[Mb-civic] But Is It Intelligent? - Editorial - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

<>But Is It Intelligent?
Thursday, August 4, 2005; Page A22

FOR MORE THAN 30 years, the conservative movement in America has been 
doing battle with the forces of relativism, the "do your own thing" 
philosophy that eschews objective truth and instead sees all beliefs and 
all personal choices as equally valid. Instead, philosophically minded 
American conservatives have argued that there is such a thing as 
objectivity and that some beliefs really are better, truer or more 
accurate than others. Given this history, it seems appropriate to ask: 
Is President Bush really a conservative?

The question arises because earlier this week, while talking to a group 
of Texas newspaper reporters at the White House, the president was asked 
his views on the subject of "intelligent design," the quasi-scientific, 
quasi-religious movement that promotes the idea that an unseen force led 
to the development of the human race, as opposed to the big bang, 
biology, physics and evolution. Mr. Bush said, "Both sides ought to be 
properly taught . . . so people can understand what the debate is 
about." He added, "You're asking me whether or not people ought to be 
exposed to different ideas, and the answer is yes."

Of course the president is right that, in the context of a philosophical 
debate, it would be appropriate to discuss both sides of an issue before 
arriving at a conclusion. In the context of a religious discussion, it 
would also be very interesting to ponder whether the human race exists 
on Earth for a purpose or merely by accident. But the proponents of 
intelligent design are not content with participating in a philosophical 
or religious debate. They want their theory to be accepted as science 
and to be taught in ninth-grade biology classes, alongside the theory of 
evolution. For that, there is no basis whatsoever: The nature of the 
"evidence" for the theory of evolution is so overwhelming, and so 
powerful, that it informs all of modern biology. To pretend that the 
existence of evolution is somehow still an open question, or that it is 
one of several equally valid theories, is to misunderstand the 
intellectual and scientific history of the past century.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/03/AR2005080301817.html?nav=hcmodule

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