“For centuries the church has stood by while science picked away at religion bit by bit. Debunking miracles. Training the mind to overcome the heart. Condemning religion as the opiate of the masses… I could not stand by while science presumed to harness the power of God himself! …What is wrong with the admission that something exists beyond our understanding? The day science substantiates God in a lab is the day people stop needing faith… Science, by definition, is soulless.”

- Angels & Demons

Recently the issue of whether or not teaching intelligent design in schools alongside evolutionary theory has been highly controversial in the United States. Many Christians feel strongly that the two are equally valid and should both be taught in equal light. Intelligent design is the idea of creationism; that God created all things and people in all their complexity. Evolutionary theory is derived from Charles Darwin’s “Origin of Species” which introduces the idea that life evolved through natural selection based on ability for survival (“survival of the fittest”). Unlike intelligent design, which is seen by many as blind and outdated, evolutionary theory has founding in complete scientific fact. This makes it appealing to the people of today because we are more prone to accept the word of science than follow the word of religion.

Dating back to the ancient philosophers, thinkers, Christians, followers of God, scientists and biologists have argued about how design plays into evolution, if at all. Two professors of science, Lawrence Krauss and Michael Behe, discussed the issue of whether or not intelligent design should be taught alongside evolution in public schools for a news program. Behe argues that during Darwin’s time, people were not fully aware of the depth and complexity that is the foundation of evolution. As he says, “Biology is just filled with terms that imply design,” and that the complexity of molecular structure may well be a part of intelligent design. So, in following, intelligent design should be taught in public school alongside evolution. Krauss, however, feels strongly that most people are using intelligent design as an excuse for something they can’t understand in terms of science. He doesn’t believe intelligent design should be taught alongside evolution.

I agree with Lawrence Krauss. Intelligent design is pushed upon the world without any basis in fact or discoveries – it is an excuse to account for the complexity of the universe. With modern science, is such an excuse necessary? As many have already said, intelligent design is also a way for the religious to bring God back into the classroom. Yet, as Krauss says, “the point about science is it’s neutral when it comes to God.” Science has no battle against religion. The purpose of science is to satisfy natural human curiosity and explain things religion attributes to the intervention of the divine. Religion, however, is constantly condemning science for its immoral implications.

This is not to say creationism and design should not be taught at all. There are separate classes for religion and bible studies that don’t intrude on evolution and scientific studies. But, while the idea of design is fascinating, is has no place in the theory of evolution, which is founded on fact, not faith. “It’s a very specific discipline that says let’s try and look at natural causes that might explain effects,” Krauss says of science. While intelligent design is an interesting and controversial subject, it does not fall into a scientific category and it is not a common way of thinking.

The Kansas Board of Education recently approved that intelligent design should be taught in public schools state wide. Four of the ten voters, however, remained adamant that casting doubt on Darwinism would make them the object of national ridicule.

“Authors of the highest eminence seem to be fully satisfied with the view that each species has been independently created. To my mind it accords better with what we know of the laws impressed on matter by the Creator, that the production and extinction of the past and present inhabitants of the world should have been due to secondary causes, like those determining the birth and death of the individual. When I view all beings not as special creations, but as the lineal descendants of some few beings which lived long before the first bed of the Silurian system was deposited, they seem to me to become ennobled.”

- Charles Darwin