Monday's Guardian reported that numerous schools in the UK are using Creationist teaching materials that have been condemned by the government as "not appropriate to support the science curriculum". The packs promote an alternative theory to evolutionary theory which is known as intelligent design.
What is Intelligent Design?
The theory of intelligent design claims that life is so complex that it must have been designed by a higher intelligence and not by a system as random as Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection. It differs from Creationism in that it considers the world to be billions of years old, rather than a youthful 6000 years old using a biblically derived age. The intelligent design theory also varies as it considers that small changes have over evolutionary time, and also it never specifies who the creator is.
Why is this theory being argued?
The ID theory allows for the possibility of a guiding force in evolution which resonates better with religious teachings. Critics say that ID is a disguise for creationism. The current Pope has shown signs of being favourable to the ID argument and was quoted in his inaugral sermon of his pontificate, saying: "We are not the accidental product, without meaning, of evolution."
It has been argued that ID has no basis in fact therefore it is more a philosophy than a science. It lacks a theoretical base from which hypotheses can be tested and also has not shown any contributions to other fields of study such as agriculture, plant science, geology, which Darwin's theories do.
Intelligent Design and Spaghetti Monsters
Bobby Henderson, US physics graduate, became so frustrated with continued support for the Intelligent Design theory that he developed a satirical "religion" called Flying Spaghetti Monsterism and demanded that science lessons should reflect the beliefs of FSM devotees as well of those of ID'ists and Evolutionists.
He asked that lessons be split three-ways:
"One third time for intelligent design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence." His point being that the idea of a Flying Spaghetti Monster is every bit as rational a concept as intelligent design.
