Friday, May 12, 2006
On Fathers and Bastards
"I think the whole [ID] position is socially and internationally dangerous, as well as wrong," Ruse said.
But Ruse said he and Johnson share a mutual respect after years of traveling in the same circles and debating publicly. He describes Johnson as friendly, intelligent and fond of stories, as well as the occasional drink.
"I do like the guy," he said, adding with a hearty laugh, "At another level, I don't trust him as far as I can see him."
But many who read "Darwin on Trial" say the book made a "devastating case" against the widely held theory. Among them is Johnson's former colleague Michael Smith, also a retired Berkeley law professor.
"I would have thought the weight of the so-called scientific consensus would have buried any dissension," Smith said. "But it hasn't buried" the intelligent design movement.
Finally of note is this:
[Johnson’s] main disappointment is that the issue hasn't made more headway in the mainstream scientific community.
Johnson said his intent never was to use public school education as the forum for his ideas. In fact, he said he opposed the efforts by the "well-intentioned but foolish" school board in Dover, Pa., to require teachers to present intelligent design as a viable scientific theory.
Instead, he hoped to ignite a debate in universities and the higher echelon of scientific thinkers.
But Johnson said he takes comfort knowing he helped fuel the debate that has taken place so far. "Perhaps we've done as much as we can do in one generation."
