Intelligent design called unsuitabl

The battle of evolution versus intelligent design might make interesting philosophical debate, but intelligent design has no place in the science classes of public schools, according to two Thousand Oaks college professors. One represents science, the other religion.

The credibility of both disciplines—science and religion— would be compromised if intelligent design were to be introduced into science classrooms, according to Dr. Jarvis Strecter, a professor of religion at California Lutheran University (CLU). Strecter made his comments during a recent meeting at the school.

Intelligent design is a theory that concludes that parts of the human anatomy are so complex that evolution alone cannot explain human development or creation of the universe.

Intelligent design is also the topic of a nationwide debate over the separation of church and state. Some religious fundamentalists want intelligent design presented in science classes as an alternative or supplement to the theory of evolution.

Strecter and Dr. David Marcey, a CLU professor of biology, both delivered warnings that attacked the scientific and religious merits of including the intelligent design theory in the science curriculum. Although the lecture hall was filled with interested spectators representing both sides of the debate, both speakers were respectful and decorum prevailed, as might be expected in an academic setting.

Strecter, who studied science as an undergraduate and has served as an ordained minister for 27 years, argued that using intelligent design as a scientific explanation would be potentially harmful to religion because it presents a “God of the gaps strategy.”

“People in the past have always used God as an answer for what science can’t explain. As we begin to fill in the gaps, God is no longer needed as an answer and we begin to naturalize God,” Strecter said. “Is it really a smart strategy for Christians to support an argument that can eventually transform God into an unneeded hypothesis?” he asked.

While intelligent design has only recently been covered in mainstream national media, it’s actually a centuries-old belief that dates back to the writings of John of Damascus, a prominent Eighth Century theologian. The belief originated as a way to rationally assert the existence of God through the complexity of nature.

Today, intelligent design is being used as an argument to disqualify the theory of evolution and support the creation of man by God as written in the Bible.

One analogy, known as Paley’s Watchmaker, helps explain intelligent design. It states that if a person were to discover a watch in a forest, that person could conclude that the watch was created by an intelligent being, simply by observation.

Marcey finds the recent popularity of intelligent design as a scientific explanation troubling because the theory hasn’t been scrutinized by peer review.

“Too often people confuse the idea of theory with opinion and dismiss evolution as an opinion,” Marcey said, “but in actuality, a theory is a large grouping of facts.”

Today, the belief that a higher being is responsible for the existence of humanity is slowly creeping out of seminaries and into science classrooms. Last year, the school board in Dover, Pa. implemented caveats to students about evolutionary theory. In turn, some parents, along with the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans for the Separation of Church and State, sued the school board.

“When the intelligent design movement can get the president of the United States and the Senate majority leader to agree that these ideas should be taught in public school science classrooms, they have scored a major political coup,” Marcey said.

While both men disagreed about the nature and existence of God, they concurred that introducing intelligent design into science classrooms of public schools would be reckless and irresponsible.