Thanks to Steve Crawford and Dave Bradbury for their thoughtful, stimulating
posts. Great additions to the list!! It is true that ID was started by
theists. However I suspect it will appeal to agnostics, or anyone else who
considers the scientific evidence unconvincing for random mutation and
natural selection. (Agnostics are comfortable with unknowns and
undecidables.) Most IDs state repeatedly that they do not necessarily
oppose "evolution", but rather they question Darwinism (RM&NS) as an
explanation of evolution. My own skepticism of RM&NS is not due to any
philosophical conflict, but rather that I don't see RM&NS as supported by the
evidence.
RM&NS specifically denies the possible existence of teleology. Over the
past century many people have somehow managed to reconcile their theism to
this belief in a of lack of teleology in nature, and if ID becomes a widely
accepted concept, I suspect atheists will similarly manage to reconcile their
beliefs to ID. Atheists can call it something like "natural organization".
Kauffman calls it "order for free". ID does not specifically deny any
particular philosophy or religious belief. It merely states that life is
obviously the result of a complex design and not the result of random
processes - and could possibly include teleology.
Bertvan
http://members.aol.com/bertvan
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