What strikes me most about the so-called “intelligent design” hooha is that the religious right is hiding God. Yes, of course, that’s their trick: If we don’t call God God but instead call his work “intelligent design,” then we can sneak him into curricula because the nonbelievers are just too stupid, or so goes their rationale. Nobody — save George Bush and the 700 members of the 700 Club — is buying it. The good citizens of Dover, Pa., turned out the fanatical school board members who tried this trick. And yesterday, a federal judge called it for the sham it am. An excerpt:
The citizens of the Dover area were poorly served by the members of the Board who voted for the ID Policy. It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy….
The overwhelming evidence at trial established that ID is a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism, and not a scientific theory.
And that’s the essence of what is shocking: By trying to insist that this is faux science and not religion, the religious right behind this alleged movement are denying God to sell God, lying about the Bible to drive the Bible. By trying to hide God, it is almost as if they are ashamed of him but I think he would be ashamed of them.
