Well, Intelligent Design is simply the newest name for a very old theory, one which predates the theory of evolution by
many centuries.
Quote:
Cicero from his De natura deorum
When you see a sundial or a water-clock, you see that it tells the time by design and not by chance. How then can you imagine that the universe as a whole is devoid of purpose and intelligence, when it embraces everything, including these artifacts themselves and their artificers?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmaker_analogy
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In philosophy this theory is better known as Teleology and it dates back to Plato.
We're often told that the Charles Darwin's studies of the natural world were his masterpiece, yet we rarely hear that those studies directly challenged his religious faith in God's existence. As a scientist he probably didn't feel it appropriate to color his studies with his preconceptions of God. He managed to be a very impartial and observent scientist, and though personal tragedies stripped him of his faith in God he never did claim that God didn't exist. For all the evidence he found for evolution, he never managed to prove it, and nobody has managed to disprove it either.
In my opinion there is absolutely nothing wrong with teaching Intelligent Design in schools because it deals directly with reasoning and faith, not necessarily religion and God. Science is part of it, but it has its place in philosophy and history classes as well. The great thing about all the many sciences is that there are no artificial limits placed on them. Any theory, no matter how absurd or seemingly obvious, can be tested, and those test results can be published to be reviewed by other scientists. And the great thing about America is that there are so damn many scientists that nearly every theory can be thoroughly tested and reviewed. The scientific method simply works, and school curriculums should be equally inclusive and objective. We shouldn't be excluding some ideas just because of some irrational fear that students might somehow turn into religious zealots. Teach
every idea, and from there let the students figure out their own belief systems.