Steve, I'm stopped! Please understand that I'm not promoting Creationism. Nor do I believe that Intelligent Design is the same thing. We'll probably never agree on that. And I'm well aware that religious people do good stuff, for example, the Quakers have probably done more than any other religious group to bring about social justice. But I stand by my assessment of the religious right. This is how I see them.

Like it or not, there is a connection between Darwinism and Social Darwinism. The timeline looks like this:



In 1848, August Comte published "A General View of Positivism." In he argued that the same methodology used in the natural sciences should be applied to "social science." He is considered the father of sociology.
In 1859, Darwin published the "Origin of Species." In 1862, Herbert Spencer published "The Social Organism" which began a new philosophical trend that came to be known as Social Darwinism. It was he who coined the phrase "survival of the fittest."

Of course the ethical quandary inherent in Social Darwinism is that it releases one from any obligation whatsoever, social, economic or otherwise, toward one's fellow man.

I'm sorry you can't see ID as anything but a stepping stone to Creationism. Evolution is not some worthless theory. ID doesn't say that either. It just isn't the whole ball of wax.

Steve, are you a science teacher? This seems to be a topic that you're passionate about.