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Originally Posted by ARTelevision
Kadath, your appreciation is duly noted.
I did explain the exact reason(s) for my "about face" on the validity of the subject and also the sense I have that those with religious views deserve the same respect we typically offer to other groups/philosophies in my post #26 in this thread.
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Those with religious views do not deserve the same respect we typically offer to other groups/philosophies in all situations. Context is key. Should a religious belief on the nature of a chemical reaction receive the same degree of respect as an observable scientific analysis of the nature of the same chemical reaction? Most certainly not. Opinions have varying degrees of validity - they are not all equal - and they should therefore be treated differently, depending on the context.
Is it appropriate to mix a philosophical supposition (Intelligent Design) in with research born of scientific principles (Theory of Evolution), and thereby claim they are equal or even comparable or worse, competing? Most certainly not.
If I want to know the mechanism by which my DVD player works, I may or may not want to know the philosophy and artistic history of film - but assuredly, if my goal is to learn the mechanics of my DVD player, I will not achieve it by studying Eisenstein. ID is a fine philosophy to have if you so choose - but it has no place next to a non-philosophic description of the mechanism of biology.
If ever there were an apples to oranges comparison, ID to Evolution would be it.