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I just want to know how something can exist without being created.

Yes, we'd all like to know that. The only honest answer that anyone on this planet can give you right now is "we don't know".
The idea behind ID is saying that a study of science leads us to the reasonable conclusion that something or someone intelligent initiated creation. This is really a rather modest claim, really, seeking to make some headway in the question of our origins without providing a definitive solution. The notion is that you look at all the factors regarding our existence using sciences such as physics, biology, astronomy etc. then the evidence appears overwhelmingly to suggested a well ordered and thought out creation, and therefore an intelligent designer. From a pure science point of view, this seems to be a reasonable exercise if applied correctly- what conclusions can we draw from our observations about the universe around us? Of course, to have this discussion with integrity you'd have to look at both options- is there evidence of order in our existence due to an intentional creation or because it occurred and therefore appears ordered? This application of science seems very appropriate to me if it extends no farther than that which, as conceived, ID was not supposed to do.

Unfortunately, it seems that there are too many ideologies wrapped up in the issue for it not to grow beyond such discussions. Even though evolution squarely fits in with the idea of ID as defined above (the intelligent designer could set up evolution in the blueprint for our existence), immediately when ID is discussed it becomes ID vs. evolution- certainly helped by those offering ID as an "alternate theory".

However it was proposed, it seems that ID has become simply another wrapping of Creationism, and certainly that will be struck down in public schools. That's a little disappointing, because once again I think looking at the scientific evidence for order in our existence and then discussing our conclusions could be very useful and scientific.

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Trying to answer a question of this magnitude with fairy stories is an insult to the intellectual development of our species.
And the original idea behind ID was not to answer the question with fairy stories- only to discuss the conclusions we have based on the evidence. The old analogy is that if you see a working clock then you assume someone designed said clock and that it did not spontaneously occur. The thing is, you cannot draw many conclusions beyond the simple existence of the clock maker. Was it a man, woman, or maybe even a machine? Was it a moral person or a mass murderer? There is no evidence from the created thing to suggest any of this- only that the maker exists. The only question ID really asks is whether or not our existence and the world around us equate to the clock. If we feel that it does, then the existence (at some point) of a creator logically follows, though we’d know nothing more about him/her/it other than that. Certainly this logic would fall very short of validating Creation as presented in the Bible.

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We need to understand that it's OK to say we don't understand something, because that's the first step on the path to understanding.
That being said, it is reasonable to look at our scientific evidence, draw conclusions, and then discuss those conclusions. In fact, it is even reasonable to apply scientific evidence to non-scientific hypotheses. But the moment your start using non-scientific evidence then you've moved beyond science. Not to say that your hypothesis isn't true, but your evidence must be scientific to be considered science.

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Unfortunately it may be that from our perspective we can never unravel the mystery, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try, with every last theory subjected to proper scrutiny.
And in ID we have a reasonable theory, I think. I've read a lot of the evidence for ID and it seems very compelling. Unfortunately, often both the arguments for or against ID end up devolving into a debate about evolution or religion vs. science- at this point I just have to throw up my hands and start ignoring the subject, which I think is unfortunate.

I think ID as originally proposed is compelling and would like to here more about what science really says about the hypothesis removed from ideologies. Unfortunately, there are very few people discussing it that way- until there are more it is not something we can reasonably address in a classroom.
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-Jeff
Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings; they did it by killing all those who opposed them.