Intelligent design advocates who purists find so infuriating are not your father's "the world was created in six days" Bible-thumpers. They are, for the most part, credentialed scholars who identify two scientific developments that, they claim, could undermine Darwinism. The first is the molecular biology revelation that life is staggeringly and unexpectedly more complex than evolution can explain. (See Michael J. Behe's "Darwin's Black Box.") The second is a set of mathematical findings that casts serious doubt on the power of natural selection to accomplish macro-evolutionary changes. (See: William A. Dembski's "The Design Revolution.")

The writing is better than I remembered -- vivid and descriptive without going completely overboard on depictions of landscape and character history (as in, say, much of The Lord of the Rings which, in my opinion, stretched on far longer than seemed really necessary). The mythology is vaguely Christian (though C.S. Lewis sometimes denied overtly crafting them so . . . but, really, does anybody believe him on that point?)

4. Find a leader. The most qualified person would be someone who has lost something dear because of the person/policy you are protesting. A good example would be a mother who lost a son in a war that she doesn't agree with. This is quite possibly the most unimpeachable spokesperson you can have. Once you loose a loved one, your cause becomes bullet proof regardless of what kind of diarhhea comes out of your mouth!

9. Use props. If say, you're against a war, make crosses of those killed in said war and paint the names of the fallen on them. Post them around your site. It looks really cool. (Nevermind getting permission to use names of soldiers killed who you do not know. Your cause is just. They and the loved ones left befind won't mind at all.)

Permalink -- Posted by Darrell at 20:24