Intelligent Design and the rest of the Creationist camp should only be referred to as anti-evolutionists, because that is essentially what they are. It is little more than religion cloaked in scientific jargon and it should be treated as such.
Unfortunately the proponents of ID have grown more and more sophisticated. They primarily target the uneducated masses and they are not at all afraid to just make stuff up to support their cause. Let me share just a few of the lies I have personally heard or read via the creationist camp.
Creationists love to tell people that our landing on the moon proves the earth is only about 6,000 years old. Those creationists with proper levels of indoctrination will inform you that according to NASA's own studies, the dust on the moon should have been about a hundred feet deep. It turned out it was just inches!
That story is a sneaky one. It contains a kernal of truth. Early NASA estimates based on studies done on Hawaiian Volcanoes did predict about a hundred feet of lunar dust. However, those preliminary findings were later (Pre 1969, something like 1965) found to be based on faulty data. The final predictions more accurately matched the actual findings.
The next one I'll share with you also involves NASA. You will be told that NASA computers were recreating the past or some such nonsense and that they discovered that 24 hours were missing!
This is just completely made up. There's not a shred of fact to it. And, I would think, any rational human would ask, "How the hell would a computer 'discover' that 24 hours are missing?" Of course such questions are either ignored or are given such a lengthy and complex response that you forget what the original question was.
And finally, the one I hear the most is that Charles Darwin recanted his own theory on his deathbed! That's right, even Charle's Darwin is a Creationist!
This one was started by a relative of Darwin's if I recall correctly. There are no records that Charle's Darwin did anything of the sort.
These are just a few examples I can think of off the top of my head. There are tons more. And like all creationist anti-evolution propaganda it is not aimed at informing you or educating you, its only real aim is to convince you that evolution is false and that creationism is true.
One of the best books I've read on the subject is The Tower of Babel: The Case Against the New Creationism" by Robert Pennock. He goes through the usual motions of explaining what Evolution is and is not (something creationists never seem to get). Then he goes through a nice little history of the creationists movement (largely an American phenomena). But what he does that I so love is that he shows the absurdity of the creation movement by applying their standards to the evolution of langauge.
Today I read an article from the Onion in a similar vein. It's satire for sure, but it speaks volumes. It gives us a glimpse into a world in which the anti-evolution gang decide that the theory of gravity isn't really true either! If they can attack one theory, why not others? Where do draw the line and tell them to leave it in their homes or churches? Enjoy the story from the Onion.
From the Onion:
Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory August 17, 2005 Issue 41•33 KANSAS CITY, KS—As the debate over the teaching of evolution in public schools continues, a new controversy over the science curriculum arose Monday in this embattled Midwestern state. Scientists from the Evangelical Center For Faith-Based Reasoning are now asserting that the long-held "theory of gravity" is flawed, and they have responded to it with a new theory of Intelligent Falling. Enlarge Image Rev. Gabriel Burdett (left) explains Intelligent Falling. "Things fall not because they are acted upon by some gravitational force, but because a higher intelligence, 'God' if you will, is pushing them down," said Gabriel Burdett, who holds degrees in education, applied Scripture, and physics from Oral Roberts University. Burdett added: "Gravity—which is taught to our children as a law—is founded on great gaps in understanding. The laws predict the mutual force between all bodies of mass, but they cannot explain that force. Isaac Newton himself said, 'I suspect that my theories may all depend upon a force for which philosophers have searched all of nature in vain.' Of course, he is alluding to a higher power." Founded in 1987, the ECFR is the world's leading institution of evangelical physics, a branch of physics based on literal interpretation of the Bible. According to the ECFR paper published simultaneously this week in the International Journal Of Science and the adolescent magazine God's Word For Teens!, there are many phenomena that cannot be explained by secular gravity alone, including such mysteries as how angels fly, how Jesus ascended into Heaven, and how Satan fell when cast out of Paradise. The ECFR, in conjunction with the Christian Coalition and other Christian conservative action groups, is calling for public-school curriculums to give equal time to the Intelligent Falling theory. They insist they are not asking that the theory of gravity be banned from schools, but only that students be offered both sides of the issue "so they can make an informed decision." "We just want the best possible education for Kansas' kids," Burdett said. Proponents of Intelligent Falling assert that the different theories used by secular physicists to explain gravity are not internally consistent. Even critics of Intelligent Falling admit that Einstein's ideas about gravity are mathematically irreconcilable with quantum mechanics. This fact, Intelligent Falling proponents say, proves that gravity is a theory in crisis. "Let's take a look at the evidence," said ECFR senior fellow Gregory Lunsden."In Matthew 15:14, Jesus says, 'And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.' He says nothing about some gravity making them fall—just that they will fall. Then, in Job 5:7, we read, 'But mankind is born to trouble, as surely as sparks fly upwards.' If gravity is pulling everything down, why do the sparks fly upwards with great surety? This clearly indicates that a conscious intelligence governs all falling." Critics of Intelligent Falling point out that gravity is a provable law based on empirical observations of natural phenomena. Evangelical physicists, however, insist that there is no conflict between Newton's mathematics and Holy Scripture. "Closed-minded gravitists cannot find a way to make Einstein's general relativity match up with the subatomic quantum world," said Dr. Ellen Carson, a leading Intelligent Falling expert known for her work with the Kansan Youth Ministry. "They've been trying to do it for the better part of a century now, and despite all their empirical observation and carefully compiled data, they still don't know how." "Traditional scientists admit that they cannot explain how gravitation is supposed to work," Carson said. "What the gravity-agenda scientists need to realize is that 'gravity waves' and 'gravitons' are just secular words for 'God can do whatever He wants.'" Some evangelical physicists propose that Intelligent Falling provides an elegant solution to the central problem of modern physics. "Anti-falling physicists have been theorizing for decades about the 'electromagnetic force,' the 'weak nuclear force,' the 'strong nuclear force,' and so-called 'force of gravity,'" Burdett said. "And they tilt their findings toward trying to unite them into one force. But readers of the Bible have already known for millennia what this one, unified force is: His name is Jesus.".
