unIntelligent Design Devolves

I am sick and tired of people lying! Intelligent Design is not science!! I have to admit that when I was younger, I was on the other side of this argument. I used to think that Evolution and Creationism were both valid theories of origins. What changed? I learned what it means to be a scientific theory, and I learned that many of the critiques I had been taught about Evolution were lies at best and out right forgeries at worse.

I was devastated when I learned that many of the counterpoints to Evolution had been invented just to sell books and had absolutely no basis in fact, but life goes on. I still believe in God, but I now know the difference between a philosophy and a theory

philosophy

1. A comprehensive system of belief that is, generally, divided into five major subtopics: Logic; Metaphysics; Epistemology; Ethics; Politics; and Esthetics

2. A general principle (usually moral) (Wiktionary)

Compare that to:

theory (plural: theories)

1. An unproven conjecture.
   I have a theory about who broke into the school last night, but it's just a theory.

2. An expectation of what should happen, barring unforeseen circumstances.
   So we'll be there in three hours? - That's the theory.

3. (science) A coherent statement or set of statements that attempts to explain observed phenomena, which has testable implications, and which is well tested and widely accepted as true.
   There is now a well-developed theory of electrical charge.

4. (mathematics, uncountable) A field of study attempting to exhaustively describe a particular class of constructs.
   Knot theory classifies the mappings of a circle into 3-space.

5. (logic) A set of axioms, together with all statements derivable from them.
   A theory is consistent if it has a model (Wiktionary).

Proponents of Intelligent Design try to confuse the common definition of a Theory with the scientific definition. I am glad to see that the court at least had a dictionary.

DOVER, PENNSYLVANIA -- Dover's school policy of presenting “intelligent design” as an alternative to evolution was officially relegated to the history books Tuesday night (Chicago Tribune).

If you are in Kansas, there is going to be a forum on the topic:

Rothschild and Stephen G. Harvey, the other plaintiff attorney, both of the firm Pepper Hamilton LLP, are slated to visit Lawrence on Jan. 28 for “Intelligent Design, Kansas Science Education, and the Law,” a forum focusing on the educational and legal ramifications of the Dover decision and what significance the ruling may hold for Kansans (Lawrence Journal- World).

Be smart and happy, and keep science and religion at arms length from one another.