The intelligent-design (ID) movement [. . .] points to evidence that the world didn't just come together by lucky accident. ID backers have marshaled a lot of arguments [. . .] and a growing number of legislators and school boards are interested in having those arguments taught in school. Darwinists are freaking out at the prospect, as you can tell by perusing many periodicals and Web sites: They say it amounts to teaching “creationism in disguise” or “creationism lite” — which, to them, is pretty much the ultimate insult.

It's also pretty plainly false. ID advocates contend only that some intelligent force was at work, and they don't attempt to name that force in their work.

Creationists, citing the Bible's authority, take positions on when the world was made, how long it took to make, and Who made it. Moreover, they hold that the answers to all those questions are vital, since they address key theological issues (like the scriptural statement that there was no death in the world before sin), and since ID alone could be compatible with many religions. Those are hardly minor matters. Whatever you think on these issues, you can't say ID and creationism are fundamentally identical. The most you might say is that they're both theistic.

In theory, ID wouldn't even have to be theistic; it leaves room for theories that (for example) technologically advanced aliens guided the development of life on earth. But in practice, ID is widely understood to imply some deity at work as the most likely explanation.

After 3 Billion Miles, Craft Returns Sunday Bearing Cosmic Dust Older Than the Sun

In a blaze across the night sky, it should be a spectacular homecoming at the end of a very, very long journey.

After covering 2.88 billion miles over seven years, the Stardust spacecraft is nearing home with its minute but precious cargo: samples of what are believed to be the oldest materials in the solar system.

Tucked away in what looks like a giant fly swatter of a collector is dust swooped up from a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 and an accumulation of particles picked up in three circuits of the Sun.

“This has been a fantastic opportunity to collect the most primitive material in the solar system,” said Donald Brownlee of the University of Washington, the principal investigator for the mission. “We fully expect some of the comet particles to be older than the Sun.”

Comets, icy bodies that normally inhabit a region near Pluto's orbit, are made of material many scientists believe is virtually unchanged since the Sun and the planets formed about 4.6 billion years ago.

Studying comets not only provides clues to how the solar system was created but could also help explain how certain materials and conditions combined to form life, researchers said.

Kentucky Academy of Science Calls for Rejection of Attempts To Teach ‘Intelligent Design’ as a Scientific Theory

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. —

During the recent Kentucky Academy of Science (KAS) Annual Meeting, members voted unanimously to oppose any attempt by legislative bodies to mandate specific content of science courses. The KAS objects to attempts to equate “scientific creationism” or “intelligent design” with evolution as a scientific explanation of events.

Because Darwin’s Theory is a theory, it is still being tested as new evidence is discovered. The Theory is not a fact. Gaps in the Theory exist for which there is no evidence. A theory is defined as a well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations.

Intelligent design is an explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin’s view. The reference book, Of Pandas and People is available for students to see if they would like to explore this view in an effort to gain an understanding of what intelligent design actually involves. As is true with any theory, students are encouraged to keep an open mind.

New evolution spat in U.S. schools goes to court

PHILADELPHIA — A new battle over teaching about
man's origins in U.S. schools goes to court for the first time next week, pitting Christian conservatives against educators and scientists in a trial viewed as the biggest test of the issue since the late 1980s.