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Mystery novels picking up on ID?

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File:LewisDVD2.jpg
Hathaway and Lewis

From news writer O’Leary:

A friend writes to ask whether I noticed Masterpiece Mystery Theater’s Inspector Lewis Series 6 finale titled, Intelligent Design which, he says, aired last Sunday evening:

The hit-and-run of a “brilliant biochemist” Richard Segar, is investigated by inspector Lewis and his sidekick Hathaway. It is noteworthy that the scientist is characterized as “brilliant”, a man of faith, and a “leading proponent of ID”. The writers of this series certainly must be aware of the negative image that Dawkins, a fellow Brit, has of ID but chose to cast this character as a respected scientist.

The scientist is characterized as follows in these two short excerpts from the program:

Hathaway (looking at his iPhone): A little research results—He is quite famous for a scientist [Segar]

Inspector Lewis: What did he discover?

Hathaway: It seems to be all that information of the idea of intelligent design that compacts the universe down to the existence of an intelligent creator.

Pathologist: We know what it is, sergeant.

Hathaway: Anyway, Segal was a leading proponent. He ran a lecture series “God and Science aren’t mutually exclusive.”

Inspector Lewis: Sorry I missed it. So that explains why he was married to a vicar.

Not sure of Hathaway’s explanations here. He doesn’t address the issue of detectable, researchable patterns, as opposed to theistic evolutionists’ mere “faith in faith alone.” But it is, as Lewis’s late boss Inspector Morse would have said, a murder investigation (not a colloquium). The take-home point is that the audience is supposed to be familiar enough with the idea that it will not just be baffled and put off by the terminology.

Mystery novels are a great venue for ID theory (as is science fiction*). The audience tends to be educated and it likes idea-based plots. This series may have been particularly well-suited because Inspector Lewis, who originated in the Inspector Morse series, loses his somewhat child-like faith after his wife is killed by a hit-and-run driver (between series). But his sergeant Hathaway is an ex-seminarian.

Let’s hope for more of these.

*See, for instance, Canadian sci-fi novelist Rob Sawyer’s The Calculating God.

Comments
Ah ha. Old england still rebels at the establishment!! The media is a enemy of all things holy and good but its interesting someone said what they know would not be welcome or allowed a great many places. Revolution is in the air eh!!Robert Byers
July 3, 2013
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It does seem to me that the media is starting to change its tune on ID. It seem to be changing for the better.Andre
July 3, 2013
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This would never have been allowed on the BBC!! Well done ITV for stepping out there :)PeterJ
July 3, 2013
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From O'Leary: I only saw a few, missed those. Mom and I tended to get them on DVD, often from lending libraries. Political correctness is lethal to good mystery dramas. Essay for another time.News
July 3, 2013
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I used to like Morse and the new series with Lewis, but after enduring a couple of episodes of Lewis that seemed to be doing little but promoting gays, I went off it. There's only so much of the gay lifestyle a straight like me is interested in watching, and Lewis reached that limit too quickly.TimT
July 3, 2013
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