Please explain "Intelligent Design" to me...

Well, you would be right. Intelligent Design is really the old "Creationism" that tried to get its way into schools once. But, what Intelligent Design does differently is they do not give the Intelligent Designer a name like God. Instead, they say oh it could be aliens, a god, or anything supernatural. I've written an article on that topic a while ago: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/10538/is_intelligent_design_science_or_religion.html

You must be talking about the catholic schools here in the USA. That is what they are called catholic school were you learn the religion too.

I'm assuming that you believe evolution has been proven? But if it hasn't, don't we have a state enforced faith/belief then? Not all scientists are evolutionists. All I know is, they keep telling us there's no other science. And I find myself leery of that. And don't forget, lots of folks are making money off of that concept too :)) 'ave a good weekend

Well for mine this ID is only a hypothetical and as such would be better left in the fictional column...as for the religion aspect ..each to their own and keep it to yourself! stop trying to preach something that was built on illusions and immaculate conversations and conceptions, I mean sheezz, give me a break! Okay...okay...I'm trying to get over the ambiguity of people preaching their religion...when in essence it is MAN MADE to benefit MAN and they hide behind religions laws or guidelines to benefit themselves! Hummmm might get a minus for this one..lol

my friend, clearly your fervent belief in evoluation leaves you unable to see the other side. Church (if one attends), school, society, tv, radio, the news and life in general are all a part of the making of an individual from child to adult. ID goes beyond "school" and many scientists (among others) are getting on board. I wouldn't want to offend by copying and pasting but there's a great article here http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=3059 about scientists and others who have begun to consider this way of thought. In addition, this article points out emphatically that ID is NOT just creationism "re packaged." Best Wishes

This is actually a clever play of words! We in hindu religion have been saying this precise fact even in our vedas etc! There is an ulterior motive in all of creation and that is 'Intelligent design' here the intelligence being devine and the capacity and vision to recognise that fact too is 'God Given'! This devine foresight is possible only with knowledge and that is what 'Gyan Yog' is!This is the difficult and knowledge based way of seeking and attaining deliverance or ( MOKSHA) and the easier way being 'Bhakti yog' which can be paraphrased as the path of unquestioning devotion and faith!If this is taught in schools i cant see any conflicts with My faith here but Muslims may disagree!

I had never heard of the term Intelligent Design before, but this is quite obviously a religious belief and not a scientific one. The only real difference between this and Christianity is that in Christianity God is a personification of the controlling factors. Basically this is tantamount to a spin off religion from Christianity which avoids the awkward questions that can be derived from the Bible, and as such it should not be taught in schools as a standard subject but only as an option. No education authority has the right to attempt to impose such a belief on the next generation.

I think it is wrong to do this. Whatever happened to seperation of church and state? If you want to teach your child "creationism" or "intelligent Design (which is just another name for creationism)" send them to a catholic or christian school. Don't try to force public schools to teach this.

Nothing can come from nothing. Something other than chance was necessary for the beginning. Design demands a designer. Concepts like irreducible complexity demonstrate that macro evolution is an impossibility. To teach darwinism without teaching the possibility of another answer is intellectually dishonest.

intelligent design, that is the thought that we were created by a supreme being and didn't evolve from apes. which of course is scientifically incorrect, since man and monkey have very similar DNA.

I'm a believer, a firm believer at that..I believe that the Lord God created this whole world, by his own hands.. But in todays world, I can see NO WAY that parents can force teachers in schools to teach intelligent design (I'd be happy if they do)..There are many who dont believe..They think that evolution is the right thing..I dont think there's any use in forcing anyone to learn about the Lord..

Discussion of ‘Intelligent Design’ implies that a specific religion has specific answers to questions, such as the nature of humanity and the Universe. If there is to be validity given to one particular version and this is mandated to be taught in publicly funded school systems, it certainly seems like a clear violation of separation of Church and State. One can easily make the case that, Hindu, Arapaho, Shintoist, Inuit, the aboriginal and native or any of the other stories are just as valid as that of a ‘Judeo-Christian’ interpretation. To put the imprint of the State on one peculiar variation of a belief and insist it be taught to exclusion of others should be an anathema to the very core of our Constitution. All these stories are a wonderful rich tradition that belongs in the private lives of people’s personal religious beliefs, but it does not belong in a publicly funded science classroom -{perhaps the sociology class would be the ‘proper’ place for all these to be discussed, if the time would permit}. Can one can have a religious belief and still believe in the discoveries of modern science and the scientific method? This discussion started well before Darwin, as amardeep said above - and the clash is between that of dogma, the fixed beliefs of man-made religion - and that of truth, as man continues to strive for knowledge, by using the best tool so far we have discovered{so far}, the self-correcting tool of the scientific method. Newton, Einstein and Hawking have all wrestled with the question. Did Newton{who was very religious} have thoughts of blashphemy when he discovered the laws of gravity and motion which showed Earth was not the center of the Universe? Einstein said of quantum mechanics ‘God does not play dice’– Stephen Hawkings answer — ‘God not only plays with dice, He sometimes throws them where they can’t be seen{measured}’. {Except perhaps by a Feynman diagram}. One need not reject the theory there is a ‘Creator’ to maintain consistency with the theories of Darwinism, QED and other mysteries the Universe: it is in that search to uncover the truth of the nature of the Universe, that we begin to approach the ‘Creator’.