There is at least one more voice in the discussion amongst scientists who support Naturalist Darwinism or Intelligent Design – Theistic Naturalists believe there is a God, and that he is the one behind Darwinian natural selection.

I am seeing at least six ways that the groups are similar.

1. They each have an underlying worldview that affects their reaction to others’ opinions. The Intelligent Design folks (Stephen Meyer, Michael Behe and more ) believe there is a God who created and providentially controls the universe; many of them base their view of God on the Bible. The Evolutionists (Bill Nye, Richard Dawkins and more). The Theistic Design group (Stephen Collins, BioLogos) is trying for the best of both worlds, saying that God the creator has cared for his universe through evolutionary methods.
2. Many of the contested events (origin of life, development of humans, dinosaurs, the flood) happened so long ago that evidentiary records are slim. We have more and more information about the current state of affairs, and must make theories that look backward in time.
3. Each group has at least one common response that (a) they use when they don’t know the answer and (b) it ticks the other groups off. The intelligent design crowd (at least the Christian ones) are very willing to fall back on “God has always been in charge and that’s the way he wanted it.” The Darwinists say “the time frame is so vast that even very unlikely events have been able to occur.” The Theistic evolution folks can use both!
4. Analogies are very popular. Darwinists point to the similarity of bat, human, and bird arm bone structures and see them as all having descended from a common ancestor. Intelligent Design folks speak of the irreducible complexity of the human eyeball as being similar to a manufactured pocket watch – there must be a designer behind it.
5. The groups jab at each other – I am not sure if there are buttals, but there are certainly lots of rebuttals. Each group can cite experts, documents, and research that agree with their position. Each group has a standard apologetic supporting their view.
6. All agree that on the BIG side, the universe is a monstrously huge and awesome place. All agree that on the SMALL side, a single cell of a creature’s body is a marvelously complex and intricate structure of amazing flexibility and

The “discussions” among the parties remind one of Republican / Democrat differences of opinion or disagreements between religious groups. Most humans have a hard time playing well with others who don’t agree with them.