Friday, July 25, 2008

Cool design!

Back when I was a believer, and I'd argue with people about the existence of God, one of the things that I would point to was the complexity of the world. I mean, look at something like a Cooper's hawk. (I had one land on the fence which is right outside the window of the room that I'm typing this in right now - an absolutely beautiful creature. It sat there for a good thirty seconds before it took off and flew away.) It's was "impossible" to look at that and not think that some higher power was at work. Something had clearly designed it.

Of course, that line of reasoning doesn't work so much for me anymore. Part of me has a little bit of respect for people who see things this way (so long as they don't call it "science"), but you know what? If you're going to give a higher power credit for creating the majestic hawk, then you have to give that higher power credit for designing EVERY living thing. So, not just animals and plants. Also, this designer made things like yeast. (Yay! You use that to make beer! God does exist!) And, of course, viruses and bacteria.

I think that the attached video does a good job of destroying the case for a "designer." At the very least, it destroys the case for a designer who loves us. I've heard people explain the "Why does God let bad things happen to good people?" question before, and it always goes back to how we have free will and we turned our backs on God, so it's all our fault. Well, if you see it that way, then I recommend that you go to a third world country and tell that to some little kid who's dying from malaria.

Anyway, the video really pushes the boundaries of good taste, but you know what? Sometimes that's necessary to wake people up. If you have no sense of irony or satire, I recommend that you skip it. You've been warned.

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