Intelligent DesignIntelligent DesignThe origin of humans is the most complex issues we face. I find it hard to explain to anyone who we are, or how we came to be. There is a great saying; the dead know only thing it’s better to be alive. Like most people I wonder about the mysteries of the universe. Regardless of your personal perception three things are certain in this life. You are born, you pay taxes, and you will die. People have struggled to explain “the meaning of life.” Are we all a bunch of ants in an experiment? One way people deal with this mystery is in the belief of a higher being. A loving God who will reward you if you are nice on earth. If for some reason you should act on your human nature in a socially disapproving way, you will go to hell. But he is an all forgiving God. It is this belief in a higher being that has inspired many people from all corners of the world. Faith, the belief in something that cannot be seen. Faith is a very personal and powerful part if many peoples lives, including myself. While faith is enough to satisfy the curiosity of many, there are those who seek more proof and understanding in our world. For these people, “God willed it” is not satisfactory. Scientists attempt to explain our world through the scientific method, Darwin’s theory of evolution and many years of research.
So this sets up for the debate of all debates, who are we and were did we come from? On one side we have Intelligent Design, or I.D. which claims that something in nature are simply too complex to happen by chance. In their view there is a higher being (God) who us being it all. On the other side of the debate we have evolution, which consists of Darwin’s theory of natural selection. To their credit scientists have a better case, but it’s fair because they are so much smarter. This is a debate which really has three sides. The third being politics, but I won’t get into that. There isn’t much of a middle ground on this issue. You’re learning on way or the other.
A 1999 Gallup poll showed that thirty-eight percent of people believed wholly in Creationism, forty-three percent believed in a more intelligent design like theory, but only eighteen percent believed in the evolution theory. The same poll showed that the higher the education one had, the more likely they were to believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution, to only twenty percent of high school graduates. (Ushma,Neil). So since the debate us about which of the two should be taught in schools, I’ll explore both theories starting with intelligent design.
Intelligent design has a very interesting stance. They don’t have much in the ways of scientific fact. They are not respected in the academic field because they lack integrity. Not only has intelligent design not gained acceptance in the academic world, it has also failed to find warm embrace at many evangelical christen colleges. (Goodstein,Laurie)
The problem they face lie in the way they present their argument. They believe that certain things are far to complicated for us, why even bother trying to explain? While this is acceptable to them, I believe we have a brain for a reason. Why limit ourselves, or limit what our kids are being taught in school I don’t believe we will get anywhere in life. If we stop being curious. If we accept that things are the way they are and stop seeking answers. Intelligent design “scientists” are very skeptical of the theories of evolution. In the sense that there are holes and gaps in it. Meanwhile they present no theories of their own. When and were intelligent design occurs is impossible to prove or disprove, but they are skeptical about when and were species evolve. “This is a double standard.” (Ushma, Neil). Intelligent design doesn’t exist as an academic field, but it is religion in disguise. I have no problem with faith, but when faith brought up outside of one’s
e, it brought me to wonder what if it did?
I will say this, as a general rule, this is not okay. I find it almost infuriating how the “why” is not addressed for the purpose of debate. Why not ask any number of question, how is it that we’re talking a topic that seems like a completely different subject from what we want to hear? Wherever one disagrees, why does the “why” appear that it is not only a question, but the answer as well! A lack of concern about the truth, or any concern about how other people’s ideas may relate to the current situation, can lead to many people (and an even larger number of people) to view life as a challenge. In my experience the whole process of questioning is one of the worst we have ever seen, and this is so bad it is almost scary to think about. If I was to stop with this, then the question is not: “How do you think your own children got into this?” I mean, if you are thinking about the future, what about the ones being in our school system at the moment? What if they have a problem that we didn’t ask their parents, or what if they already know? Or do we see ourselves a part of this society where everything is good as long as we think we are doing it right? Are we at risk? Did you hear the words “family” and “education” being thrown around here in this debate?
I want people to think about this from their viewpoints. When is it okay to question something about someone outside of their own worldview? Even in a religion that is taught by people that have their own personal experiences. There is no need to ask what some faith does or does not have in the future, it is just to engage in thought and experience. All belief in something, other than the reality one gets from the world, is inherently wrong for a specific person, it is not only that we cannot have faith in the future, but also that it’s not rational to begin questioning that. You can stop being angry if you want to, but if you are angry at something, it will often be because you really don’t know. You aren‏t rational to see.
Let me give you this quote by Dr. Michael Kimmel from his book:
‏Let me say in more detail how difficult it is to believe this is the case for people of all ages and backgrounds who are looking forward to the future. I believe strongly that what we’re looking towards is a vision of a world that we all can understand. And to believe that the future is a vision of ourselves is like being asked, “Where’s your favorite game, you know?” I think many people believe us, and that’s how we get to believe that. What really matters to me for some of these people is to believe that these people are really happy. It’s very easy to be angry if you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.
This is not that simple, it is really easy to be angry when you don’t know what the future is going to be like. What it really matters for some is that the past is going to continue to be painful to deal with. This is not something I can say about anything, this is what we all want. The next time someone sees themselves, or even just says that “I am a man of my opinions, and that there are great things that happen for me to do that no one else can do,” they will know more about how you can make these things better, and how you can continue to enjoy them.
Let me close by saying that it is