Letter: Intelligent design is a setback to modern thinking

Monday, Sept. 12, 2005 | 9:09 a.m.

When an object falls, the force of gravity causes it. The scientific reasoning that explains this phenomenon is called the theory of gravity as propounded by Newton. Gravity is a fact. What Newton attempted to do by his theory of gravity was to explain the phenomenon of why and how objects fall.

Likewise, the debate concerning evolution comes under the same scientific scrutiny. Evolution, like gravity, is a fact. There is no dispute that modern animals and plants have evolved from animals and plants eons ago. How and why they evolved is the subject of Darwin's theory of evolution by means of natural selection. Is Darwin's theory the best answer to the evolutionary process? We can find out by using the scientific method and prove the truth or falsity of his theory.

The opponents to Darwin's theory, instead of scientifically analyzing Darwin's information and exposing the falsity of his theory, have set forth the proposition that the world was created by intelligent design in which no evolution has occurred. The concept of intelligent design, however, is unscientific. How can you prove or disprove the existence of God in a lab experiment?

In the time where anti-intellectualism is spreading across America under the guise of promoting intelligent design at the expense of the scientific inquiry in our public schools, it is no wonder that American students are lagging behind the rest of the world in math and science.

In the ancient world, people would explain natural phenomenon like volcano eruptions, tidal waves and plagues as acts of the gods. Are we as Americans in the 21st century no different from the superstitious people of ancient times when we are allowing the promotion of intelligent design in our schools?

RICHARD BRATTAIN