Intelligent Design Helpful To Show Diversity Of Theories To Students

By Luke Deming

In 2005, the Kitzmiller vs. Dover Area School District court case in Louisiana questioned the place of the scientific theory Intelligent Design in American schools.  The school board required a message be read in science classes  indicating there are flaws in the Theory of Evolution and a book advocating Intelligent Design is available for students who want to read it. Students were also encouraged to keep an open mind with scientific theories. Why should a school district be sued over a million dollars because it gave an alternative to Evolution and told students to keep an open mind? The school board was only informing students about Intelligent Design – the theory was not taught in class, it wasn’t advanced as a better theory than Evolution, and students were not told to stop believing in Evolution.

The controversy over teaching Intelligent Design (often linked with Creationism) in public schools has created tension between students, parents, school boards, teachers and scientists. Intelligent Design is the idea that some intelligent cause (usually a supernatural being) created life on Earth, instead of life developing through indirect evolutionary processes such as natural selection. 

Intelligent Design has typically been tied to religion and, as a result, has not been taught in public schools. While Evolution has proven to be a solid theory backed by decades of brilliant research, Intelligent Design also has a place being taught in American schools.  

Just to clarify, I am not a Christian, I have many problems with organized religion and I don’t consider myself religious. But, if American schools want to compete with the world, its students can’t be limited. The curriculum needs to be expanded to have the most complete and thorough education in the world. That starts with teaching theories that aren’t in textbooks but have support from legitimate scientists, such as Intelligent Design.

In a 2004 Gallup Poll, 35 percent of Americans believed that Darwin’s Theory of Evolution was well supported with evidence. It is clear that more educated people are more likely to believe in Evolution because 52 percent of college graduates believe Evolution is well supported by evidence.  But 45 percent of Americans believe that a god created human beings in their present form (this belief denies the evolving process taught in schools). Is it that Americans are dumb and unwilling to believe the Theory of Evolution that has an overwhelming consensus in the scientific community?  Is it that Americans haven’t bought into Evolution because of scientific or religious beliefs? Or could it be that they are curious to learn more about the creation of the Earth so they can have a firm belief?

Detractors of Intelligent Design theory often rely heavily on emotional arguments – for example, “it’s religion with science involved.” Intelligent Design doesn’t claim any religious god as creator of the universe, it doesn’t require repentance of sins, it doesn’t say people are going to heaven or hell and it doesn’t use any religious text. It merely makes the argument that life on Earth might have been created by an intelligent force instead of random chance. While Intelligent Design may seem similar to religion, it is by no means a religion or a religious scientific theory. The separation of church and state has no effect on the theory because it’s not a religion.  

Others claim that since Intelligent Design’s backers usually are Christians, it is simply Christianity repackaged. Judging a theory by its supporters is unscientific and wrong. Intelligent Design needs to be considered on its own merits if we are going to determine if it is a religious scientific theory. Further, many supporters of Intelligent Design aren’t Christians – this includes atheists who believe a superior alien race created the universe (odd, yet probable considering the enormity of the universe – good chance mathematically there is a brilliant race out there).

Intelligent Design also is attacked for finding flaws or gaps with Evolution. But American children should be educated on these gaps and flaws. 

While Evolution is a solid theory, its flaws keep it from being perfect. Dating methods that are supposed to support Evolution often produce inconsistent results and require significant assumptions. Also, fossil records haven’t produced the millions of missing links it predicts. But just because Intelligent Design backers refute Evolution doesn’t mean that Evolution backers shouldn’t refute Intelligent Design. 

Evolution supporters should point out that Intelligent Design hasn’t been properly researched, and its mathematical formulas are often assumed or subjective.

Every scientific theory has flaws, gaps and holes in it. While it is important to know the strengths of a theory, recognizing its weaknesses is the next step to truly understanding it. 

Teaching children scientific theories and not exposing their flaws and gaps is not just an error of education, it is blatantly misinforming them. By refusing to consider anything but Evolution, and not pointing out flaws in Evolution, we are limiting ourselves on finding out how life on Earth was created, and we are stunting our children from learning about all the possibilities.