Last weekend, the CNN Paul Zahn show (hosted by Heidi) featured the contested debate between intelligent design and Darwin’s evolution. The absurdity in those ID believers made me laugh and furious.

In the show, Michael Behe, a biology professor in the Lehigh University, deceitfully reasoned that some intelligent beings, in his belief, God, must design everything because even a propel system in a simple bacteria was complicate, let alone human eyes. However, most of his colleagues felt ashamed of Behe’s theory. Some even posted a statement declaring they were Darwinists.

The most worrisome story, however, was about how common people were misled by these theories. The CNN show followed several families who were touring the zoo and the science museum in a Colorado city. The guide claimed that given the vast differences among elephants, giraffes, monkeys, and human beings, it was impossible to believe that they shared the same ancestors. In the science museum, the guide declared: “Evidence is the same, but the interpretations are different.” He pointed out that there were gaps in the evidence for the evolution theory, and most of the exhibiting fossils were artificial. He lectured the children that the history of living beings was only about six thousand years. This infuriated the museum curator. He showed the CNN reporter the real fossils in the storage room and almost shouted: “How could they say these are not real?”

After the visit, the reporter asked several children about their thoughts on the evolution theory. They replied that it was God who made all things happened. One mother added: “We knew it all along. It is written in the Bible.”

Although the CNN tried to give a fair treatment to both side, to me, this is inappropriate. In fact, the CNN had fallen into a trap set by those ID proponents. That is, they need media exposure to mislead people. Their strategy is to shift the debate from science to politics. They change the materialized debate into the abstract issue of “teach the controversy.”

“Teach the controversy” was once used by liberals to support minority views and nascent theories. It is ironic that now the conservatives pick up this weapon. George W. Bush used it and the Educational Board in Kansas used it too. The ID supporters make Darwinists look naïve in political fight.

Sadly, it seems that currently ID is winning the war. To them, we hardcore Darwinists are incorrigible. Their main aim is to brainwash the religious common people, and in particular the next generation. As old saying goes, if you cannot enlighten them, then confuse them. A “fair” media exposure is what they want. The publicity of the debate gives people a false impression that the debate has its merit and the correctness of the evolution theory is undecided. The result, according to a recent survey in a large public University, is that more than 60% students responded believed that God somehow involved in either creating the world or guiding the evolution.

Furthermore, I found that several books about ID had been introduced into China. Given the fast expansion of Christianity in China, it is possible that those Christians may use ID to allure many naïve young people. The debate in the US may facilitate the spread of ID in China because most young people adore the American culture. It is a daunting task to educate hundreds of millions of functionally illiterate Chinese.

What should we do about it?