Are creation, evolution, and intelligent design mutually exclusive?

Question

A simple enough question, right?

Answer 1

No they are not. Every theory has a gap...ones so big you can drive a truck through them...

1. Evolution does not appear to apply to humans from apes....a "missing link" from ape to man is constantly talked about. There seems to be a big jump from ape to man.

2. Creation: if the world was created in seven days, how come there is an apparent geological and astronomical record of billions of years? Why is it creation is only taught from the Judeo Christian story? Every culture has a creation myth, why is the Biblical account right? Because a Christian Minister says so?

3. If there was some intelligent design of some sort, why does it contain gaps of millions of years, and why isn't it so perfect that we can figure it out? Why would an intelligent designer make such a flawed world with flawed beings in it to ponder the work of that creator?

You see all of these theories require faith to bridge the gap. A scientist and a priest have different houses of worship.

If you ask a rational person which is better religion or science, religion is the answer because science changes every couple of years and religion has been the same for thousands of years...but who wants to go to a hospital with thousand year old technology? That's as simple as I can get it.

Answer 2

No.

But it is complicated.

Intelligent design says that God had a pre-determined plan.

Creationism says that God created man (and women) 6000 years ago and they were just like us.

Evolution says that all creatures evolved from lower lifeforms. Scientists say that humans evolved from lower primates.

These three viewpoints are not mutally exclusive, except for creationism and evolution, which are complete opposites.

It is possible that both evolution and intelligent design are correct. Evolution is based exclusively on scientific knowledge. Though scientists can prove many things, there is a lot that scientists don't know. That is the reason why evolution is called a theory.

Evolution has been scientifically proven, but it may not be the whole story. That is what happened to many scientific theories, such as gravity. Newton had proven not only that gravity exists but demonstrated how it works. However, under certain conditions that Newton didn't know about (i.e. in outerspace) gravity functions slightly differently. Einstein figured out why gravity acts differently in space.

Einstein didn't change Newton's theories. Rather he improve them and at the same time explained why gravity functions the way it does (something to do with curved space, I think).

The same thing could happen to evolution. Scientists know that we evolved from cavemen, who evolved from other mammals. Scientists also know that natural selection plays a role.

However, it's possible that God (or some other intelligent being, perhaps an alien scientist) is controlling evolution. Perhaps monkeys were suppost to evolve into humans, so God (or the space-alien, or whatever) set up the conditions that were needed to turn monkeys into humans. Or perhaps God even tampered with monkey DNA. It is all speculation and there is no proof that this is how it happened, which is why scientists are perfectly right to ignore such ideas. But just because their isn't proof doesn't mean that something doesn't exist. Just as there was no proof in Newton's day that gravity functioned differently under certain conditions such as black holes.

That said, those who believe in evolution and those that believe in intelligent design have almost no common ground (if any). The reason is that intelligent design is just code for creationism, which is the complete opposite of evolution. Intelligent design supporters like to make the arguement that life is so complex that it had to be created by a powerful being. This arguement is valid but debatable. However, people who support intellignet design, with few exceptions, then make an assumption that the intelligence that created the universe had to be God. This is a leap of faith, not science, as there is no evidence that the intelligence has to be God. Remember the alien scientist? Many intelligent design supporters go even further and say that since God created the universe that the story of Genesis has to be correct. The book of Genesis and the theory of evolution are fundamentally opposed.

To sum up, intelligent design has some valid arguments that may work side by side with the theory of evolution. However, intelligent design is in actual fact simply a new form of creationism. Since Evolution and Creationism are complete opposities, intelligent design and evolution are also opposed to one another.

Answer 3

It's not that simple, because you don't say what you mean by "creation." If you mean creation in the sense of any religious belief that the world was created by a god or gods, then it's up to the believer to decide what that excludes.

If you mean creation as in creationism, then you need to realize that "intelligent design" is just the creationists' latest political ploy. Creationism keeps losing in the courts because it's a religious belief, and the Constitution prohibits preaching religious beliefs in the public schools. Intelligent design was designed as a way to get around that by disguising the religious basis of creationism, what is known as the "Wedge Strategy," but it's still creationism.

If that's what you mean by "creation," then the question is, "Are creationism and evolution mutually exclusive?" Yes, they are. Evolution is a scientific theory supported by literally mountains of evidence. Creationism is a religious and political movement. Evolution is honest science. Creationism is deceptive. Teaching evolution doesn't violate the Constitution. Teaching creationism would establish one sect of fundamentalist Christianity as our national religion.

For a good overview of the issue, see Judge Jones' decision in the Kitzmiller v Dover case. For a shorter version, see the Wikipedia entry on that case.

JMB

Answer 4

Absolutely.

Evolution is a scientific fact and the others are not. It is not open to political or social debate. More to the point, there is no debate within the scientific community. If you are unclear on that, then you are completely misinformed and victim of the lies, deceit, and misinformation put forth by Creationists and Intelligent Design proponents.

Here is the bottom line (in non-scientific terms). Any scientific explanations of cosmic and human genesis and history MUST be, or have as their cause, only physical real-world solutions. The reason: because that is how science works. It is that simple. There is no such thing as a scientific explanation that involves faith, spirituality, religion, Gods, magic, mysticism, voodoo, dreams, visions, or wishful thinking. Science is not about faith or belief.

Therefore, Creationism, ID, etc, are not competitors to the theory of evolution because they are not scientific hypotheses. They cannot be investigated scientifically.

Evolution science does not stand alone and isolated from any of the other branches of science. If you deny evolution, you also deny the basis for geology, paleontology, anthropology, astronomy, cosmology, particle physics, microbiology, botany, zoology, organic chemistry, genetics, medicine, etc.

Medical science is meaningful only in the context of the scientific theory of evolution. Without evolution as an explanatory model, western medicine is no more that the voodoo practiced by witch doctors. Therefore, if they wish to be true to their beliefs, Creationists and ID believers (or whatever they choose to call themselves) should refuse all modern medical treatment and rely on their faith to heal them.

Answer 5

Yes.

Evolution negates the other two completely because it has been taking place for billions of years and the other concepts only recognize hundreds of years' existence for the earth.

Creation presupposes alternatives to both intelligent design and evolution.

Intelligent design negates creation and random selection, the basic tenet of evolution.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Creation and ID are the same hypotheses (NOT THEORIES; they lack evidence).

"Intelligent design" is merely creationism dressed up as pseudo science, great fodder for the gullible.

Evolution is science. Gods are by definition supernatural and beyond the scope of science. Science has nothing to say about gods, neither pro nor con.

Answer 8

No. Creation and Intelligent design are the same concept.


Nicholas - Admin
http://www.iConfessional.com

Answer 9

yes ,maybe not ,,,,,,,,,