Out here in Afghanistan, I come into contact with many soldiers of differing views concerning religion, politics, etc. One subject that comes up frequently is Creation vs Evolution. Since I am a proponent of intelligent design, the conversations can get intense.
However, I generally startle people by making a bold claim. I simply tell them that even though I believe in Intelligent Design, I don’t think it can be proven. I then follow up with the statement that I don’t think evolution can be proven either. Both are accepted based on relevant evidence as interpreted by the receiver. There are actually many valid points on both sides.
What I hate is when someone sticks to one side or the other so vehemently that they start using arguments that are obviously fallible. This causes them to lose credibility with the very people they are trying to convince to their cause. As in any debate/discussion, strawman arguments and red herrings abound on both sides.
Being the stoic thinker that I am, I like to introduce both proofs and fallacies to both sides of the argument and then allow the thinking person to decide for themselves which they think is correct. As stated before, I have personally chosen intelligent design; based both on the evidences presented to me and my religious background. So, much of what I will be talking about will seem to be slanted in that direction, although I will make a genuine effort to remain unbiased, and simply discuss evidences as they appear.
Many people think that to change a hardcore evolutionist’s thinking, they simply need to throw scripture after scripture at them until they see the light. However, in my experience, many times (if not all) a hardcore evolutionist is either atheist, agnostic, or believes the Bible to be figurative rather than literal. If someone holds these viewpoints, you cannot convince them using something that they believe is false already. The only way to convince someone is to point out flaws in their reasoning.
To believe in intelligent design requires a belief in a being of greater power than humans. It does not necessarily necessitate a belief in a god, just a being or beings that have greater power than humans. If someone is adamantly opposed to this idea, they will not accept any evidence of intelligent design as adequate. However, I will be posting about the different proofs we have on both sides, and try to point out how they help one argument or the other, or hurt one argument or the other.
Keep checking back in for more posts!
- Sapper Woody
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