Editing Intelligent design movement (section)

=== Obfuscation of religious motivation ===
Phillip E. Johnson, largely regarded as the leader of the movement, positions himself as a "theistic realist" against "methodological naturalism" and intelligent design as the method through which God created [[life]].<ref name="johnson_theistic_realist">[[#Johnson 1995|Johnson 1995]], pp. 208-209. "A theistic realist assumes that the universe and all its creatures were brought into existence for a purpose by God. Theistic realists expect this 'fact' of creation to have empirical, observable consequences that are different from the consequences one would observe if the universe were the product of nonrational causes... God always has the option of working through regular secondary mechanisms, and we observe such mechanisms frequently. On the other hand, many important questions—including the origin of genetic information and human consciousness—may not be explicable in terms of unintelligent causes, just as a computer or a book cannot be explained that way."</ref> Johnson explicitly calls for intelligent design proponents to obfuscate their religious motivations so as to avoid having intelligent design recognized "as just another way of packaging the [[Evangelicalism|Christian evangelical message]]."<ref name="johnson_evangelical_message">{{cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Phillip E. |date=April 1999 |title=Keeping the Darwinists Honest |url=http://www.arn.org/docs/johnson/citmag99.htm |journal=Citizen |location=Colorado Springs, CO |publisher=[[Focus on the Family]] |issn=1084-6832 |access-date=2014-06-01 |quote=ID is an intellectual movement, and the Wedge strategy stops working when we are seen as just another way of packaging the Christian evangelical message. ... The evangelists do what they do very well, and I hope our work opens up for them some doors that have been closed.}}</ref> Hence intelligent design arguments are carefully formulated in [[secular]] terms and intentionally avoid positing the identity of the designer. Johnson has stated that cultivating ambiguity by employing secular language in arguments which are carefully crafted to avoid overtones of [[theism|theistic]] [[creationism]] is a necessary first step for ultimately introducing the Christian concept of God as the designer. Johnson emphasizes "the first thing that has to be done is to get the [[Bible]] out of the discussion" and that "after we have separated materialist prejudice from scientific fact" only then can "biblical issues" be discussed.<ref name="johnson_bible_out">{{cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Phillip E. |date=July–August 1999 |title=The Wedge: Breaking the Modernist Monopoly on Science |url=http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=12-04-018-f |journal=[[Touchstone Magazine|Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity]] |location=Chicago, IL |publisher=Fellowship of St. James |volume=12 |issue=4 |issn=0897-327X |access-date=2014-06-01 |quote=...the first thing that has to be done is to get the Bible out of the discussion. ...This is not to say that the biblical issues are unimportant; the point is rather that the time to address them will be after we have separated materialist prejudice from scientific fact.}}</ref> In the foreword to ''Creation, Evolution, & Modern Science'' (2000) Johnson writes "The intelligent design movement starts with the recognition that 'In the beginning was the Word,' and 'In the beginning God created.' Establishing that point isn't enough, but it is absolutely essential to the rest of the gospel message."<ref>[[#Bohlin 2000|Bohlin 2000]], p. 5</ref>