Our intelligent design flap would astonish Franklin

[hyphenate]

Our intelligent design flap would astonish Franklin
Surely, our first scientist would want us to use brains
By NEAL LANE


TODAY marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of Ben Franklin, one of America's most famous founding fathers and the first American scientist.

Franklin's ideals and his wisdom are as fresh today as they were during the troubled years of our nation's founding. I cannot help but wonder how Franklin, a disciplined scientist and religious man, would react to the idea of teaching "intelligent design" as an alternative to the science of evolution in our schools.

Would he be surprised that the current president of the United States, a self-proclaimed "education president," and the majority leader of the Senate, a cardiovascular surgeon, have advocated such a change in what our schools teach as science?

For his part, Franklin never had a problem reconciling his devotion both to God and to the pursuit of scientific truth. While he was unquestionably religious — calling for regular morning prayers at the Constitutional Convention — he was insatiably curious, always questioning, and he rejected all forms of intolerance. He believed that science and mankind's understanding of nature, far from questioning the existence of God, were ways to gain a deeper appreciation of the nature, indeed the wonder, of God and His works.

rest of article:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/3590974.html


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Lane, a physicist, is a senior fellow in science and technology at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Malcolm Gillis University Professor at Rice. He is a former director of the National Science Foundation and served as assistant to the president for Science and Technology during the Clinton administration.

[DavidDvorkin]

1. Franklin's religiosity

He was not religious in the sense that word is used in America today:

http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/john_remsburg/six_historic_americans/chapter_4.html