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Manx · 11-06-2004, 04:05 PM

All beliefs are not created equal.

Yet our culture strives to present disparate beliefs as existing on equal footing. This contributes to the polarity of our nation by virtue of providing bonafides to what are essentially marginalized belief systems.

Case in point: Intelligent Design.

Wired recently had a cover article on the debate between those who believe in Intelligent Design (the alternative theory of how we came to be) vs. the science of Evolution. In essence, the Wired article describes a situation where some very specific aspects of evolution are being questioned (on the micro-biological level) and the believers in Intelligent Design hold these aspects up as "evidence" that evolution is invalid and some type of higher intelligence "designed" us to be as we are (they do not attempt to define this higher intelligence, instead claiming it could be Aliens just as much as it could be God). Wired demonstrates that, while it is accurate that there are some specific flaws in the current theory of evolution, the Intelligent Design community, instead of attempting to analyze these flaws to further understand the principles of evolution, uses these flaws to actively promote an entirely different theory which dismisses evolution completely.

And this concept of equality of belief is being pursued by the Ohio State Education Board. They have provided a medium for public debate - one in which 2 representatives of the Intelligent Design community discuss the issues with 2 representatives of the scientific community. The Ohio State Education Board has equalized the debate between a small community of people with non-scientific suppositions and the large, scientific community with years and years of research and evidence.

The goal, of course, is to ensure that the children of Ohio are able to experience "the other view" of how we came to be. The result is that fringe elements of our society are provided a platform of equality of "belief".

The Wired article is long, but well worth the read: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1...ion&topic_set=

Personally, I see this active equalization of belief in other areas, such as the methods used by the media to present information without attempting to investigate the matter. For the decade and more that the "liberal" media accusation has been levied, the media has becomes more and more compliant to the goals of the conservative. In order to avoid the appearance of liberal bias, they are compelled, by virtue of being derided, to present "both sides" of the debate in equality, regardless of actual merit on either side. That this favors the goals of the conservative is beside the point that it is a problem of arbitrary equalization of beliefs.

11-06-2004, 04:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
Manx Loser	The Myth of Equality of "Belief" All beliefs are not created equal. Yet our culture strives to present disparate beliefs as existing on equal footing. This contributes to the polarity of our nation by virtue of providing bonafides to what are essentially marginalized belief systems. Case in point: Intelligent Design. Wired recently had a cover article on the debate between those who believe in Intelligent Design (the alternative theory of how we came to be) vs. the science of Evolution. In essence, the Wired article describes a situation where some very specific aspects of evolution are being questioned (on the micro-biological level) and the believers in Intelligent Design hold these aspects up as "evidence" that evolution is invalid and some type of higher intelligence "designed" us to be as we are (they do not attempt to define this higher intelligence, instead claiming it could be Aliens just as much as it could be God). Wired demonstrates that, while it is accurate that there are some specific flaws in the current theory of evolution, the Intelligent Design community, instead of attempting to analyze these flaws to further understand the principles of evolution, uses these flaws to actively promote an entirely different theory which dismisses evolution completely. And this concept of equality of belief is being pursued by the Ohio State Education Board. They have provided a medium for public debate - one in which 2 representatives of the Intelligent Design community discuss the issues with 2 representatives of the scientific community. The Ohio State Education Board has equalized the debate between a small community of people with non-scientific suppositions and the large, scientific community with years and years of research and evidence. The goal, of course, is to ensure that the children of Ohio are able to experience "the other view" of how we came to be. The result is that fringe elements of our society are provided a platform of equality of "belief". The Wired article is long, but well worth the read: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1...ion&topic_set= Personally, I see this active equalization of belief in other areas, such as the methods used by the media to present information without attempting to investigate the matter. For the decade and more that the "liberal" media accusation has been levied, the media has becomes more and more compliant to the goals of the conservative. In order to avoid the appearance of liberal bias, they are compelled, by virtue of being derided, to present "both sides" of the debate in equality, regardless of actual merit on either side. That this favors the goals of the conservative is beside the point that it is a problem of arbitrary equalization of beliefs.