I link reason with science so I support Steven Pinker’s polemic that religion has no place in the pursuit of truth in education. Throughout this country’s history, religious fanatics strove to bring biblical teachings—especially creationism—into public school curricula often in the guise of science. Those attempts to blur the distinction between science and ideology were repeatedly shot down by federal courts upholding the First Amendment establishment clause. In a burst of ingenuity, creation advocates have pursed a tactic to circumvent the Constitution—intelligent design.
Intelligent design advocates argue that certain features of the universe and living things are best explained by an intelligent cause and not an undirected process, such as natural selection. (Kitzmiller v. Dover, case 4:04-cv-02688-jej, document 342, 12/20/2005). The architects of the concept, largely associated with an organization called Discovery Institute (www.intelligentdesign.org), carefully avoid identifying this intelligent cause in order to circumvent a First Amendment challenge. In a private document, the Discovery Institute assured its supporters that the intelligent cause is consistent with Christian theology and is God. (The Wedge Strategy, Discovery Institute, 1999.)
The tactics of intelligent design proponents have so far failed to blur the distinction between science and religion. The most famous instance was the case of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (cited above). In 2005, a group of Dover, Pennsylvania, parents challenged, in federal court, a requirement of the school board that intelligent design be taught as an alternative to evolution. The presiding judge found that intelligent design featured no scientific research or testing, and that advocates of the concept sought to avoid scientific scrutiny, which they knew the concept would not withstand.
The creationists have not abandoned their quest to raise religious canards to the level of science in public schools. So hail to Pinker for defending truth.
I'm glad that you brought up this issue. It serves as a perfect example why reasoning in a Cartesian way is important in our society today.
ReplyDeleteI see faith as willful ignorance, but I can not argue against someone for believing anything they wish. The problem lies when public policy is generated based on ideas that can not be demonstrated to groups of people who must suffer under the thumb of religious leaders or politicians who use religion to promote their rise to power.
This calls into question the validity of leaders who can not lay out their ideas in a logical manner. I would not trust an authority figure who was unable to grasp reality and demonstrate his or her ability to affect it in a reasonable way.