Intelligent Design Part 2

When I got back to San Francsico I picked up my mail. There it was again. On the cover of Time magazine: Evolution Wars. But I want to take this slow for a variety of reasons, so I am going to go back to a narrative version and then finish more as a journalist.
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One thing was clear after that dinner, they were gonna talk about it. Mac saw that so clearly that he immediately left to take a nap.

But he later confessed to me he was still ruminating about it, although he said he was sure that just thinking about it would cause trouble for him down the way...perhaps something not escapable by either fire of stilt-walking.

He complained that he had many doubts about the theory of evolution as he did the cacophony of creation myths and theories. He confessed he thought there was severe category mixing going on...oh and it was all far too politically charged.

The latter I understood because while I am utterly appalled and daily dismayed by George Bush's actions and words, I couldn't yet find a way to tag him on this one.

And I wanted to...real bad.

But what real harm could come from students being exposed to a whole pluralistic view of the Earth? It could lead to open debate and actually make them engage their brains. Of course, a scientific view would prevail because it is, er, science.

Later TMK would make the serious point of deliniating science from theology and that science is about observation and demonstrating through replication.

But who was there to observe first life, or first consciousness? Can we replicate the core issues involved here?

Because science can only guess at what may have happened 1.5 billion years ago, doesn't that leave open the door for discussion given that Darwinism is a theory and only 150 years old at that?

And why are the scientists so rabidly afraid of such discussion? We will return to this later because as sketchy as some Creationists are, some Evolutionists are just as doctrinaire and that makes little sense in a random universe of pure chance.

That and ID apparently does NOT require you be theistic or a Creationist. That surprised me a great deal until I remembered that I once wrote that Atheists should be employed at the Vatican. But that is another story altogether.
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After a glorious dinner of gourmet pizza by MM, caesar salad and three very nice Bordeaux's (er, for the whole table) the campfire was lighted, dishes done (Mac had somehow dodged dish duty because of some nasty deep-fried fingers from the night before), and the kids settled in for the night.

We sat around the campfire when I saw FM settle back and say "I just don't get it! What is up with this 'Intelligent design' nonsense?"

I watched Mac closely. His eyes rolled back in his head, then he took a sip of wine (or was it a gulp?), smiled and was silent.

Possessing no commitment to any view can be terribly helpful. One can always try out one small lifeboat and see how it feels, but skip over a few if it starts taking on water. It's an enviable position.

I was just an observer, a guest, so I kept my yapper shut.

I did however, an hour later, decide to do this blog and open it up your reflective thought and arguments. While this group of passionate people were able to argue for their views and actually listen, my gut told me that was not gonna be the norm around America and we have...sigh...one more thing to divide us (two wars, class struggle, a culture war and a huge political divide are apparentlty not enough).

I chalked up their ability to hang with each other in deep disagreement to two things. They seem to really love and respect each other, and they are...all of them...Democrats.

Which is an irony all in itself..but I am commenting too much. Let's get back Loretta!
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They sat around the campfire at the conversation grew. JK had already given some good background information to FM. Mac had finished his Bond book where the evil Drax had used his own ID to try and destroy London, but instead had been demised by his own foul plan.

Others weighed in as they could, most notably RML, DM, HK and HM

"What do you think Mac?" I asked at one point. "I don't think they have enough Bond books around here" he said.

"You are truly the shallowest man I know," I said. "But nice party."

But then his sister, MM came around and joined the discussion. A passionate young woman, she directly engaged TMK in discussion and off to the races they went.

It's hard to describe wht happened for the next three hours, but it was kinda like watching the Olympics where there are many events all going on at once, some very similar, others not. So at the end all I can give you are some highlights and then I shall invite the others who were there to add their own highlights because, well it was late, I was not taking notes, and there was a lot of beer involved.
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Highlights! next...