...adapt to its environment on different islands. He called what he witnessed Evolution. Throughout the 20th century this theory was proven again and again through studies and experiments. Creationists, or those that believe in philosophical perspective that presupposes the existence of a supernatural creator, slowly felt their power wean. People had found a way to explain where man had come from that didn’t conform to their set of beliefs, with science and not religion. Creationism was slowly weeded out of school science classes. By the 90s very few schools even taught Creationism. With the presumable loss of the bible’s hold on the teaching of science in American classrooms conservatives needed a new way to get their religion back. For this they brought up intelligent design, saying life was too complicated to be created by chance, that life must have been created by some sort of master creator, a.k.a. God. What follows will be an exploration centering on the nature of biological origins and the various explanations of their existence in terms of two central points of view and the ensuing problems that have resulted from this ongoing discussion. Today there rages a long and colorful debate between the empirical and mystical or more precisely those who believe that species are a product of natural processes (evolution) as opposed to others who espouse an omnipotent causative force (intelligent design). This polarization has led to heated differences of opinion affecting the...
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...Title: Evolution and Intelligent Design: Which Is True? Introduction: * Controversial subject * Full into beliefs * Very political * Connection between Intelligent Design & Creationism I. Background A. Evolution is the scientific theory that all life forms on Earth today are descended from a single cell organism 1. Charles Darwin & Natural Selection 2. Genes carry the DNA codes for a evolutionary trait to be passed to the next generation B. Creationists feel the need to attack the evolution theory to “free God from its shackles” 1. Evolution provides a meaningful explanation of the relationship of the Creator to man & animals 2. We are formed, by the Creator, from the dust of the Earth C. Evolution is metaphysics 1. Something transforms into other things, but the process is unexplained 2. Breathing air, wings & fins are excellent examples II. First Side- Evolution A. Does not prove there is no God 1. May not be able to prove there is a higher power, can prove that a fish grew leg & walked on land 2. Provides the basis for the Creator’s work, macro to micro B. Historical trials & their outcomes 1. Wesley Roberts-“A Struggle in Tennessee” 2. John Scopes- trial of religion & science III. Second Side- Intelligent Design A. The theory by Mr. Charles Darwin 1. No sufficient evidence to prove that one organism evolves into another 2. Evolution & Alchemy go hand-in-hand;...
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...1 Religion in Schools – Intelligent Design vs. Theory Stephanie C. Hansen Western International University April, 2006 Intelligent Design should be taught in schools, not only viewed as a religious theory. The debate continues on what roles the school should take on controversies regarding Theory of Evolution vs. Intelligent Design. Opponents insist that this is a “veiled way” of getting religion into the classroom, and that it should not be allowed. One of the main reasons to have Freedom of Speech is so “Truth” can emerge from vigorous debate on all sides of every important issue. Why then should we Americans ever want to suppress the free discussion of important issues in our public schools? (William McGinnis, 2006) Opponents would insist that Intelligent Design has no part in science. On the contrary, the more Intelligent Design is argued, the more scientific it proves to be. In the book Darwin’s Black Box (Behe) the author contends that “Darwin’s response is no longer adequate because of scientific advances that have occurred since Darwin’s death”. Thus, the Theory of Evolution deserves to be revisited. It wasn’t until after his (Darwin’s) death those life forms could be inspected on a molecular level. Therefore, it would also be “scientific” to re-evaluate the Intelligent Design concept on a scientific level since it has been determined “scientifically” that “even in their most basic forms, various organisms are so complex that they...
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...There’s No Room: A look at public schools’ design for science and evolution Nicole McCormick PHI103: Informal Logic (GSK1216H) Instructor Micheal Pelt May 21, 2012 The 1987 Supreme Court ruling on the case of Edward v Aguillard, struck down a Louisiana Law requiring “balanced treatment” between “creation science” and evolution. The Supreme Court found “creation science” to be unconstitutional, a statute that forbade teaching evolution unless “creation science” was also taught. Edward v Aguillard made it clear you cannot teach creation science alongside evolution (Brown, Feb2012). This argument of if evolution should be taught in public schools has waged on for decades, and as long as some continue to believe in intelligent design while others in evolution, it is a battle that will no doubt continue on, with unnatural selections for some. Intelligent design is primarily a religious belief and not a scientific tenet, which forms the basis for why it should not be taught in public school science courses. This essay will discuss how evolution in public school science classrooms serves best with the national science curriculum, and how theories of creationism and intelligent design (ID), try as they may, have no place in public science classrooms. Research will begin with data that includes the said appropriateness of evolution, and how the study of evolution in school is in line with the teachings of biological science. Next, what will be considered are the creationist...
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...Intelligent Design is religion disguised as science, and as such, should not be taught in our public schools. Introduction The town of Dover, PA looks like any other small towns in central Pennsylvania, but in October 2004 when the local school board proposed a slight alteration to the high school biology curriculum a fault line erupted between those who think of intelligent design as science and something that should be taught alongside evolution, and those who think of it as religion disguised as science. As a science teacher myself, I was very interested in this subject, and how school districts nationwide are pushing initiatives recently to put intelligent design in their biology classes. These school districts are struggling with the dilemma of whether or not to teach creationism as an alternative view to evolution theory. If, as many scientific creationists believe, God's message is important in defining the content, aims, and conditions of educational practice, then creationism does belong in the classroom. However, those who propose that creationism is not science, and that "creation science" is a misnomer, are opposed to the intervention of religion into the public educational program; after all, public educational programs should be separate from concerns of the church. The Scientific...
