Science is the systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation. It explains things we can observe in the real world through a process called the scientific method. It is responsible for medicines, genetically enhanced foods, and all of the technology you observe everyday. You might not realize it, but almost everything that you do in your life, whether it's drink a glass of water or fall down a flight of stairs, science can explain everything that is happening down to the minuscule details. Intelligent Design does not fall under the category of science and should not be taught in science classrooms, nor alongside of Evolution.

The theory of Evolution describes the complex descent of all species known today from a common ancestor through the process of natural selection and the genetic drift. Natural selection states that when certain traits of an organism give it the advantage of survival over the rest of it's species, that organism is more likely to reproduce and create more organisms like itself. Then, over time, the organism will have evolved into a new species. The genetic drift is when traits that have no positive or negative impact are eventually expressed or not expressed by all in the absence of other mechanisms affecting trait distribution. These changes can happen in several ways such as mutations, genetic recombination, and gene flow. Of course this is all a very general explanation which leaves out the overwhelming amount of observable evidence.

To some, this theory may be confusing, which is why many people choose a simpler alternative, Creationism, or as it is so conspicuously disguised, Intelligent Design. Intelligent Design states that everything in the Universe was created by an Intelligent Designer, or as he is so conspicuously disguised, God (the Christian God, Yaweh to be exact.) This theory lacks any observable evidence, unless you count the Bible of course, but the Science community does not consider 2000 year old folklore to be reliable evidence. The main argument of Intelligent Design is that this world is far too complex to have happened by chance. At first, an average minded individual might agree, but when given a little extra thought, this argument makes absolutely no sense at all. In order for an individual to create a Universe as vast and complex as our own, would he not be far more complex than we? This "intelligent designer," in his omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience would have to be infinitely complex. And there are only two explanations for where this "intelligent designer" came from. The first is that he was created by another superior being, however I did not know one could achieve more than omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. This explanation would also just lead us in endless circles of creators creating creators. The second explanation is that he always was, he always has been, and he always will be. Hopefully, you already see the flaw in this explanation. Since we have already established that this being is far more complex than we, then why would this being be able to exist without a creator while we, far less complex beings, cannot? This issue brings us to another, where did the first life come from?

In 1953, the Miller-Urey experiment was conducted by Stanley L. Miller. In this experiment, Miller recreated the hypothetical conditions of a young Earth and tested for the occurrence of chemical Evolution (the chemical reactions that synthesize organic compounds from inorganic matter.) At the end of a week, two percent of the carbon had formed amino acids, including 13 of the 22 that are used in modern living cells to make proteins, with glycine as the most abundant. Stanley Miller proved that in the conditions of our young Earth, with the presence of inorganic matter that has the potential to create organic matter, life could easily have arisen. Scientists have also experimented with this under a wide range of different conditions and many of them still produce organic molecules from inorganic materials. Intelligent Design explains this in much simpler terms, simpler than the simplest explanation I could provide. God made everything using magic. Incantations to be exact, He spoke it and it was.

Once Creationists have come to realize they actually don't have any evidence they drastically change their strategy. Instead of attempting to prove their beliefs, they acknowledge their beliefs have holes; then they point out the holes in Evolution. They have come up with many reasons why Evolution is incorrect, however, none of their claims are upheld very long. The amount of claims they have attempted to make are far too many to include. I will cover a few more popular accusations.

Many will say that Evolution cannot be observed, therefore it is no different than Intelligent Design. This is either a straightforward lie, or an extreme expression of ignorance. Evolution is conducted every day in laboratories. Scientists genetically modify food to make it bigger and to make it last longer. Viruses evolve constantly which is why we are in need of new vaccines. The Influenza Virus for example requires new vaccines every year because it is evolving into new strands such as the new deadly Avian Bird Flu. Mutations occur all of the time resulting in deformalities amongst people. These deformalities are not usually beneficial, but sometimes they can be. Science and technology has allowed us to evade the laws of natural selection and keep ourselves alive and reproducing no matter how unfit our bodies may be. The human race is in a way, devolving and getting weaker.

