Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Kansas will soon be deciding between two main proposals about how to approach the teaching of the origin of life. The first simply updates some standards about the education program currently in place but makes no drastic changes. The other calls for a more critical look at the popular notion of evolution, this second proposal obviously being backed by those with a more religious background, including Intelligent Design proponents. The second possibility would certainly open the doors to other theories....for example, Intelligent Design.

Intelligent Design is a theory being offered by religious folk and those who think that the Theory of Evolution is too unlikely. It basically says that nature and complex biological structures were all designed by an intelligent being, and were not created by chance. This theory is steeped in religious undertones and a general disdain for "proof."

What does all of this mean? Is science under attack as many scientists claim? Or, rather, is this debate simply an extension of the discourse through which scientific inquiries and ideas are spawned? Should certain ideas and theories be censored from science classes? Isn't science supposed to be about a search for truth?

Yes, yes it is. However, the truths sought and sometimes achieved by science are backed by pesky little things called "facts" and "proofs." Observable data are collected, looked at, retested, and hypothesized upon. Then, it's back to more facts and proofs until a reasonable theory has been demonstrably proven to be accurate. That's a far cry from "The universe is so complicated, someone super powerful MUST have had something to do with it!"

This is not a knock at religion. Believe what you wish and may all the gods love you for it. But the fact is that opponents of evolution seem to think that it is not proven, nor observable. Alas, wishes are not enough, and unfortunately for fans of Intelligent Design and opponents of evolution, they are incorrect.

People seem to mixing up two separate scientific concepts: evolution and the Theory of Evolution. Clearly, one has capital letters and one does not. But it seems this difference alone is not sufficient, so let me break it down a bit, old school style.

Evolution itself is a gradual process whereby natural selection acts upon genetic variations within a population of a species through successive generations. That is the simplest definition I can give without use of crayons and construction paper. The Theory of Evolution (note the spiffy capitalization) is a specific scientific theory about the origin of plant and animal life on the planet. The Theory of Evolution is so named because it is only a theory. It has not been proven. Many would argue that it can't be proven. Evolution, by contrast, is a very observable process.

So, evolution is not the Theory of Evolution. The former is observable, the latter is simply intelligent guesswork made with some proof. Unfortunately, religious fanatics are quick to point out that the Theory is not proven, and thus other theories should be given equal time. They present us with Intelligent Design, which despite all its fancy scientific jargon boils down to "Some all-powerful being did it!"

Forgive a bitter, cynical atheist, but I must point out that the only proof Intelligent Design proponents offer is that "life on this planet of ours is really complicated...like, totally complicated, man. Someone had to do this on purpose." That is the extent of their proof for their theory.

And I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but just because there happens to be more than one side to a debate doesn't mean all the sides deserve equal time, or even any time at all. In the paraphrased words of Bill Maher, babies being brought to houses by a stork is not an alternative school of thought in med schools.

Intelligent Design a loose and laughably obvious justification for poking God's ass into science classes, for chiseling away at the foundation of the Theory of Evolution and allowing the Theory of the Religious People to slip into those cracks. While not explicitly a debate between the Theory of Evolution and Intelligent Design, that is basically what the situation in Kansas boils down to. Let's not kid ourselves. The opponents of the Theory of Evolution are not going to attack evolution and then not have a suitable (suitable to their agenda) replacement.

Kansas is poised to take a very scary step. If religion gets a foot in the door of science, how long until it leaks into other subjects?

TEACHER: "Now class, what is 5 + 5?"



CLASS: "10!"



TEACHER: "Very good. Now, why is this so? Billy?"



BILLY: "Umm... because God made it that way?"



TEACHER: "Very good, Billy. Now say 50 Hail Marys and pray for forgiveness."

You may laugh, but I weep.