In what promises to become the most unlikely, bizarre and pointless hot-button political issue in recent memory, the “scientific” theory of intelligent design has evolution in the hot seat, at least in some conservative parts of the country.

To those who may not have heard of intelligent design, in short, it is a theory that says a “higher being” created Earth and all life on it. In other words, it is a method designed to teach biblical creationism alongside, or even replacing, evolution.

In November 2004, a school board in Dover, Pa. became the first in the nation to mandate teaching intelligent design, according to the MSNBC Web site.

Eleven parents of students at a Pennsylvania high school and the American Civil Liberties Union will challenge the board’s decision in court next week, according to the CNN Web site.

In Kansas, the state board of education is working to remove the teaching of evolution in schools in favor of alternative theories such as intelligent design, according to the CNN Web site.

While I am certainly not against alternative theories being taught and debated, I am disturbed when something as ludicrous as intelligent design is not only considered science, but also taught as such. The teaching of quasi-creationism will likely never become widely accepted.

The mere fact that this is replacing evolution is enough for its supporters to argue that all theories should be discussed regarding their scientific validity.

While evolution is only a theory and not fact, it is a theory that works just about every time, and has been accepted by virtually every credible scientist in the last century. Evolution has helped us track down diseases, learn more about the world around us, learn more about where we came from and helped to figure out what may happen to us in the future.

Intelligent design, on the other hand, had its beginnings in a 1989 textbook by a Christian publishing group, and again in 1991 when a law professor claimed that evolution was faulty, and that intelligent design was a more logical alternative.

Since then, intelligent design has undergone some revisions to shy away from the “God made us” viewpoint and replace it with the more ambiguous “somebody made us” viewpoint in an attempt to make it appear less like religious dogma, and more like science.

Religious intelligent design enthusiasts view the scientific community’s dismissal of intelligent design as being anti-Christian. However, the reason intelligent design hasn’t been taught in science classrooms is not because of some anti-Christian agenda, it is because intelligent design cannot be tested, therefore, it is not science.

Scientifically, it is a flawed theory. If the creator created us, who created the creator?

Therefore, it is not surprising when one finds out it is not scientists recommending we teach intelligent design in classrooms, rather, it seems the field of scientific teaching has become caught up in the conservative Christian versus secular society battle.

In both Kansas and the school district in Pennsylvania, the approval for teaching intelligent design in classrooms came from conservative school board members who have nothing to do with the field of science. In these cases, it appears that politics has won control over education, and whoever is in power gets to tell the educators what to teach.

If this continues to hold true, who knows what we could have in store; altering history books to say Democrats were responsible for slavery? Maybe changing geography books to say Republicans are responsible for global warming?

The theories of creationism/intelligent design is a theory worthy of debate in theology and psychology classrooms, but when it comes to something like science, let’s stick to the theories that work, and leave the decision of what is taught up to the teachers, not the politicians.

Although, I guess buying a Bible would be cheaper than buying a science textbook.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.