Religion is enjoying a world-wide Renaissance, but while the demise of the medieval world heralded an upsurge in art, literature and science, this latter day Renaissance is a very different beast. To it, science is a mortal enemy. Science offers an alternative path to truth, to fill in the gaps once occupied by an almighty god. It shows contempt for authority, demanding evidence and argument to back its assertions. There is no room for blind faith in a world of experts and peer reviews.
For four hundred years the European god has been in retreat in the face of this onslaught. Now the faithful are fighting back, and in the vanguard is the theory of Intelligent Design. Intelligent Design, or I.D., postulates that there are aspects of nature, particularly in biochemistry, which have so many interdependent parts, that they could not have evolved gradually. The only possible alternative is the intervention of an anonymous, benevolent, designer.
Except of course that the designer is not anonymous. We all know exactly who he’s meant to be. The theory, and its chief protagonists, the Seattle based Discovery Institute, exist for one reason and one reason alone: to get the god of Abraham back into American schools, thus subverting the ruling of the Supreme Court and the American constitution. They failed with simple creationism, now they’re trying a more subtle approach.
I.D. pretends to be a scientific theory. With typical religious dishonesty, there is no mention of their god. It uses the language of science, christening itself a “theory”. It employs otherwise eminent biologists to find intricate mechanisms in nature whose evolution is poorly understood. It vilifies its detractors, portraying itself as a victim for daring to utter scientific heresy – the champion of the unorthodox. Then it demands equal billing in school science classes: “All we ask is that children be allowed to hear both sides of the argument”.
Perhaps I.D. should be taught in science classes? As one commentator on the Newsline discussion forum said, it would take about five minutes to dismiss; to show that, once you abandon investigation and cause, you abandon science. The rest of the semester can then be spent on real science. But the I.D. zealots will not stop there. Give them a wedge in the science curriculum and it won’t be long before they demand more. In a country where the science curriculum is decided by popular vote, there is everything to play for. In a democracy, it is not only human institutions which must be governed by the will of the majority, but the very universe itself.
Religions in the U.K. have no such fiddly little problems to contend with. Here, old fashioned creationism can be taught with government blessing and state funding. Politicians have realised that most voters have little concern for the niceties of the science curriculum. Faith groups, on the other hand, can be persuaded to vote en-masse. All of a sudden, it has become respectable to wear a belief in magic on your sleeve. From Bush to Blair to Putin, leaders of every political colour are realising that believers have votes. It is said that in the U.S. it is possible to have a black president, a woman president, even a gay president, but if you are an atheist then forget it. Surely such a state of affairs could never happen here? Yet we learn only this week that Robin Cook, one of the most intellectually admired and principled members of Tony Blair’s ex-ministers, felt himself unable to join the National Secular Society for fear that it would damage his political career.
And therein lies the danger. Our religious leaders no longer wear vestments and mitres, instead they sit around the cabinet table. They do not preach damnation or proscription for those who fail to conform - those who do not share their enthusiasm for blind faith, any faith, are quietly sidelined. What use are voters who do not believe what they are told - who do not accept the authority of their religious superiors? And for that last bastion of rationality, science, they have the Theory of Intelligent Design.
Peter Hearty (19 Aug 05) – NSS - Newsline