Bobby, can you hear me?

I love The West Wing. The writing is smart and thought provoking. In almost every episode, hot topic issues are debated and the viewer gets to hear the pros and cons of both sides of the argument. In this morning's episode on Bravo, they touched on the teaching of Intelligent Design in public schools. As most of you know, Governor Bobby Jindal wants Intelligent Design to be taught in our public schools along with the Theory of Evolution. This is becoming more and more of an issue in public schools lately. Of course I have my position on the subject. When don't I, right? Well, I thought the following exchange from The West Wing describes my position perfectly. It just makes sense to me!


Do you believe in the Theory of Intelligent Design?
I do believe in God and my faith tells me that there was a designer behind it all.
Do you believe in the Theory of Evolution?
Well, I think it would be fairly difficult to teach, geology, anthropology, zoology
without evolution. So, yes, I do.
I don't think it's contradictory to believe in science and believe in God.
Do you believe that the Theory of Intelligent Design and the Theory of Evolution should be taught along side each other in Public Schools?
Absolutely not. One is based on science and one is based on faith. Intelligent Design is not a scientific theory, it's a religious belief and our Constitution does not allow for the teaching of religion in our public schools.
Many people here would be more comfortable if our children were taught all points of view.
I'm all for that. Evolution is not perfect. It doesn't answer every question, but it is based on scientific facts. Facts that can be predicted, tested, and proven. Intelligent Design asks theological questions. I'm sure that at the beginning of all that "begatting" something begun. What was that something?
Many of us want a version of science taught to our kids that's in accordance to our beliefs.
I understand. Can't we agree that the inclusion of non scientific explanation into the science curriculum of our schools misrepresent the nature of science? And therefore compromises the central purpose in our public education which is the preparation of a scientifically literate work force. If you have a problem with your child's education, get involved. If you have a problem with what the school board wants to teach, run for school board. We can never forget that the best way to preserve our democracy is to take part in it.

To be a person of faith, is to have the world challenge that faith. Was the universe designed by God? That is up to everyone in this country to decide for themselves. Because the Framers of our Constitution believed that if the people wanted to be sovereign and belong to different religions at the same time then our official religion would have to be no religion at all. It is a bold experiment then as it is now. It wasn't made to make us comfortable. It was meant to make us free.

-from "Mr. Frost" episode 136 of The West Wing
written by: Alex Graves 2005

What are you doing right now?

I am really getting into all of this Facebook and Twitter stuff. I always have to check just one more time to see if there is an update that I missed. Up until a couple of months ago, I had no idea what any of these people were up to. Most of them never even entered my mind. Now, I can't wait to read about what everyone is doing. It's addicting! I want J to get on Facebook, but he has no desire to do so. He never reads my blog either. I guess living with me is enough.