Have you heard of the Flying Spaghetti Monster? Apparently this pop-culture mockery of Intelligent Design and Creationism is taking off in popularity. The theory goes that if Intelligent Design and Creationism are credible enough to be taught in schools, then a theory that says that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe is credible enough to be taught in schools.
I find it interesting that such vehement opposition to ID has arisen, though I suppose it is inevitable given the deep roots secularism has planted in our culture. The argument goes that nothing non-scientific should be taught in schools, but what they fail to acknowledge is that Evolution is rife with non-scientific philosophy and underpinnings — Evolution has been turned into a philosophy on the origins of the universe. In other words, it's fine to say that evidence shows that these processes happened over time and account for the present structure of matter, it's another thing to say that the world was created strictly by random chance. Unfortunately it's a subtle distinction. But effectively, I would argue that if atheism can be taught in science classes, so can Intelligent Design. If you want to remove the atheism from Evolution, then you can tell me that ID doesn't belong in the classroom.
