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Intelligent Design and its threat to Christianity
By O. Twist
March 5, 2006
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Summary: The intelligent design movement has gained remarkable publicity in recent years. This article explores the inherent danger to christianity in rationalizing its deity, and predicts some possible consequences if the movement is not opposed vigorously.
Recently there has been a drive by groups all over the world but especially in the United States to teach a philosophy challenging the validity of the theory of biological evolution in schools. Using the term "Intelligent design" (ID), the objective appears to be to implant doubt as to the nature of the overwhelming scientific body of evidence that points to evolution from a common ancestor as origin of all life on Earth, and in particular to challenge the validity of the hypothesis that this ancestor had originated in a prebiotic Earth (see for example reference 1).
Restatements of William Paley’s teleological argument, in phrases such as “irreducible complexity” attempt to convince the unwary that life can only be explained by the actions of an unidentified intelligent being. The apparent short-term goal of this approach appears to be to convince “non-believers” that religion and in particular the Christian religion can be based on scientific foundations. As such it may in fact be an effective short-term tool to raise interest and participation in the Christian denominations.
However, the approach used by this movement is highly controversial and appears to be extremely short-sighted. It should be made clear to anyone that by placing God and religion on scientific foundations you are in fact placing this philosophy in grave danger. The nature of science requires that every assertion placed in its domain must be falsifiable and can potentially be disproved. That means if a scientific publication claims to require the existence of an intelligent designer to allow a certain observation to take place, you may in fact increase the public appeal of religion in the short-term, but you are at the same time exposing the jugular vein of Christianity to whoever would care to take a bite. That is you are at that point encouraging anyone who feels like it (and every scientist seeking the truth should) to demolish this interpretation. This can be done by providing evidence and detailed explanation of the evolution of so-called “irreducible complexity” phenomena, or the almost inevitable detailed description of the mechanisms of abiogenesis. When these things occur the effect for the Christian faith will be devastating, the impact being directly proportional to the influence wielded by the Intelligent Design movement. Trying to make a model fit the data by invoking a supernatural being is a strategy I am sometimes tempted to use in my PhD programme, but luckily I haven’t had to resort to such drastic measures as yet.
It is an interesting coincidence that ID proponents prefer not to identify their proposed intelligence as it appears clear that the agenda of those pulling the strings is not to further the cause of the Christian god and his son made man, but is instead of a political and financial nature.
It is absolutely crucial that church leaders across the world see through ID for what it is and take a categorical stance against the rationalization of their deity. It will also be necessary to understand that the future of Christianity as we know it is dependent on a harmonious co-existence of religion and biological science. As a man close to the hearts of many of us said 2000 years ago. “Blessed are those who believe but have not yet seen”.
Theologians and scientists must present a united front and purge this tumour before the damage done to our religion, which is inextricably entwined with our identity, becomes irrepairable. Priests, do not let your congregations become polluted by this cheap and false replacement for faith. Finally it is also worth noting that the vocal support for what are clearly misleading messages can also lead to unfortunate reactions in scientists working in the fields targeted by the ID movement and its less alluring little brother “creation science” (2).
References:
(1) Wilson DS (2005) Evolution for Everyone: How to Increase Acceptance
of, Interest in, and Knowledge about Evolution. PLoS Biol 3(12): e364
For free access to this open access article follow this link:
http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0030364
(2) Twist O (2006) Religion and physical truth, a biologists
perspective
http://www.epicidiot.com/evo_cre/ua_religion_physical_truth.htm
Acknowledgements:
The author would like to acknowledge helpful discussions with members of
the Origins talk discussion group, during February/March 2006, for
inspiration and intellectual stimulation in the development of this
article.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OriginsTalk/
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