Madison ID club is religious in nature

A recent post by Don Parker of the Madison, SD IDEA club reveals the basis of his disagreement with evolutionary theory.

There are many truths in life, but which is of the utmost importance? I think that’s a no-brainer: eternal life, don’t leave Earth without it. … I’m not talking about buying a cemetery plot and a stone in advance but rather about continuing their existence to infinity and beyond. Before you plan for a future you have to believe in one. Many people don’t. And Darwin’s theory of evolution is the reason why many are in the category.

It appears that Parker is following the same old tired strategy: a fundamentally religious criticism of the theory of evolution gets transformed into a “teach an alternative ‘scientific’ theory” message.

Evolution/creation talk in SF

The Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports that a speaker is coming to the University of Sioux Falls (a school affiliated with the North American Baptist church) today to talk about evolution and creationism.

discussion of creation and evolution tonight at the University of Sioux Falls is free to the public.

Darrel Falk, professor of biology at Point Loma Nazarene University in California, will speak at 7:30 p.m. in the Salsbury Science Center.

He will discuss “coming to peace with the gradual creation of humans.”

I do not know anything about this speaker, but from the title of the talk I get the feeling that people who believe in the literal Biblical story of creation are going to get corrected by, of all people, the Nazarenes.

Organized Intelligent Design comes to South Dakota

PZ Myers’ Pharyngula links to a news story out of Madison, SD announcing the formation of an intelligent design (ID) club in the city. The reporting itself seems to be mere repetition of the information provided by the founder of the club, Madison resident Don Parker. For example, the reporter writes

While the concept sounds like an argument for creation, Parker says it’s more than that. Creation has a religious theme that says everything was created by God. The theory of intelligent design says a higher intelligence had to be responsible for certain things, but it doesn’t define what that higher intelligence is.

without referencing the fact that a nonscientist, Judge John E. Jones III of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, recently reviewed the arguments for and against ID in the case of Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, and ruled, in part, that intelligent design was in fact a form of creationism. Corey Heidelberger at the Madville Times blogs has a more extensive deconstruction of the news story.

Parker is showing two movies which supposedly contain evidence showing something–either that evolutionary theory is wrong or that creationism is right–I’m not clear which. If you’ve been to the presentation, please post your thoughts in the comments section.