Stumble it!Dembski invokes a Sunday School teacher
posted in Creationism by themaiden |Yes, Bill Dembski, Intelligent Design powerhouse and all around smart guy (who knows better than all the rest of science combined), has opted to let Jerry Bergman, who “teaches Sunday school at a Mennonite church in West Unity, Ohio” and who “is a former lay speaker at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Montpelier, Ohio” speak for ID. Bergman, to be fair, also teaches at Northwest State College in Archbold, Ohio.
Bergman, interestingly, starts his article in Journal Gazzette by stating precisely what ID theorists deny with oaths on their mother’s graves.
Why did the court rule against teaching intelligent design in the Dover, Pa., case? Judge Jones’ ruling was summed up by one commentator as follows: Critical analysis of evolutionism leads to intelligent design, which leads to the Creator requirement. The Creator requirement leads to religion, which leads to God. The courts have consistently ruled that the state cannot hinder or aid religion – and that teaching intelligent design aids religion.
And so Bergman undresses ID’s affair with religion. Unfortunately, he then invokes a currently popular argument– “Flew did it!”. Perhaps, this is why Dembski posted this link? He has grown tired of the mindless repetition? One can only guess.
Yes, Bergman in turn not surprisingly invokes Anthony Flew, but Flew’s example is not one I’d invoke as he seems to have fallen for some of the wretchedly bad science that creationists like to publish.
As for Johnson, I’ve not read his book. I can’t comment. If I were a betting man though, I bet his book has the same bad science at its root.
By the way, where did Dembski get his subtitle? “Think of atheists like the mafia and ID as cutting into their profits.” Such a tagline doesn’t seem to follow from Bergman’s article. It spins him as a bit rabid, and he’s not that. He’s misguided but he’s not rabid.
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