Why someone at the Globe thought this even close to appropriate in any way I can only pin on some really ignorant idea that there is some kind of "debate" between competing scientific theories, one of which goes by the name Intelligent Design, an the public is well-served by getting all views out there.
Intelligent Design isn't science and it isn't a theory. It's the phony "creationist" nonsense dressed up, but no more scientific than, say, a bottle of Diet Pepsi. There isn't a real "debate" between competing scientific theories, at least on this level, because neither creationism nor Intelligent Design are scientific. They aren't theories, either.
When the Globe prints an article, or editorial, or op-ed, on the sad state of scientific education in America, I think their policy of printing garbage like this, whatever the reasons, might be raised. It's part of the problem.
UPDATE: Thanks to Alan in comments, here's a funny take on some evolutionary quirks that might give advocates of Intelligent Design pause. This one makes me shiver all over, though:
8 Slug genitalia. Some hermaphroditic species breed by wrapping their sex organs around each other. If one of said members gets stuck, the slug simply chews it off. What. The. Hell?