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...3 RUNNING HEAD: INTELLIGENT DESIGN Intelligent Design Paper James L. Jones CRJ 311 Forensics Mrs. Rebecca Nieman Nov 17, 2012 Good evening everyone. My name is Mr. James Jones the superintendent of the El Paso County school district and the topic that I will be discussing in today’s speech is the concern of thought of being intelligent design into the school system. The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist religious campaign for broad social, academic and political change to promote and support the idea of intelligent design, which asserts that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not a possibly undirected process such as natural selection. Its chief activities are a campaign to promote public awareness of this concept, the lobbying of policymakers to include its teaching in high school science classes, and legal action, either to defend such teaching or to remove barriers otherwise preventing it. The movement arose out of the previous Christian fundamentalist and evangelistic creation science movement in the United States, and is driven by a small group of proponents. The overall goal of the intelligent design movement is to overthrow materialism and atheism. Its proponents believe that society has suffered devastating cultural consequences from adopting materialism and that science is the cause of the decay into materialism because it seeks only natural explanations, and is therefore atheistic...
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...Charles Darwin: Darwinian Evolution 7/24/11 Professor A. Wagners SCIE 200 Assignment 4-1 Position Paper 4 Can a person believe in both, Darwinism and religion, at the same time? “We can do so only if we do not confuse evolutionary biology with a natural science and atheistic materialism,” (Junghyung, 2011). Darwin’s Theory of Evolution has been a widespread topic of disagreement for many decades. When his theory was first introduced in the mid 1800s there was controversy between religion and science. At the time Darwin’s theory was mainstreamed most Europeans were still firm in their belief of religion and that the earth was created in seven days by a divine being as described in the bible. “Darwin worked on his theory for 20 years. After learning that another naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, had developed similar ideas, the two made a joint announcement of their discovery in 1858. In 1859 Darwin published 'On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection',” (bbc.co.uk). “The book was extremely controversial, because the logical extension of Darwin's theory was that homo sapiens was simply another form of animal. It made it seem possible that even people might just have evolved - quite possibly from apes - and destroyed the prevailing orthodoxy on how the world was created. Darwin was vehemently attacked, particularly by the Church. However, his ideas soon gained currency and have become the new orthodoxy,” (bbc.co.uk). Darwin’s theory that everything indeed evolved...
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...Monster (FSM) is the deity of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Pastafarianism (a portmanteau of pasta and Rastafarian), a movement that promotes a light-hearted view of religion and opposes the teaching of intelligent design and creationism in public schools.[3] Although adherents describe Pastafarianism as a genuine religion,[3] it is generally seen by the media as a parody religion.[4][5] The "Flying Spaghetti Monster" was first described in a satirical open letter written by Bobby Henderson in 2005 to protest the Kansas State Board of Education decision to permit teaching intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in public school science classes.[6] In that letter, Henderson satirized creationism by professing his belief that whenever a scientist carbon-dates an object, a supernatural creator that closely resembles spaghetti and meatballs is there "changing the results with His Noodly Appendage". Henderson argued that his beliefs were just as valid as intelligent design, and called for equal time in science classrooms alongside intelligent design and evolution.[7] After Henderson published the letter on his website, the Flying Spaghetti Monster rapidly became an Internet phenomenon and a symbol of opposition to the teaching of intelligent design in public schools.[8] Pastafarian tenets (generally satires of creationism) are presented both on Henderson's Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster website, where he is described as "prophet", and in The Gospel...
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...Developing Thinking Skills Intelligent Design vs. Evolution Today science does not understand how life originated. The better science understands the nature of the problems associated with the origin of life the more mysterious life’s origin becomes. In the midst of arguments over evolution and intelligent design, it is amazing how many in society including the very educated, believe that scientists had already created life in the laboratory. No such thing has ever happened. All that scientists have done is genetically engineer already existing forms of life in the laboratory, and by doing this scientists have been able to produce new forms of life, but they did not produce these new life forms from non-living matter. In my opinion, even if scientists ever do produce life from non-living matter it will only be through intelligent design or planning so it still wouldn't help support any theory of life originating by evolution. Again, science cannot prove that we are here by either chance or design, but the scientific evidence can be used to support one or the other. But how will we know if expensive lawyers are being paid to make sure the experiment is never conducted? With that in mind, it is only fair that evidence supporting intelligent design be presented to students alongside of evolutionary theory. No one is being forced to believe in God so there's no real violation of separation of church and state. Why not enliven this with a student debate on contrasting...
