Intelligent Design vs. Creationism

Is Intelligent Design Just "Beating the Dead Horse" of Creationism?

One of the major arguments against the Intelligent Design Movement is that it is just re-heated religious creationism trying to gain a foothold within the schools and governing laws of the nation under the guise of a scientific theory.  P. Z. Meyers, atheist, Darwinist, Prof. of Biology at the University of Minnesota and author of the blog "Pharyngula", states, "Intelligent Design is a set of excuses to squeeze creationism into the classrooms."*  

The proponents of ID, however, disagree.  They insist that Intelligent Design is simply an alternative theory to use in answering the big questions of life which, they claim, Darwinism simply does not and can not.  While Darwinists insist ID isn't science at all, ID-ers continue to provide scientific data and theory to back their claim that it certainly could be approached through a purely scientific process--if the "powers that be" would be more open-minded about the possibilities.

So, what are the differences between Creationism--the theory that God made everything--and the Intelligent Design Theory?  

Paul Nelson, Ph. D., professor at BIOLA University in Los Angeles, CA, explained the Intelligent Design Movement best when he stated, "Creationism properly understood begins with the Bible and says, 'How can I fit the Bible into the data of science?'  Intelligent Design doesn't do that.  Intelligent Design is the study of patterns in nature that are better explained as a result of intelligence.  ...Intelligent Design is a minimal commitment scientifically to the possibility of detecting intelligent causation."*

Seems straightforward enough to me.  Any questions?

*Quotes taken from the documentary:  "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed"