Saying "God did it" is not a statement of provable science; it is a statement of faith.
One way the faith community has responded to this is by presenting its theology in the form of scientific language. Instead of talking about God, they talk about "creation science."
These folks call themselves "young-Earth creationists" and follow the book of Genesis and its six-day scheme as the model for how the world was created. They vary over whether it was six actual days or six symbolic days but agree that everything was created all at once — leaving no room for species evolving over a long period.
But there is massive evidence that life did evolve, and so over time creationism has morphed into the idea of intelligent design.
The ID folks no longer insist creation followed the biblical pattern. They are willing to admit to the idea of a long, long span of time in the development of life. They are even prepared to admit that life evolved. What they reject is the idea of natural selection. Life may have evolved, they believe, but only according to a divine plan.
But there are problems for some people of faith who also study science.
Kenneth Miller, author of "Finding Darwin's God," is both an evangelical Christian and a biologist.
His difficulty with intelligent design is that it does not seem to be very intelligent. The fossil record demonstrates that life has lurched forward in fits and starts, dead ends and failed species. If God is directing all this, Miller writes, it is a very strange direction.
The sad thing for me is the debate is and has long been co-opted by politicians. What we need are honest people of faith and science having a reasonable conversation about the origins of life. What we get are demagogues who use fear as a way to gain power.