A very common argument is that "Evolution, like Intelligent Design, requires faith." The only problem is, it does not require faith. I do not have to have faith that evolution is possible, it occurs every day in viruses and in laboratories. I do not have to have faith that the transitional fossils that show species evolving into species exist, I can observe them myself. I do not have to have faith that mutations can occur, they happen everyday. I do not have to have faith because I have observable evidence. Faith is merely believing in something regardless of the lack of evidence, and with Evolution that is clearly not the case.

Creationists often ask "where is the missing link?" The simple answer is, he's dead. Scientists have already discovered the fossils of the ape to man transition, Australopithecus. This species emerged in East and South Africa between 4.4 and 1.4 million years ago. This is your missing link. He died out and gave way for the new breed of man, the homo Sapiens. If you find it hard to believe that his entire species is extinct, then consider the fact that 99% of species every to walk this Earth are extinct. This is not the only transitional fossil we have. We have the fossils of the fish to first develop legs, Osteolepis, the first step towards becoming an amphibian. We have the marine to amphibian transitions such as Eusthenopteron, Icthyostegids, and Labyrinthodonts. We have many more such as the amphibian to reptile transitions, reptile to bird, and even reptile to mammal, however I do not wish to bore you by listing off scientific names of the fossils of transitional species.

Another aspect in the belief of Intelligent Design as that the Earth is relatively new having only been created roughly 10,000 years ago. This is the weakest belief in the belief of Intelligent Design. Carbon-14 dating alone can disprove that aspect. So can the existence of dinosaurs, unless of course you don't believe in dinosaurs, in which case you are an idiot. Some say that Carbon-14 dating is inaccurate due to the experiments of creationist pseudoscientist lobbyists. However, the particular experiment often referred to is when Carbon-14 dating was conducted on a muscle inside of a clam and the results said the muscle to be much older than it possibly could have been. This, however, is merely the result of the carbon in the limestone that consists of the muscles habitat. The carbon was absorbed from this limestone into the muscle, which produced irregular results. This is the same for almost all living matter. Take trees for example, if you ran Carbon-14 dating tests on the bark of a living tree it would give irregular results because the tree inhales CO2 from it's surroundings, and the carbon found in the CO2 could be as old as the atmosphere itself. Not to mention Carbon-14 dating is a very delicate procedure which requires precise actions in order to produce accurate, reproducible results. The rather humorous hypocrisy of it all is that while Creationists denounce Carbon-14 dating, they use it to authenticate their own ancient documents to help back their claims.

Do you still believe Intelligent Design to be more likely than Evolution? Despite the overwhelming mountain of evidence to support Evolution, many say it is still just a theory. This is a common argument used to try and lobby Intelligent Design into the science classrooms of our public schools. It has been surprisingly successful in some states, how I do not know, although I have noticed that the states it is being taught in school in are states where I'd assume most of it's citizens are the product of incest. Evolution is most definitely a scientific theory, it can never become a law because we will never have the fossils for every organism to ever have existed. Unfortunately, few understand the definition of a scientific theory. A scientific theory does not imply uncertainty, it is "a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena" (Barnhart 1948). It is a theory which takes the facts: Life appeared on Earth more than two billion years ago; Life forms have changed and diversified over life's history; Species are related via common descent from on or a few common ancestors; Natural selection is a significant factor affecting how species change; and uses a single theory to explain all of them. The theory of Evolution explains many more facts than I have listed. Intelligent design is not a fact. It is not a theory. It is a belief based upon faith. It fails to explain anything. It should never be taught in public school, and most certainly not alongside Evolution in science class. Requiring students to learn Intelligent Design is, in my opinion, and the opinion of many, a violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

In America we have the right to believe whatever we wish. We can choose to believe in Evolution or we can choose to believe in Intelligent Design. Evolution may conflict with your religious beliefs and you may reject them and not want to learn, or have your children learn, them. However, I will not give any sympathy to those whose faith is in conflict with the facts. I will not apologize for having facts and logical conjectures based upon overwhelming observable evidence conflict with your unreasonable, unsupported, and primitive beliefs. And I will not agree with sacrificing public education to adhere to your religious dogmas.