i have been thinking a little bit lately about intelligent design. the more i think about it, the more it makes me angry.

frankly, i think it’s bullshit.

i don’t deny God’s agency in the creation of the universe. i’m on board with that. definitely. unfortunately for many creationists and intelligent design supporters, i don’t think God is trying to somehow trick us. God has provided us with deductive faculties and a world that is so immeasurably complex and yet beautiful that we can appreciate his hand in it without having a concrete grasp on how he has manipulated it. somehow, we miss that. if the arrogance of the academy in holding fast to evolution and speciation is an overestimation of their knowledge of the world, how much more so are our simplistic interpretations of genesis an overestimation of our knowledge of God? why can’t the universe be enormous, the tale of history before the coming of Christ storied, and the processes shaping our world much larger than we can conceive of? from where i sit, it looks like bad theology.

what’s worse though is that as far as i can tell, intelligent design doesn’t even pretend to be science either. other than talking about it and writing pseudoscientific books, intelligent designers seem to have little to say about actual methods or processes by which things are designed intelligently. apparently, they simply look for what evolutionary theory can’t explain and shout out “ha! and that’s what God must have done! there he is!” then they look smug as the scientists try to explain that though they don’t know now, perhaps they’ll know later.

of course, much like with heliocentricity, it tends to turn out that science is capable of discovering very elegant explanations. then Christians look like morons for trying to trick the people around us into thinking we understand the universe completely, right now. ultimately what can this do other than make us out to be some of the most simple-minded and self-interested people on earth? we are far better to say we do not know.

kevin was wondering whether people had been taught anything critical of evolution in high school. i’m not sure whether that’s relevant. are there actually people who reject Christ based on their inability to reconcile him with evolutionary theory? that’s not a difficult task. who is out on the streets ministering to the poor, the lost, and the broken while Christians are busy fighting these phantom enemies?

if Jesus walked among us today, would we be the ones loving people, or would we be the pharisees trying to trick him into saying something contradictory to our tiny theology?

i love riding with the kids from point83. back in december, on our last thursday night ride we ended at the end of the night down at the college inn pub. we rapidly became embroiled in a heated discussion of sorts. our topic: the nature of relationships. beer-fueled discourse at 1am is the best. i certainly came away with alot to ponder.

my bike gang is a pretty diverse group. we’ve got a bunch of married and engaged guys, a number of guys who are in extremely long-term (7+ year) relationships, and yet others who have a different girlfriend every week. we’ve got a a few divorcees, and guys single by choice or fate. we’ve even got a swinger. we also have a reputation that every eligible woman who rides with us ends up with a serious boyfriend. needless to say, all these varied experiences make for an interesting dialogue about how relationships ought to play out and what expectations people have going into them.

we’ve talked before at how i am not a player, so it was interesting to compare and contrast my thoughts with those at the table around me. jill made an observation: “we want to be the first.” not necessarily the first relationship chronologically, but the number one of the moment. the none other. we want people to be interested in us above all others, and we seek this exclusivity – symmetrically if possible. this is a lesson underscored by the experiences of my friends who had open marriages and other convoluted arrangements.

so as it turns out, apparently i’m pretty good at being interested in people. this is not actually a surprise, a quick scan of my many friendships reveals that i have a knack for meeting people who are really, really interesting. of course, the initial requirements are actually quite simple. for the most part, if i meet someone who is:

1. intelligent,
2. intriguing, i.e. quirky, mysterious, passionate about something,
3. and laughing at my jokes,

then i’m basically interested in them. these criteria are not met terribly often, in particular i’ve often thought of a and c as being mutually exclusive to some extent. still, it happens often enough, and unfortunately when dealing with members of the opposite sex this can be dangerous. i’d say that i don’t want to be misinterpreted, but that’s not quite right – i don’t myself know the correct interpretation of my intent. i guess i should get that straightened out.

1998 and before: camas/washougal, listening to the long loud blasts from the mill’s mighty whistles as midnight arrived.
1999: from adam’s sister’s place we walked out to the 70th st ne overpass with our bottles of cheap champagne and cheered down towards the space needle.
2000: lost to the vagaries of my mind, apparently. was i in camas? todd’s proposal and my first girlfriend (round one) came in the week following though.
2001 & 2002: out in peshastin for fireworks and the frivolity, sledding and kitties.
2003: a small shindig at the blakeley manor while dana was at urbana 03, plus i worked the next day.
2004: i tried to stay home and play warcraft and be depressed, but rochelle came and literally drug me out to wallingford. so this is the new year.
2005: dinner with the camas crew, then to queen anne to meet up with the girls of ruby for the fireworks. then with carrie down to meet up some friends of hers at red door. then a ride home, since i had been doing all this with a flat tire and no spare tube.
2006: 365 days and counting.

new year’s is not my best holiday. it is always filled with a mixture of remorse and reminiscing, of things past and opportunities missed. for old time’s sake indeed, i’ll raise a glass nonetheless and remember the good times as being good, and the opportunities as being things that still lie before me. go big or go home, right?