I just watched the third episode of Cosmos, and I think the Creationists are right to ask for equal time. Unlike the Sagan version, which simply put out the scientific point of view, this reboot really rubs it in. It rubs the theist’s nose into it. This is definitely propaganda, it isn’t just designed to put forth a point of view, its designed to discredit and ridicule the opposition.

Tonight’s discussion on Newton’s Laws and planetary motion doesn’t necessarily attack theism, what it attacks is the idea that the deity is in charge of the universe, “no sparrow can fall…”, etc. The universe may have been created by god, and the laws of nature may have been written by him (that point, after all, is not open to discussion anyway). But what one takes away from this is that once the planets and the Laws are set in motion, you don’t need god to keep the whole show operating on schedule. God can take the day off, he can go on vacation,he can rest as it says in Genesis. The universe was created so it requires no supervision, and no manager. It can run itself without any further interference.

And furthermore, the way it works is not magic, it is not mysticism. It can be learned, and understood by the human intellect. It can be investigated with straightforward procedures and described with fairly simple symbols and logic. We can make sense of the cosmos and we can understand it, and predict it.

That’s pretty revolutionary stuff, but not necessarily for today. This is essentially the message of the Enlightenment, the Age of Reason. It came from Newton and from that came everything else: The motions of the planets from a handful of high school algebra formulas that will fit on a T-shirt. Maybe god invented the Law, but we can read it easily, and we can even improve on it.

And all the reverent background music and Charlton Heston movies don’t mean squat.