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...I do feel that believers in Intelligent Design are capable of supporting Dr. Bawazer’s “Genetically Evolved Technology” while rejecting Darwinism. Intelligent Design is somewhat based off the existences or occurrences that have not yet been explained by man. This thought process is undoubtedly contradictory to Darwinism theories on evolution. Dr. Bawazar’s theories are based on research which, “aims to utilize droplet microfluidics to advance studies of solution-based mineralization and to develop new biomimetic materials engineering strategies… inspired by living organisms, such as bones, teeth, and seashells.” (www.youtube.com). Regardless if Dr. Bawazar’s theories on genetic evolution prove to be true in the future, I believe that “research” aspect alone is more closely rooted with Intelligent Design because there is an unknown, or from religious views a “supernatural” element involved with his process. On the other side of the spectrum, Charles Darwin’s (Darwinism) theories are engrained by the scientific process of natural selection. As Edward Wilson writes in Intelligent Evolution, natural selection “states simply that if a population of organisms contains multiple hereditary variants in some trait, and if one of these variants succeeds in contributing more offspring to the next generation than the other variants, the overall composition of the population changes, and evolution has occurred.” (The Norton Reader, pg 950). Given Darwin’s theory of natural selection...
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...William Paley’s takes on the design argument in an analogy form which in its most basic form states if a watch is complex then it must have a maker if we compare to a human eye which is more complex then it proves that an intelligent creator thus exist. His argument is logically persuasive thought Natural theology. As for David Hume’s, “Dialogues concerning Natural Religion,” contra argument he finds various flaws in Paley’s argument.(need to explain) What I established after reading these two arguments is that it is difficult to come to a conclusion about the existence of god. Paley’s and Hume’s arguments are both inductive arguments discussing the existence of an intelligent creator, god, a topic that can never be proven to be true and absolute....
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...different organism, or did God create us? During my childhood, my grandparents believed that God created everything because the bible stated that. At first, I did believe God created everything we’ve come to know, but that changed when I entered high school. My 10th grade teacher believed in evolution, which is the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth. Having two different worldviews taught to me, I began to develop my own worldview which...
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...The Design Argument is also known as the Teleological Argument coming from the Greek word ‘telos’ meaning end/purpose. It is an “a posteriori” argument (from experience) based on empirical evidence (based on the 5 senses). It is synthetic (from observation) and is inductive (there are a number of possible conclusions although one may be more probable). The Design Argument states that the universe has order, purpose, regularity and suitability for human life (Sarah Tyler). Complexities of the universe demonstrate some form of design. The design requires a designer. Therefore, for many, the designer is God of the Classical Theism (Hereafter referred to as God). This argument was first introduced by Socrates, a Greek philosopher, showing that the argument is strong as it has survived the test of time as we are still discussing it in the 21st century so the argument has merit and displays longevity. “With such signs of forethought in the design of living creatures, how can there be doubt that they are the work of choice or design” cited by Socrates. There is an early belief that there is design in the world. In the 13th century, Thomas Aquinas furthered the design argument through his book, Summa Theologica. He proposed 5 ways to prove the existence of God; one of which was the Teleological argument. For Aquinas, these arguments point to a being “that we call God”. To prove the existence of god, he used the analogy of the archer, arrow and target to show that there must be...
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...experiments, and conclusion. Intelligent design begins with the observation that intelligent agents produce complex and specified information (CSI). Design theorists hypothesize that if a natural object was designed, it will contain high levels of CSI. Scientists then perform experimental tests upon natural objects to determine if they contain complex and specified information. One easily testable form of CSI is irreducible complexity, which can be discovered by experimentally reverse-engineering biological structures to see if they require all of their parts to function. When ID researchers find irreducible complexity in biology, they conclude that such structures were designed. A creationist view of origins is just as scientific as an Evolutionist's view of naturalistic evolution. Both are origin science, not operational science. Both deal with past singularities and take a forensic approach by reconstructing a plausible scenario of the past unobserved event in the light of the evidence that remains in the present. Both use the principles of causality and analogy. Both seek an appropriate explanation of the data. Both sometimes appeal to a primary (intelligent) cause to explain the data. Archaeology posits an intelligent cause for pottery. Anthropologists do the same for ancient tools. Likewise, when creationists see the same kind of specified complexity in a simple one-cell animal, such as the first living thing is supposed to be, they too posit an intelligent cause for it. Their...
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...Growing up, I was raised in church with my father being a pastor of a church in the community. I was taught the bible and the book of Genesis. The different beliefs that were instilled in me were to believe that God created man and woman. In evolutionary or ecology classes, we are introduced to the theory of where man came from amoeba-like organisms, or even that we evolved from apes. How did life of origin arise? The components of evolution might explain how, but Creation gives a reason to believe why. Origin of life’s existence, as well as age of the earth is a question that is looked under a microscope and probed through both biblical theories, as well as scientific. Looking at difference evidence, acceptance of creation is growing even in spite of scientists trying to prove evolution. Within this paper, there will be different pieces of evidence and facts supporting each theory and there will be an argument, within my conclusion, on which theory I support. The theory of creation can be explained through various books in the bible. Creationists use the Bible as the truth for which they believe the origin of life came into existence. In bible studies and bible school, we were taught that God took clay from the ground which he shaped to a man that he called Adam. A verse in the King James Version, of the Bible, mentions “and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Then, the Lord made...
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