Reply #34: The essential difference: Challenging dogma is called heresy.

[TahitiNut]

Challenging a theory is called scientific experimentation. Thus, the distinction lies not only in the meaning of the terms used, but in the "free thinking" surrounding it. "Intelligent design" is not subject to challenge or experimentation, in that it's a construct specifically intended to circumvent such inquiry. Moreover, in my opinion, it portrays a weak "God" that's not the Creator of the Universe, but is subservient to human primacy and subordinate to Time, a component of that Universe which is claimed to be evidence of Creation itself.

Saying this a different way, 'science' is all about Man's infinite ignorance and an unending inquiry into the mysteries of the Universe that necessitates mistakes we call 'experiments.' "Faith" is about a certitude - an infallibility that precludes mistakes. Without mistakes, there is no learning. Without learning, there is no progress. Without progress, there is no progressivism. This is the heart of conservatism: no progress. This was at the core of the Dark Ages.

Me? I'll choose a Faith that embraces the Infinite Mystery and views it as an Abundance: a gift to inquiry, curiosity, and learning.