# Is the USA the only country that even bothers with Intelligent Design bullshit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 30, 2007, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549 "2007-10-30T06:01:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/21 "2007-10-30T19:03:03Z")
[QUOTE=Lobohan] Religion. It’s pretty much what’s wrong with this country at almost every level. Fighting abortion rights, fighting birth control education, touting a farcical abstinence policy, pushing to teach ignorant lies as fact in schools and breeding vacant, useless, unquestioning sheep that will follow any right wing politician or preacher behind a podium. That would be my guess anyway. [/QUOTE] This post seemed pretty vacant, useless, and unquestioning to me. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/22 "2007-10-30T19:28:57Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] I’m not religious, but I could believe in Intelligent Design to a point. For example, the theory that we exist in a Matrix-like virtual world (which I find strangely reasonable considering the way computer simulations are evolving) would fit in many ways with Intelligent Design. [/QUOTE] But who designed the designers :eek: The sad thing is most likely if this is the case then not only are we meaningless and ephemeral AND DESIGNED TO BE THAT WAY BY AN INTELLIGENT POWER (which fits into the Standard English Language definition of evil,) but the actual, “root cause” of the last level of simulation would be utterly incomprehensible to us, otherwise we would have thought of the possibility of the “root cause” of being already. (“God has always existed” doesn’t really cut it.) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/23 "2007-10-30T19:37:45Z")
The answer to your question is simple Ludovic. The creators of the computer simulation we live in are themselves living in a computer simulation. And of course, it’s turtles all the way down. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/24 "2007-10-30T20:17:33Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] This post seemed pretty vacant, useless, and unquestioning to me. 😉 [/QUOTE] Which is the biggest thing wrong with this country in my opinion. As much press as the ID debate gets, I do not know a single person who even credits it as more than a ‘stupid redneck’ joke. People get all up in arms about it, but really how prevalent is it here in the states. Sure I believe it’s more prevalent than elsewhere, but I everyone I know pretty much tacitly accepts evolution. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/25 "2007-10-30T20:20:05Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] This post seemed pretty vacant, useless, and unquestioning to me. 😉 [/QUOTE] Perhaps you should ask Jesus what he thinks. Wouldn’t that be easier than coming up with an opinion yourself? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/26 "2007-10-30T20:24:05Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] Which is the biggest thing wrong with this country in my opinion. As much press as the ID debate gets, I do not know a single person who even credits it as more than a ‘stupid redneck’ joke. People get all up in arms about it, but really how prevalent is it here in the states. Sure I believe it’s more prevalent than elsewhere, but I everyone I know pretty much tacitly accepts evolution. [/QUOTE] I met a guy at my last job who believed that the world was 6,000 years old. He was a seventh day adventist… And I live in central California. ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/27 "2007-10-30T20:38:24Z")
“In fact, according to some media reports, over 100 Australian private schools are already including ID in their science lessons. Pacific Hills Christian School in Dural, New South Wales was the first.” [http://www.csicop.org/intelligentdesignwatch/oz.html](http://www.csicop.org/intelligentdesignwatch/oz.html) Its around, they just know not to try and make too big a public deal about it. Otara ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/28 "2007-10-30T20:41:37Z")
[QUOTE=Lobohan] I met a guy at my last job who believed that the world was 6,000 years old. He was a seventh day adventist… And I live in central California. [/QUOTE] Man meets Redneck in Redneckville news at 11. Seriously though, I’ve met tons of people who think Freemasons are all evil and possessed by David Rockefeller. Is it really more prevalent than that? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/29 "2007-10-30T20:49:33Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] The answer to your question is simple Ludovic. The creators of the computer simulation we live in are themselves living in a computer simulation. And of course, it’s turtles all the way down. [/QUOTE] Induction requires both a linkage to the next instance and proof or definition of a beginning. There’s no philosophical way to explain the beginning of the multiverse as we understand it, it would be equivalent to claiming that God has existed for an infinite amount of time. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/30 "2007-10-30T20:53:35Z")
Well, I’m not an Adventist myself. Lots of my neighbors are, though, and they all seem to be fine people - their kids are well behaved, they are helpful when things need done around the neighborhood and the community. And for all that they may believe in young-earth creationism, this doesn’t seem to be a universally held view of all of their members - and indeed, hasn’t stopped the church from building hundreds of hospitals around the world that help an awful lot of people. I tend to support such things, myself. And I take people and churches as I find them, not as I would like them to be. So on balance, Prince William County is a better place for the Adventist church on Minnieville Road, not far from the Legion hall and the high school. For the record, I’m a Catholic who believes in evolution. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/31 "2007-10-30T20:53:46Z")
The great thing is that all of those foreigners not believing in ID probably reinforces the confidence of its believers here. It’s really all tied up in a neat little bow. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/32 "2007-10-30T20:56:31Z")
I’m genuinely curious as to _what there actually is_ about ID that would fill even the flimsiest of textbooks. Intelligent Design 101 would seem to consist of “Look, complex things, eh? Can’t be chance, eh? - we don’t know how it happened, but _someone_ did it.” then crickets chirping. I say: call their bluff - let them try to teach ID in a science arena - it will fall on its own complete lack of substance and merit. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/33 "2007-10-30T21:02:48Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I say: call their bluff - let them try to teach ID in a science arena - it will fall on its own complete lack of substance and merit. [/QUOTE] Well, ignorant people and those who really \*want \*it to be true would believe it if we gave it that kind of credibility. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/34 "2007-10-30T21:04:28Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I’m genuinely curious as to _what there actually is_ about ID that would fill even the flimsiest of textbooks. Intelligent Design 101 would seem to consist of “Look, complex things, eh? Can’t be chance, eh? - we don’t know how it happened, but _someone_ did it.” then crickets chirping. I say: call their bluff - let them try to teach ID in a science arena - it will fall on its own complete lack of substance and merit. [/QUOTE] If I actually expected them to stick to science, sure. But you can fill lots and lots of time teaching religion, and probably still could even if you had to disguise it some. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/35 "2007-10-30T21:16:16Z")
[QUOTE=wolf\_meister] Is the USA the only country that even bothers with Intelligent Design bullshit? [/QUOTE] I would say Vatican City is pretty heavily invested in ID. ---
**Author:** ![LilShieste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@LilShieste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilShieste)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/36 "2007-10-30T21:22:37Z")
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] I would say Vatican City is pretty heavily invested in ID. [/QUOTE] [Nope.](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10932031/) LilShieste ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/37 "2007-10-30T21:26:12Z")
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] I would say Vatican City is pretty heavily invested in ID. [/QUOTE] Contrary to what many apparently think, Vatican City is pretty cool with evolution. ETA: Ah, should’ve reloaded before making this post. Ah well. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/38 "2007-10-30T21:26:48Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I’m genuinely curious as to _what there actually is_ about ID that would fill even the flimsiest of textbooks. Intelligent Design 101 would seem to consist of “Look, complex things, eh? Can’t be chance, eh? - we don’t know how it happened, but _someone_ did it.” then crickets chirping. I say: call their bluff - let them try to teach ID in a science arena - it will fall on its own complete lack of substance and merit. [/QUOTE] However, since ID is simply a back door through which the teaching of creationism can be slipped into the curriculum I don’t know how beneficial calling their bluff would actually be. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/39 "2007-10-30T21:46:24Z")
[QUOTE=LilShieste] [Nope.](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10932031/) [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Indistinguishable] Contrary to what many apparently think, Vatican City is pretty cool with evolution. [/QUOTE] Thank you both. Consider my ignorance on the issue successfully fought. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549/40 "2007-10-30T22:06:43Z")
I support the [Catholic Church.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Descent_of_the_Modernists%2C_E._J._Pace%2C_Christian_Cartoons%2C_1922.jpg) 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549.md?page=3)