The difference between Creationism and Intelligent Design theory (Level 1 discussion)

Before reading below, I recommend you read my post - What is the Faith Pyramid?

Predictably, many Darwinists and far too many media pundits have painted Intelligent Design theory (ID) as "Creationism in disguise," but this is terribly misleading and is the direct result of either unfortunate ignorance or willful disingenuousness. Where the train derails is when Intelligent Design theory is thought to presuppose the existence of God. This is when it is often mischaracterized as simply being "creationism in disguise." In fact, a quick Google search of "intelligent design theory creationism is disguise" will achieve over 54,000 hits! The reason this is a misunderstanding of ID is because it is actually "creationism" that has theism as its presupposition - not Intelligent Design theory. This is where they differ. In essence, "I believe in God; therefore, I'm a creationist" is the logical flow of the argument. This is not a scientific argument - In fairness, creationism is not trying to be a scientific argument. It is simply a statement of belief. Of course, "creationism" is no more guilty than naturalism/materialism of adopting a particular religious belief. Truthfully, "materialism" (the philosophy that everything that exists is matter) is atheistic by definition. In fact, it could be argued that ID is the least religious view of the three, because (with ID) the existence of God is very much a logical implication of the theory; however, it is not a presupposition of the theory. Propositionally, it could be understood the following way:

1. Atheism (religious belief) --> Materialism or Naturalism (philosophy) --> Darwinism (view of origin)
2. Theism (religious belief) --> Creationism (view of origin) --> "Supernatural-ism" (philosophy)
   
3. Intelligent Design (view of origin) --> Theism (religious belief) --> "Supernatural-ism" (philosophy)

Notice that materialism has atheism as its foundation (or precursor) - truly, they are synonymous. This logically leads to Darwinism, or the view that mankind has descended from a common ancestor, via natural selection and genetic mutation. With #2, the religious belief of theism necessitates creationism as the view of origin. This, in turn, leads to the belief or "philosophy" that God supernaturally works in the world. With Intelligent Design theory (#3), notice how it is one's view and study of mankind's origin that implies or leads to a belief in God. And, as with #2, "supernatural-ism" logically follows from there. This is truly a scientific argument, because it is the study of the data that has created the conclusion. There is no religious belief or philosophy (or metaphysical presumption) that is necessitating a certain view of the origin of mankind.

Check back for further posts on Intelligent Design theory and how beneficial it can be for "Level 1" discussion - for the purpose of converting someone to theism.