Some religionist use the incredibly remarkable and flawless work of architecture found in nature, the amazing systematic design and how each and everything is connected to one another as evidence enough for a supreme being. What are your thoughts on this?

They are crazy.

It's bat-shit insane.

Since most biology is evidence against intelligent design they are wrong.

This reminds me of a quote by David Attenborough.

Quote:I often get letters, quite frequently, from people who say how they like the programmes a lot, but I never give credit to the almighty power that created nature. To which I reply and say, "Well, it's funny that the people, when they say that this is evidence of the Almighty, always quote beautiful things. They always quote orchids and hummingbirds and butterflies and roses." But I always have to think too of a little boy sitting on the banks of a river in west Africa who has a worm boring through his eyeball, turning him blind before he's five years old. And I reply and say, "Well, presumably the God you speak about created the worm as well," and now, I find that baffling to credit a merciful God with that action. And therefore it seems to me safer to show things that I know to be truth, truthful and factual, and allow people to make up their own minds about the moralities of this thing, or indeed the theology of this thing.

(February 16, 2012 at 7:15 pm)Darwinian Wrote: This reminds me of a quote by David Attenborough.

Quote:I often get letters, quite frequently, from people who say how they like the programmes a lot, but I never give credit to the almighty power that created nature. To which I reply and say, "Well, it's funny that the people, when they say that this is evidence of the Almighty, always quote beautiful things. They always quote orchids and hummingbirds and butterflies and roses." But I always have to think too of a little boy sitting on the banks of a river in west Africa who has a worm boring through his eyeball, turning him blind before he's five years old. And I reply and say, "Well, presumably the God you speak about created the worm as well," and now, I find that baffling to credit a merciful God with that action. And therefore it seems to me safer to show things that I know to be truth, truthful and factual, and allow people to make up their own minds about the moralities of this thing, or indeed the theology of this thing.

That reminds of this quote from David Attenborough:

"I don't think an understanding and an acceptance of the 4 billion-year-long history of life is any way inconsistent with a belief in a supreme being," the 85-year-old broadcaster and writer will tell presenter Kirsty Young. "And I am not so confident as to say that I am an atheist."

(February 16, 2012 at 7:38 pm)brotherlylove Wrote: That reminds of this quote from David Attenborough:

"I don't think an understanding and an acceptance of the 4 billion-year-long history of life is any way inconsistent with a belief in a supreme being," the 85-year-old broadcaster and writer will tell presenter Kirsty Young. "And I am not so confident as to say that I am an atheist."

This reminds me of a quote by David Attenborough.

Quote:“It never really occurred to me to believe in God – and I had nothing to rebel against, my parents told me nothing whatsoever.

But I do remember looking at my headmaster delivering a sermon, a classicist, extremely clever… and thinking, he can’t really believe all that, can he? How incredible!”

The question isn't if things are designed, but rather what designed them. Was it chance natural processes or a superior intellect? If you think Universes just happen by themselves, then you have faith in a self-creating Universe. I don't think Universes happen by themselves, that they spring out of nowhere because of forces. I think the very idea is ridiculous. I think, when you look around you and consider what you see, you have to admit that life is deeper than any piece of finite knowledge that humans can come up with by themselves. That there is a grander meaning which speaks to us all, speech that resonates in the heart.

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(February 16, 2012 at 7:42 pm)Darwinian Wrote:

(February 16, 2012 at 7:38 pm)brotherlylove Wrote: That reminds of this quote from David Attenborough:

"I don't think an understanding and an acceptance of the 4 billion-year-long history of life is any way inconsistent with a belief in a supreme being," the 85-year-old broadcaster and writer will tell presenter Kirsty Young. "And I am not so confident as to say that I am an atheist."

This reminds me of a quote by David Attenborough.

Quote:“It never really occurred to me to believe in God – and I had nothing to rebel against, my parents told me nothing whatsoever.

But I do remember looking at my headmaster delivering a sermon, a classicist, extremely clever… and thinking, he can’t really believe all that, can he? How incredible!”

My quote is from January of 2012..looks like he changed his mind.

(February 16, 2012 at 7:56 pm)brotherlylove Wrote: The question isn't if things are designed, but rather what designed them. Was it chance natural processes or a superior intellect? If you think Universes just happen by themselves, then you have faith in a self-creating Universe. I don't think Universes happen by themselves, that they spring out of nowhere because of forces. I think the very idea is ridiculous. I think, when you look around you and consider what you see, you have to admit that life is deeper than any piece of finite knowledge that humans can come up with by themselves. That there is a grander meaning which speaks to us all, speech that resonates in the heart.

This reminds me of a quote by Carl Sagan.

Carl Sagan Wrote:The Universe is not required to conform to our expectations of it.

And..

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

(February 16, 2012 at 8:01 pm)Darwinian Wrote:

(February 16, 2012 at 7:56 pm)brotherlylove Wrote: The question isn't if things are designed, but rather what designed them. Was it chance natural processes or a superior intellect? If you think Universes just happen by themselves, then you have faith in a self-creating Universe. I don't think Universes happen by themselves, that they spring out of nowhere because of forces. I think the very idea is ridiculous. I think, when you look around you and consider what you see, you have to admit that life is deeper than any piece of finite knowledge that humans can come up with by themselves. That there is a grander meaning which speaks to us all, speech that resonates in the heart.

This reminds me of a quote by Carl Sagan.

Carl Sagan Wrote:The Universe is not required to conform to our expectations of it.

And..

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

That brings to mind a quote from Fred Hoyle:

A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question."