I've been reading a lot of comments about Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, and comments on the Panda's Thumb and letters to the local papers: one thing is clear - respectful discourse about this is in short supply. Typically, the creationist side seems stubborn and ignorant to the evolution side, and the evolution side seems arrogant and dogmatic to the creationist side.
To me, this is very unfortunate. The issues are important (though many citizens don't care that much about this), and there will be no resolution as long as each side refuses to respect the other.
I think part of the reason there is so much animosity is that each side is coming at the issues from a different perspective. Creationists (and I include intelligent designers in this) view evolution as evil and responsible for much of the world's ills. Evolutionists view the attempts by creationists to discount evolution as anti-science and fear for our religious freedom and our technological progress.
I wonder, is it possible to have a respectful dialogue about this?
