If there's anything evolutionists and creationists agree on, it's that they disagree.

Scholarly verbiage filled the air at Friday's "Intelligent Design: Toward an Intelligent Discussion" panel, part of the 11th annual Religion and Humanities Conference at UVSC. The discussion delved deep into theology at the day-long event.

During the morning session, it was Paul Nelson, fellow at the pro-intelligent design Discovery Institute, who received the brunt of the questions.

"Show me the beef," said Michael Ruse, philosophy professor at Florida State University, referring to the lack of basic science in the intelligent design theory.

Intelligent design contradicts evolutionary theory by claiming that the universe is so complex that a higher being had a hand in creation. Participating evolutionists challenged Nelson to define intelligence in their own jargon.

"How can you conduct an experiment based on intelligent designfi" asked Duane Jeffrey, a BYU biology professor and co-author of "Mormonism and Evolution: The Authoritative LDS Statements."

"Intelligent design has tried to push itself into science without doing the science," Jeffrey continued. "Until it can make that demonstration, it has no business in the public schools or in papers of science."

Nelson refuted his peers with some common sense.

"We need to remember that our theories do not drop from trees like ripe apples," he stated. "Evolutionary biology has 250 years of study. In its modern form, intelligent design is still a teenager."

Nelson stated that Friday's conference was not miraculous at all, just a group of people having a discussion. Even so, he said, it cannot be explained by any sense of physical regularities.

UVSC evolution scholar, Mark Jeffreys, begged to differ with the "teenager" description.

"This is a 2,000-year-old argument," he said. "If you haven't come up with experiments, I don't think you ever will."

The science of evolution, the theory that humans developed from a lower order of beings due to natural selection, was not discussed Friday. Nelson said anyone can research that in 800-page textbooks. Rather, the conference took on a theoretical approach.

Brian Birch, director of Religious Studies at UVSC and conference sponsor, said theoretical is exactly the direction he wanted the conference to take.

"I'm very pleased that the central issues are being addressed," Birch said midway through the conference.

Dennis Potter, co-sponsor of the event, said even in LDS communities, the science vs. religion debate lives on.

He's right. As of late Friday afternoon, there were 785 comments on the Daily Herald's Web site from readers of Wednesday's article "Meeting to discuss evolution, intelligent design," a preview of Friday's event.

At the conference, Ruse, an avid evolutionist stated, "I believe that Jesus lives and died for me." He continued to explain that his evolution knowledge does not make him doubt that truth.

"People didn't give up being Christians because of the Copernicus revolution," Ruse said, referring to the 16th-century theory of a sun-centered universe.

Tongue in cheek, Ruse questioned, "Did God so love the Galapagos islands that he created a slightly different tortoise for each individual islandfi"

Ruse said evolution functions as a secular religion for some and mentioned John Henry Newman as a famous Catholic who took no offense to Darwinian theories. For some, however, evolution has become a "litmus test" of their faith.

"My Christianity is based on Jesus's love for me," Ruse said, quoting Newman. "It has nothing to do with a fossil record; it has no bearings on my beliefs."

Ruse, with a made-for-Hollywood British accent, gave the conference the patina of a famous filibuster. Bearded, witty and loquacious, Ruse explored how, through history, evolution has become a deeply divided topic in America.

Nelson clarified that although he supports intelligent design theories, he does not advocate teaching them in schools.

"I'm advocating intellectual freedom," Nelson said.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.