Creationism is not just stupid, it undermines all credibility and truthfullness inheirent in the Christian Faith.

Part of the problem with the Creationism idea, or Intelligent Design if you will, is that it is a continuation of the divorce between humanity and the earth. In Evolution, we are taught that human beings are part of the process of the earth. We evolved from other beings that lived here. Humans are part of the earthly processess and should be proud of our heritage.

Creationism, on the other hand, states that Humans are different, seperated, un-earthly. We don't belong here because we were made 'special' by some all powerful God. The earth is now in great jeopardy of systemically collapsing because humans believe we do not belong to the earth. Humans have treated the earth and its myriad systems as throw-away garbage. Humans have acted as if the earth were inexhaustible, and even if it is exhaustible, that is all right because a God, will save us. Humans will be whisked to heaven and leave the despoiled earth behind.

Those humans who learned to revere the earth, to care for its beauty and all of its creatures, have lived a harmony that modern humans have never known. Many indigenous people were a part of the land, the water, the air that they inhabited. The moles, hawks, grasses, insects, clouds, mountains, streams were all precious to these people. They were brothers and sisters, living beings that have power and have sanctity. We, as humans, shared the earth, and our very existence, physical and well as spiritual, depended on our peace with these powers.

What was that like? What was it like to be out on the great prarie, amid the waving grasses, to have the immense sky dwarf us, the winds blow, the towering clouds sailing across our vision. To be alone with the earth. To be humbled by its power. No thought or dream of domination. Just a stillness, a respect, a breathing syphony between the human and the world. Nature fed and clothed us. Nature gave us our tools, and our weapons. Nature gave us our mysteries and our salvation. But Nature only did these things if we honored and respected its power and majesty. Nature is not a plow horse, a domesticated beast who does our liking. Nature is a living entity comprised of many souls. As long as we remain in balance and harmony with nature we will grow as beings. When we scorn nature, when we destroy it without thought or care, we invite disaster. More, we invite a shunning, a disconnect from nature that starves our souls and hearts. When we believe in a religion that places heaven over earth, we deny our humanity and we deny our own souls.

The Scopes "Monkey" Trial was an early clash between the fundamentalist creationism and Evolution.

"....the famous trial which is often regarded as a defeat for Darwin when it was nothing of the kind. John Thomas Scopes - the schoolteacher who had given lessons in evolution - had clearly broken the new law of the state, but the real issue was how Bryan would fare under cross-examination by the great criminal lawyer, Clarence Darrow. Darrow, as we know, succeeded in making a fool of Bryan - and Creationism.

What would Darwin have made of Bush?

One exchange gives you the tenor of the disaster for the fundamentalists: Did Bryan really believe that the serpent is compelled to crawl on its belly because the Lord punished it for tempting Eden in the Garden of Eden? "I believe that," said Bryan. Had he any idea, mocked Darrow, how the snake got around before it was cursed. Did it perhaps walk on its tail? The huge crowd laughed at Bryan and, in a way, their own credulity..."

The simple minded believe that the Bible is a true statement of the world, and not an allegorical lesson plan, is behind creationism. It is religious dogma, and blind belief without a shred of scientific evidence.

The early founders of this country were wise in seperating church and state. Although they were deeply Spiritual men, they knew that utter dependence on religious dogma without the balancing knowledge of secular controls would lead to disaster.

right now, right this very minute, are determined christian taliban's, people who have lived in America all their lives, and are now seeking to turn this country from a Republic to a Theocracy. Believe it.