Skip to main content

Intelligent Design

The debate over evolution and intelligent design often gives one the impression that the ferocity of the exchanges is due more to the supposed political and religious implications than it is to what people see in the evidence. On Intelligent Design, Micheal Behe writes:
The next claim in the argument for design is that we have no good explanation for the foundation of life that doesn't involve intelligence. Here is where thoughtful people part company. Darwinists assert that their theory can explain the appearance of design in life as the result of random mutation and natural selection acting over immense stretches of time. Some scientists, however, think the Darwinists' confidence is unjustified. They note that although natural selection can explain some aspects of biology, there are no research studies indicating that Darwinian processes can make molecular machines of the complexity we find in the cell.
Micheal Behe is a well known biochemist who takes the side of intelligent design. I have no idea if he is right or not. I suspect what he says is of value. That is, his ideas make sense to me. I believe in evolution but I do not think evolution is a proof for atheism, and it is certainly not a proof for Rationalism (if our minds are the result of a natural machine, how can we trust them?). I try to keep an open mind in this debate and to watch for writers and thinkers engaged in curve fitting in an effort to keep their politics or religion afloat. I note than if Behe is right we might have a solution to the regression argument. This seems to be a real problem for some. Resistance to Intelligent Design seems to arise because people chafe against the idea that they are beholden to anything or anyone. They seriously resent its implied teleology, which suggests that designed things have purposes, and that some uses of the designed object are "correct." They view this as an attack on freedom, although it is very hard to see how a mechanized naturalism can be the foundation of the kind of freedom they seek. Check out Behe. If nothing else, it's good to hear from the other side. Behe is not foaming at the mouth over creation in six days.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mirror of the just man

Ecce Homo I haven't done a quote from Pope Ratzinger's Introduction to Chistianty in a while and even though I have finished the book there are still one or two passages I want to share, including - perhaps even especially - this one. When I first began to look over what Christianity teaches, to look at the gospel story and to try penetrate why it has been so compelling to so many for so long, this was one of the things that leapt out at me. I was happy to see our Pope confirm it. Expanding on the Apostles Creed where it says "... suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried," Ratzinger writes: The fact that when the perfectly just man appeared he was crucified, delivered up by justice to death, tells us pitilessly who man is: Thou art such, man, that thou canst not bear the just man - that he who simply loves becomes a fool, a scourged criminal, an outcast. Thou art such because, unjust thyself, thou dost always need the injustice of the n...
1 comment
Read more

Last minute christmas suggestions

Suggestions fror the coming Christmas season: Loreena McKennit , Songs for the Season . Even though McKennit has not released an album in something like a decade, I've only just discovered her and she's amazing. This little EP has only five songs on it and Canadians can pick it up on iTunes for about $4 and change. Amazon wants ten US bucks... Richard Proulx and the Cathedral Singers, Catholic Latin Classics . It's not a Christmas album per se, but it'll sound terrific. Magnificat . This is a really nice daily missal. Fourteen issues a year include two special editions for Holy week and Christmas. Each issue has all of the masses for each day of the month, and a couple of features about historical artworks, poems, and faith issues. These are really nice and I'm glad my wife has deemed me worthy of one.
Post a Comment
Read more

Redemptionis Sacramentum

Thank you to Rick and Kristina and others who commented on my post about our parish's liturgical meeting this past weekend, and to Tony , who sent a very supportive e-mail. Rick and Kristina pointed me towards a document called Redemptionis Sacramentum , which will be quite helpful, I think. Looking back at the Easter mime incident, for example, I can see issues with Chapter 3, sections 58 to 63. A summary of the document can be found here .
Post a Comment
Read more