White House press secretary on intelligent design controversy

Tony Snow, White House press secretary (April 2006), offered this opinion re the intelligent design controversy:

Scientific inquiry and ID provide useful angles of approach to ultimate questions. Here's how to make both sides happy: Let science teachers tell kids that science is a matter of inspired guesswork, not of invincible decree. Eventually, new theories will arise to wipe away weaknesses and inconsistencies in today's scientific orthodoxy.

Also, let students know that a sizeable number of scientists believe in a Designer, since science involves a quest to discover and decode universal design. (A sizeable number of scientists also don't believe in G-d.) Meanwhile, issue similar warnings against silly abuses of holy writ, since scripture has little or nothing to say about matters of "hard" science.

I like Snow's approach insofar as he intuits that the controversy originated with the attempt to force Darwinism as the creation story of materialism on the school system. But, like so many media types, he does not appear able to grapple with the possibility that Darwinism may actually be an incorrect theory of origins. He thinks he is flattering the ID types by allowing that they are on "God's" side. But ID types who deserve any respect want to know what is factually true. And if they are religious, that is the only way they can serve God in this matter.