The Double Life of ID Advocates

Red State Rabble, a blog from a guy caught in the nastiness of the Kansas evolution battle, has a really funny post that made a point I hadn’t quite thought of before.

In those long-ago days when RSR lived in the Big Apple, we were often accosted on the street by young men who were selling “scents,” by which they meant marijuana. As we wove our way down the street between competing sales teams, we were often struck by the paradoxical situation the job of selling drugs placed these guys in.

On the one hand, they had to be visible enough to move product. On the other, they had to stay hidden in order to avoid arrest and remain on the street.

[…]

This contradiction is inherent in intelligent design. ID apologists can spin it, they can deny it, they can try to hide it, but there’s nothing they can do to change it. Their supporters will always demand reassurance that ID and God are one, while the legal and political strategy that ID represents demands that they deny it.

Like those long-ago pushers on the streets of New York, ID proponents must keep their motives both hidden and public. They are, and always will be, compelled to lead a double life.

He’s right too. Many Christians I’ve encountered who are opposed to evolutionary theory for theological reasons also don’t buy into intelligent design because they view it as too subversive, too covert.

If scientists know who the designer is, and if young earth creationsists know who the designer is, why do ID advocates spend so much time trying to have it both ways?

Good post RSR.