CBN on ID in KS

More Christian Broadcasting Network nuggets. The 700 Club news features the flap over the "strip search of a 10-year-old girl" anti-Alito ad. I need to do some reading about the case (Doe v. Groody, 2004) before I comment on it in detail.

However, this report caught my ear:

The University of Kansas is going to offer a class on Creationism and Intelligent Design, but it's not a science class. It's called Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism, and other religious mythologies. One local Intelligent Design supporter says it's just another example of labelling anyone who supports I.D. as a religious nut. The announcement comes just weeks after the Kansas Board of Education voted to allow I.D. to be taught in that state's public schools. The decision was considered a major victory for Intelligent Design. — CBN/700 Club News, 2005-11-23

Intelligent Design is not science. Beginning, middle, and end of discussion. The same is true of Creationism. In order to have scientific evidence of either Intelligent Design or Creationism, we would need eyewitnesses.

Science is the study of natural phenomena through systematic, unbiased observations; repeatable, verifiable experiments testing objectively falsifiable predictions; and open-minded analysis of the results. Both I.D. and Creationism fail on all three points.

What would a living organism look like if it were clearly not the result of design or creation by some intelligent force? If you can't tell me what evidence would disprove the hypothesis of Intelligent Design (or Creationism), then the hypothesis is not scientific and it has no place whatsoever in a science classroom. Intelligent Design is the process of taking observations of the physical world and figuring out how to fit them into the existing theory, not the process of taking observations and seeing objectively what conclusions those observations suggest.

If you believe in Intelligent Design or Divine Creation as a matter of religious faith, no one can disprove it. However, if you claim that Intelligent Design or Divine Creation is in any way remotely related to science, then you are simply flat wrong.

Let me put it another way: I know people who believe that butt sex is a holy sacrament, quite literally. They are entitled to that belief. However, they are not entitled to call it Southern Baptist. Likewise, you are entitled to the belief that God (or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, arrr, shiver me timbers) intelligently created the breathtaking variety of living beings, but you can't call it science.

Science can by definition NEVER prove or disprove the existence of God (or an "Intelligent Designer"), since God is by definition supernatural.