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Originally Posted by Thor
I think the biggest gripe I have with ID and the organizations trying diligently to get it into public schools is that they are aware of the great flaws of ID and that they still don't care about it. They want people to think its a science, they know its not. They want people to think there is a lot of controversy over evolution, there isn't.
They focus often on the same argument that Evolution is just a 'theory' and misuse the word since Science's definition of the word is different than the common usage in the English language.
Its that they feel the end's justify the means; that this heathen Science is hurting their beliefs the must combat it and ID is that strategy.
Its similar to the way Tobacco companies used AD agencies to attempt to convince people that there was no link between smoking and cancer. Their goal from the start was for them to convince the pubic there was a debate amongst scientists about smoking and its health effects. The goal was never to prove them right, they just wanted to give the perception of a debate over smoking, thus delaying the inevitable and getting as much profit while they could.
Much like Global Warming debate, CNN brings on 2 people, 1 that says its real and one that disagrees. Where to be more accurate and fair they should have 10 Scientists on a panel; 9 that say Global Warming is real and 1 that debates its wrong. Goal is to muddy the debates and even stir up partisanship over it, which they've done very successfully in the USA.
Evolution has withstood 150 years of peer debate/review and more importantly has a MOUNTAIN of evidence from many many fields of science; most recently Genetics.
To say Evolution is 'just a theory' is such a propaganda objective of the ID supporters. Their goal is to convince the average non science background person to think "Oh its just a Theory, so obviously it might be wrong."
Its like standing at the bottom rocky area at a huge waterfall, picking up a dry rock and saying "look here is a dry rock, your waterfall theory is wrong, there is no waterfall!"
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I would disagree that the mountain of evidence for evolution comes from what is understood today as genetics. Most of the evidence supporting evolution originates from observation, and anthropology. Modern Genetics is only recently contributing to the surmounting evidence for evolution. The reason why evolution is a theory comes from a general misunderstanding of what makes a law and what makes a theory. A law is something that governs the way the universe behaves whilst a theory is an explanation for how things in the universe behave. The law of gravity is something that is understood to exist, and is observable but little is understood about the exact underpinning of this Law. The theory of evolution on the other hand, offers great insight into the biological mechanisms of observable organisms. It however does not detail a series of mechanisms by which life will arise, It simply explains it. This pretty much clarifies the whole Theory vs. Law debate.
Religious individuals do not think science "Heathen", however ignornat individuals tend to class inanimate unthinking entites as "Heathen, Blind etc". Furthermore, whereas debates of evolution are of little consequence to the eventual governmental policy, Global warming is a much more sensitive topic. Global warming is sometihng i believe should be an issue focused keenly on. However, as things tend to go, celebrity and media alike have thrown this debate and opened it to ridicule. Fact of the matter is that global climate change is real, and it is only recently that we have learned that our actions have direct effect upon it. I believe that we should invest much into learning how to control our effect on the environment rather than plain reducing it. It is a valuable tool to control the climate of an entire planet, but we should careful tread on this ground as we risk destroying the balanced equilibrium of earth.
Finally, Evolution is a theory, it is just that. Anyone who thinks this discredits Evolution does not understand what a theory is. The theory of relativity is mostly been a proven fact (Quantum nutjobs aside). Theorys, like laws, can range from viable, supported facets of thought to trashy, relatively poorly created entities of mentally handicapped individuals. What matters in the end is our ability to discern cream from crap.