The thing I've never understood about the argument between evolution and ID is that it seems no-one in the ID camp has ever stepped back and said "maybe this evolution thing is part of the intelligent design." I mean... the "intelligent design" was such that every living thing in it grows and matures at some rate. So the next logical step is to make the design grow and mature, too, which is something that can be planned for from the start, by building the process into the original design.

The whole ID thing has nothing to do with science, but science can easily be part of ID. Strip off the ID stuff, and the science remains the same.

I'm reminded of the (timely) joke about the man standing on the roof of his house as the flood waters get higher and higher. He prays for God to save him. A guy in a canoe paddles up and offers a lift. "No thanks, God is going to save me!" The water gets up to his waist. A bit later, a power boat comes by, with the same offer. Again, "No thanks, God is going to save me!" The water is up to his neck, when a helicopter lowers a basket to him. He refuses to get in, since, after all, "God is going to save me!" Naturally, he drowns a bit later. The man gets to heaven, meets God, and says "I prayed for you to save me, but you let me die!" God's answer? "I sent you two boats and a helicopter, and you refused to get in any of them. What more did you want me to do?"

Supposing, for the sake of argument that there is a heaven, are these ID folks going to get there, only to have God tell them "evolution was the intelligent design, but you refused to listen!"

Cheers,