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| Science and How Life Got Here |
Rev. Andrew JJ Paton |
The Theory of Intelligent Design Presupposes a Designer.
Stephen C. Meyer has annoyed the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Stephen, with his Ph.D. in the History and
Philosophy of Science from Cambridge University loves science. His
undergraduate degrees were in Physics and Geology. Then he worked as a
geophysicist with the Atlantic Richfield Company. Now he's director and
Senior Fellow of the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery
Institute, in
Seattle.
So how did he rub the A.A.A.of S. the wrong way?
He published a paper called: "The origin of biological information and
the higher taxonomic categories". Read it on the Web - but be warned, its
not easy reading.
Here's the problem. Meyer wrote: "An experience-based analysis of
the causal powers of various explanatory hypotheses suggests purposive or
intelligent design as a causally adequate--and perhaps the most causally
adequate--explanation for the origin of the complex specified information
required to build the Cambrian animals and the novel forms they
represent."
The American Association for the Advancement of Science has
proclaimed that Intelligent Design is "unscientific by definition." How
do they know that? Well, they just do - so there!
Why fewer and fewer scientists are atheists
This year UC Berkeley professor Charles Townes is being just
as
annoying to this august and "learned" body. Townes has a Nobel Prize in
physics for work in quantum electronics. He was also co-inventor of the
laser.
He upset fellow scientists by saying that religion and science
were converging. Now he's been given the $1.5-million Templeton Prize on
Wednesday for progress in spiritual knowledge. The L.A. Times quoted him
as saying: "No greater question faced humankind than discovering the
purpose and meaning of life - and why there was something rather than
nothing in the cosmos."
So why is the theory of intelligent design not being taught to your
high school student? The theory presupposes a Designer. We can't have
that in a school classroom. Having come this far with Darwinism it would
be unthinkable to abandon all we've gained just because the mounting
evidence is going in the "wrong" direction. Teaching Intelligent Design
is like thinking that "all people are created..equal."
Religion has been guilty of the same tactics. Its best illustrated
by a pastor's visit to the Sunday School class. He began his talk with:
"I'm thinking of a small furry creature with a long bushy tail. It jumps
from tree to tree and gathers acorns for food. What is it?" Within the
religious constraints of the class, a boy said: "Pastor, I know the right
answer is Jesus, but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me!" The boy felt
the pressure of dogmatics. Scientists feel it too.
Mr. Meyer sent his paper the Biological Society of Washington. It's
a scientific journal affiliated with the Smithsonian Institute's National
Museum of Natural History. An editor is out of work today because the
paper got published.
Presumably at 89 Prof. Townes no longer cares about
the coercion to conform. He believes it "extremely unlikely" that the
laws of physics that led to life on Earth were accidental. Townes claims
that the differences between religion and Science "are largely
superficial". He adds: "The two become almost indistinguishable if we look
at the real nature of each."
The heart that refuses to worship would
prefer not to "look."
Here's a confrontational verse from the Bible: "The fool says in
his heart: there is no God." The Bible isn't pretending it's easy to
believe. It is however saying that in the light of the testimony of the
natural world it's foolish to keep asserting we are here by chemical
accident. Its like claiming that there's no square root of Pi just
because there isn't as yet a definitive mathematical answer. Finding the
root is based on an algorithm called Newton's method. The trouble with Pi
is that the answer looks infinite.
My question to the scientist who rejects Intelligent design is
this: "Just because the scope and complication of the universe - if it
were designed, would require an architect of infinite wisdom and power,
is that sufficient reason for the tiny human mind to reject the
probability?"
Begin to pray. Not to get, but to reach out to God. The
Creator longs for relationship with the created - that means God and you,
perfect together!
Update: Bush endorses teaching intelligent design
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