Where's the intelligence?

I am reading Esther Kaplan’s book, With God on Their Side. I recommend it highly. You will be absolutely amazed at just how far the fundamentalists have infiltrated the corridors of power. Far more than you would ever have imagined even if you have been following the history of the conservative Christian takeover of our government. To say that it is frightening is a terrible understatement. That the Park Department is now selling a book that claims the Grand Canyon was formed by the flood and only a relatively short time ago is just the tip of the iceberg. This is part of what has now become the fundamentalists’ attempt to foist the concept of “Intelligent Design” on our schools as an antidote to the theory of evolution. That this is simply creationism redefined is so obvious that presumably it will not get very far. However, it does raise what I believe is a most interesting question. Where is the intelligence in Intelligent Design?

As I understand it the argument of Intelligent Design has basically to do with the fact that there are some gaps in the evolutionary record. That is, the steps from one place to another are not at the moment all complete. There are, in short, “missing links.” This allows them to argue that there must have been some kind of “intelligent designer” (a god or some other form of supernatural being or beings, perhaps from another solar system or whatever that intervened to make things as they are). And all of this happened in the fairly recent past (no more than 10,000 years ago). As there are no facts whatsoever to support this fantasy it remains, of course, no more than a religious faith that can in no way be proven, demonstrated, or otherwise validated. This belief also claims that people were created not very long ago and in their present form (never mind the fossil record, genetics, geological time, the history of science, or whatever).

The most interesting part of this belief system, to me at least, is that it assumes humans are the absolute apex of creation and were meant to have dominion over the earth and all the other creatures on it. Many, if not most of these believers, also believe in “the great chain of being,” in which all creatures must have their proper place with, of course, white anglo-saxons at the very top. One of the more interesting things about this is that it doesn’t even matter if you believe one race is inferior to another, the basic problem remains. That is, if this is a result of intelligent design, how do you explain that the human species, or at least the so-called best representatives of it, have been historically and continue to be, the most predatory, rapacious, short-sighted, destructive, murderous, humanicidal maniacs on the planet? The history of the human species is a history of nothing but one war after another, the crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, Revolutionary and civil wars, torture, rape, pillaging, unbelievable cruelties perpetrated even on innocent women and children, genocides, and savagery even beyond belief. If you don’t believe me read the historical record for yourself. We are also a species who almost uniquely systematically destroys our own nest and the air, water, and land around it. So, if this is a result of intelligent design, the designer whomever or whatever, must have been the greatest sadist of all time. Oh, but I forgot, this all came about because of our illicit taste for apples. Personally, I believe it’s all Clinton’s fault, just like everything else. I would like to think this is funny. But it’s not.