The universe appears "old", but it is still less than 10,000 years old

[Zazzy]

If life has the illusion of being designed then can the Universe also have the illusion of being billions of years old?

It doesn't have to seem illusory, because that's what all the data points to. So it may have the illusion of that, and that illusion would happily reconcile with the evidence. I appreciate what you are trying to do- equate something with no evidence to something with mountains of evidence- but it's yawningly weak. Your reputation indicated that you were more pitbullish than this weak-ass argument. Can you try harder?

Dawkins clearly believes that life presents the illusion of being designed

Every scientist I know believes that life often presents to an uneducated eye as being designed. The key word here is "uneducated." Since most people don't understand anything about how genomes behave, or how cells react to genomic changes, it's easy for them to misunderstand what they see.

Are you arguing that he is wrong?

I think Dawkins is wrong about many things, but his take on the illusion of design is spot-on, and his science tends to be sound (although his books do get out of date).

Why is it fair for Dawkins to dismiss contrary evidence as being illusory but not for creationists to? I smell special pleading.

I think maybe you don't understand what illusory means. If creationists were to claim that design was an illusion, they'd be summarily drummed out of the pack. Since no creationist claims that the appearance of design is illusory, I hear your point whimpering as it dies.

Again, I'd love for you to live up to your reputation here. Have some caffeine and come back to me when you're cognizant of your own people's arguments.