Has Intelligent Design Reached The Tipping Point?

By The Dawn Treader -
Everywhere you look you see intelligent design (ID). The lefty blogs, the righty blogs, the MSM ... now the cover of TIME magazine.

Friends, we are watching what happens when an idea reaches the tipping point.

Regardless of where you stand on the debate about whether it should be taught in schools or not, times such as these present a wonderful window of opportunity for Christian apologists. The mind share of the nation is tuning into this discussion.

While most want to spar about whether ID should be taught or not, I want to suggest a different tactic.

Turn the discussion towards the underlying worldview question -- "where do we come from?". Use the Columbo tactic and ask artful questions designed to take the conversation into deeper waters. Here is one way to do that. Ask your friend if they have seen all the coverage in the news about intelligent design. Your friend may want to talk about the controversy surrounding the teaching of ID in the classroom. You can go there a little, but look for an opportunity to ask a more interesting question. Ask something like,

"I am curious. Just suppose for the sake of argument that scientists did empirically discover that life was designed and not random -- how do you think that would affect people's thinking?" This gets to the heart of the worldview issue. Most have not connected the dots at this level. I suspect most will not be able to answer and reply with "I don't know."

If they answer with "I don't know", I would suggest a follow-up question.

"How would it change your thinking if tomorrow's headline was, 'scientists now agree life was designed'?"

They may not be able to answer. Don't sweat it. That is okay. You have dropped a pebble in their shoe for them to hobble around on. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to use that pebble to open opportunities for more discussion.

Cross posted at : The Dawn Treader.

Comments

BK said…
Very good point, DT. I am presently preparing a post on the issue of Bush's statement that ID ought to be taught and the over-the-top comments made by the pro-Darwin crowd in response, but your point cuts through what I was writing to the real heart of the matter.

But I should add that I think that ID is right not because it somehow proves that God exists (because it doesn't), but rather because it makes more sense than Darwinian evolution which seems to survive mainly because we can't think of a better alternative that doesn't involve God.
8/08/2005 09:45:00 AM
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