Demagogue

Last night, I was discussing the Nov. 8 election results with a friend, and he offered an interesting observation about the aftermath of the school board election in Dover, Pa., in which pro-"intelligent design" (ID) board members were swept out of office.

He noted that ID supporters go to great lengths to insist that their movement is not in any way trying to advance religion or religious teachings. For example, in this August 2005 document, the Seattle-based, pro-ID Discovery Institute declared:

"Intelligent design is not creationism .... This debate is not about religion versus science, or creation versus evolution."

Well, if ID has nothing to do with religion or creationism, then why (my friend wondered) did Pat Robertson declare that Dover voters had "just voted God out of your city"?