re: #6 freetoken

Yes, he is.

I note though that Jerry Coyne has an article in which he illustrates why the Pope’s statement isn’t really much of a different thing than Intelligent Design.

Now anything with “God” in it will strike the wrong chord with Coyne, so he may be going a bit too harsh on the Pope.

Still, I wonder if Pope Francis is indeed just offering up a type of Intelligent Design, but with more mystery, that thing with which mystics wouldn’t be without.

It is a different thing from the fundy-grifter brand of intelligent design we know and loathe here in the states. ID proponents in this country claim hard, “scientific” evidence of intelligent design in nature. That ignorant position is the basis for their attempts to insinuate their stealth superstition into public schools, “Hey, it’s not religion, it’s SCIENCE!” (as though they would know). Their claims are necessarily accompanied by a variety of conspiracy theories alleging mass deception by the atheists, gays, and communists who somehow control the global scientific community and have managed to do for over 150 years.