time kind of argument."

"In fact, it's the strongest thing that creationists have got going for them because their science is dismal," Ms. Scott said. "But they do have American culture on their side."

Well, I definitely think we should teach that the earth is flat, too. After all, why not? Should we not present all the different possibilities while we are at it?

Daniel Dennett wrote an excellent op-ed piece the other day. Here are some excerpts:

Instead, the proponents of intelligent design use a ploy... First you misuse or misdescribe some scientist's work. Then you get an angry rebuttal. Then...you cite the rebuttal as evidence that there is a "controversy" to teach.

Note that the trick is content-free. You can use it on any topic. "Smith's work in geology supports my argument that the earth is flat," you say, misrepresenting Smith's work. When Smith responds with a denunciation of your misuse of her work, you respond, saying something like: "See what a controversy we have here? Professor Smith and I are locked in a titanic scientific debate. We should teach the controversy in the classrooms."

There is no science here for these creationists. There is nothing intelligent about it. Why not teach astrology in school as well alongside astronomy? At least they have a hypothesis: The positions of the stars and planets affect human being's lives. At least they have something one could test out! With creationists, I think they don't bother with the science cause so much of science already comes down against these ideas - we have carbon-dated things way way farther back than 4000 years or whatever the creationists believe in. Why can't all the mountains be carbon-dated to the exact same day - didn't God after all, create them all on the second day or something??

And while they are at it, why not explain for us where God came from? Oh right. Those who question are going to hell.

...No intelligent design hypothesis has even been ventured as a rival explanation of any biological phenomenon. This might seem surprising to people who think that intelligent design competes directly with the hypothesis of non-intelligent design by natural selection. But saying, as intelligent design proponents do, "You haven't explained everything yet," is not a competing hypothesis. Evolutionary biology certainly hasn't explained everything that perplexes biologists. But intelligent design hasn't yet tried to explain anything.

It isn't science - it just fanciful thinking, like believing in the easter bunny or in elves. Time to wake up! I think I live in the wrong country - take me somewhere secular, please.