Mike the Mad Biologist once wrote an article entitled "I Wish I Had Said This". And now, thanks to him, so have I.

Confessions of a Lasped Creationist IDer, itself a commentary on this, reiterates the point I keep making: Intelligent Design isn't just bad for science, it's bad for religion.

And more, he says some of the things I haven't gotten around to. This goes beyond ID. I'm getting steadily more and more annoyed by the tacit acceptance that my side of these arguments keeps showing for one of the fundamental claims of the other side.

Namely, the bit where they insist we're all atheists.

I keep seeing it over and over again. In the evolution debate. In the gay rights debate. In the school prayer debate. The people on the other side say "God says this," and the people on my side come back with, "Well, we respect your beliefs, but we don't think we should rely on God in matters of public policy." In other words, "Okay. I'll grant you that God is on your side, but that shouldn't matter."

Folks, this is a losing argument. For one thing, we're not fighting on equal grounds. They keep accusing us of atheism and we keep letting them. We're also not going to win over any converts if we keep saying "God shouldn't matter." We need people of faith on our side -- we need people to stand up and say "No, you are wrong about the will of God. You don't know the mind of God, you're just usurping Him to promote your own agenda." We are just as mistaken to try to attack a religious argument on purely non-religious grounds as they are to attack a scientific argument on purely religious grounds.

When we win the evolution argument isn't when we make those simpleminded religious fools realize there's no God. When we win is when we make people of faith realize that evolution isn't a treat to their faith. When we make them realize that you can too believe in God and trust in evolution. When we make them realize that science isn't about denying God, or looking for ways around God, but about finding out how this universe that God made for us works.

We're not doing our part. We're saying "God is not on our side, but choose us anyway," when we should be saying "God is too on our side." We're granting that it's either/or, when it's not. Science does not ask nor answer theological questions -- science can no more disprove God than it can prove Him. Religion does not ask nor answer scientific questions -- and when some people try to pretend it does, we really ought to call them on it.

I'm just glad I'm not the only one who's noticed.