A few days ago, Barack Obama expressed his views on intelligent design, and on the place of the so-called controversy in education.

I’m a Christian, and I believe in parents being able to provide children with religious instruction without interference from the state. But I also believe our schools are there to teach worldly knowledge and science. I believe in evolution, and I believe there’s a difference between science and faith. That doesn’t make faith any less important than science. It just means they’re two different things. And I think it’s a mistake to try to cloud the teaching of science with theories that frankly don’t hold up to scientific inquiry.

Well, if I was american, I guess those few lines would have confirmed me in my intention to support him. I am not sure wether the teaching of intelligent design will be a big issue in the upcoming elections — I mean, there are other problems to solve : Iraq, health system, Britney Spears — but taking strong positions like this one is impressive, because it could potentially make some pro-Obama pro-ID voters change their position.

But more interesting is the point he raised against right-wing politicians, according to whom religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage; school prayer and intelligent design. Just what I said in the previous paragraph : those subjects are not fundamentaly importants — which doesn’t mean they don’t have to be debated — in an election. Polarizing the debate over religious topics is a way to attract religious voters; arguments in an election should talk to people reason, not faith.

I guess the strategy of right-wing candidates is to make people vote for them because they are “good chrisitans”, disregarding their actual competence to manage a country, and bring change to people, to guarantee that hey will protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…

Denyse O’Leary, of course, reacted (negatively) on this intervention. In the same time, McCain was followed by his friends of the discovery institute…