In the beginning, God created skies and earth.
Thanks for returning. I hope my post finds you well.
Below, I want to write about one of those times when Christians publicly make our faith look silly.
Recently, I viewed the Nova special entitled “Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial.” I was appalled, but not surprised, by the uncompromising world view of those who defended intelligent design.
Everything depends on a theory. Many of us do not know a good theory even after it imbues and surrounds us.
Take the badly named Discovery Institute. Their people appeared willing to implement their so-called Wedge Plan. They sought to fracture the educational system of our nation by using the law to drive their doctrine into it.
They used political maneuvering so intelligent design would be required scientific instruction in the public schools. This resulted in a court case, Kitzmiller vs Dover Area School District.
As I watched in fascination, I recalled the early 20th Century when John Scopes was tried in a criminal case for teaching evolution in Dayton, Tennessee.
There was one crucial difference between Scopes and Kitzmiller. In the Scopes trial, Judge John T. Raulston disallowed scientific testimony. So Clarence Darrow, the defending attorney, had no choice but to prove his case by demonstrating the silliness of a literal interpretation of the Bible.
He called the defending attorney, William Jennings Bryan, a fundamentalist, to the stand. He maneuvered Bryan into admitting the age of the earth could be interpreted figuratively in the Bible.
In the Kitzmiller trial Judge John E. Jones III allowed scientific testimony. One expert after another from many scientific fields was called to the stand.
The Discovery Institute called their scientific expert, the Great Right Hope, Michael Behe, to the stand. He turned out to be a punching bag.
Science humiliated the defendants that day and proved that intelligent design was religious.
It is no small wonder that fundamentalists either do not know about this case or they are embarrassed to mention it in the hope that it will be forgotten.
The fundamentalists were bad sports after their loss. As bad sports on the losing side often do, they accused the referee, that is, the judge of being a judicial activist. The irony here is that Judge Jones was a George W. Bush appointed conservative.
Indeed, Judge Jones blasted the defendants from the bench for being dishonest and ridiculous. Later, he wrote an article about the case in The Humanist magazine (January/February 2009): “Inexorably Toward Trial: Reflections on the Dover Case and the ‘Least Dangerous Branch.’”
It saddens me to see a spectacle of this nature. It makes my brothers and sisters look like fools and my faith look silly.
It is nearly impossible to be taken seriously when an attempt to make an intelligent case for faith is presented to other intelligent people who are living in this century, not the 19th Century.
If we cannot present the case for Christianity seriously and viably, then our faith is doomed.
I live and breathe a faith that declares the life of Jesus of Nazareth is relevant for all of us today even as creationism remains a superstitious idol. The world needs his message and life. Jesus is the only true correction for all that is mean and meaningless in religious doctrine.
Thanks for being here with me. Please feel free to comment. I welcome the input. Tomorrow I will write about the good side of intelligent design. Blessings…
Recently, I viewed the Nova special entitled “Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial.” I was appalled, but not surprised, by the uncompromising world view of those who defended intelligent design.
Everything depends on a theory. Many of us do not know a good theory even after it imbues and surrounds us.
Take the badly named Discovery Institute. Their people appeared willing to implement their so-called Wedge Plan. They sought to fracture the educational system of our nation by using the law to drive their doctrine into it.
They used political maneuvering so intelligent design would be required scientific instruction in the public schools. This resulted in a court case, Kitzmiller vs Dover Area School District.
As I watched in fascination, I recalled the early 20th Century when John Scopes was tried in a criminal case for teaching evolution in Dayton, Tennessee.
There was one crucial difference between Scopes and Kitzmiller. In the Scopes trial, Judge John T. Raulston disallowed scientific testimony. So Clarence Darrow, the defending attorney, had no choice but to prove his case by demonstrating the silliness of a literal interpretation of the Bible.
He called the defending attorney, William Jennings Bryan, a fundamentalist, to the stand. He maneuvered Bryan into admitting the age of the earth could be interpreted figuratively in the Bible.
In the Kitzmiller trial Judge John E. Jones III allowed scientific testimony. One expert after another from many scientific fields was called to the stand.
The Discovery Institute called their scientific expert, the Great Right Hope, Michael Behe, to the stand. He turned out to be a punching bag.
Science humiliated the defendants that day and proved that intelligent design was religious.
It is no small wonder that fundamentalists either do not know about this case or they are embarrassed to mention it in the hope that it will be forgotten.
The fundamentalists were bad sports after their loss. As bad sports on the losing side often do, they accused the referee, that is, the judge of being a judicial activist. The irony here is that Judge Jones was a George W. Bush appointed conservative.
Indeed, Judge Jones blasted the defendants from the bench for being dishonest and ridiculous. Later, he wrote an article about the case in The Humanist magazine (January/February 2009): “Inexorably Toward Trial: Reflections on the Dover Case and the ‘Least Dangerous Branch.’”
It saddens me to see a spectacle of this nature. It makes my brothers and sisters look like fools and my faith look silly.
It is nearly impossible to be taken seriously when an attempt to make an intelligent case for faith is presented to other intelligent people who are living in this century, not the 19th Century.
If we cannot present the case for Christianity seriously and viably, then our faith is doomed.
I live and breathe a faith that declares the life of Jesus of Nazareth is relevant for all of us today even as creationism remains a superstitious idol. The world needs his message and life. Jesus is the only true correction for all that is mean and meaningless in religious doctrine.
Thanks for being here with me. Please feel free to comment. I welcome the input. Tomorrow I will write about the good side of intelligent design. Blessings…
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