incompatible?

In reference to this article....

I read it, and some interesting points it made. But I'm still not entirely sure I agree. The title suggests the author is claiming that evolution and religion are incompatible. Of course the process of evolution naturally refutes some of the very basic precepts of literal creationism. But it certainly doesn't eliminate the possibility of the existence of God. The author even states that "evolutionary theory may not be incompatible with all forms of religious belief." The theory of evolution does not destroy God.

But then the author goes on to cite statistics that reflect people's religious beliefs and their belief in evolution. Essentially, he says a lot of people believe in evolution. And a lot of people believe in God. Some people believe in both, but not very many. But my point is, you can believe in both. Belief in evolution may constrain certain specific religious beliefs, but it doesn't destroy religion completely. I personally think that even if the entire history of the universe, from the first moment until now, has been guided by a completely random process of evolution, that still doesn't eliminate the possibility of the existence of God. (Of course, I'm a little further out on this than most intelligent design-ers.)

But this is basically where the concept of intelligent design comes in. Intelligent design doesn't reject evolution. It simply incorporates a belief, along with evolution, that certain aspects of the development of the natural world were aided by some form of intelligence. Intelligent design is a form of compatibility between evolution and religion.

[Sidenote: To appease the scientist who may be reading this, I'm not saying intelligent design is science. It's not testable. It's not provable. It's not science. But it does provide a handy compatibility for people who want to believe in religion as well as science.]

So ultimately, in the article, the author's conclusion that evolution challenges religion should be clarified. What it should say is that evolution challenges religion for some people. The intelligent design-ers out there are the ones who have pretty much reconciled evolution and religion. It's those who still adhere to a literal creationist stance who are actually threatened by evolution. It's those people who are most concerned about evolution in the classroom. Afraid that the teaching of evolution in science classes will make their children into atheists.

But will teaching intelligent design side by side with evolution appease them? I don't think so. Because intelligent design discredits literal biblical creationism as much as evolution does. So what are we arguing about?