The Logic of Theism

Most atheists operate on faith–even though it’s faith they distrust. Where is the scientific evidence that non-thinking chaos can create life, matter, time, energy or anything else? This has to be a matter of faith.

We know that intelligent systems (humans) tend to create things—it’s an observable fact. We make things that mimic life in countless ways. We also make structures. We grow crystals. We take whatever material we can get our hands on and create new, useful things with it. This behavior is clearly what thinking critters do. So, it's not anthropomorphic to hypothesize that the creation we observe may have been the creative work of another, Great Critter with intelligence and resources that may have forged into being, all that is. 

On the other hand, the atheist has no model to draw from in concluding that the things we observe have been created by nothing. Sure, we may see a tree grow out of the ground and know that it grew without any intervention of any intelligent system. But, we know the tree has instructions encoded in its DNA which manage this activity. So, the scientist in me asks "who wrote the code" That's NOT a desperate anthropomorphic act of someone trying to find a holy father. It is an act of logic and analysis following observation. To me, It's far less logical to think the code sprung into being by a series wildly fortunate mutations. If so, who or what created the rules of this adaptive behavior? 

We have a good record of our early attempts at flight. Designing and building a flying machine took a series of design missteps which have become the subject of comical YouTube videos. Each designer gained insight from the failures of the previous attempt. Edison said, “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” Eventually, with analytical thinking and the benefit of trial and error, humankind (the Wright brothers) eventually developed a machine that would actually fly

With that in mind, let's place our attention on the development of the flying mammal, the bird. Current thinking is that birds evolved from small theropod dinosaurs. Some say that birds' ancestors first glided down from trees and then acquired feathers to provide first lift and then true powered flight.

But, unlike Edison, where knowledge of 10,000 failed attempts lead to a successful light bulb, in random, non-thinking evolution there can be no benefit of trial and error since there's no intelligence by which pass on experiential knowledge. While it's clear that the technique of evolution is at work in nature, the idea that random, unintelligent events could cause a theropod to become a bird has to be a matter of faith–faith in the belief that random mutations might produce the good fortune of progressive evolution.

Where are the equivalents of the funny flying machines to be found in the fossil record--creature designs that failed to fly? Shouldn't non-thinking, random evolution produce the bones of the thousands of failed attempts to produce a flying animal? Isn't it more logical to imagine some intelligence at work in crafting this exquisite design and evolution?

When a bird flaps its wings, its wings develop lift due to the physics of air--the Bernoulli Principle--the same principles employed by aircraft to fly. Then, as the bird’s wing rotates forward, the lift is shifted to provide thrust to increase speed to overcome drag. This has the effect of further increasing lift allowing the bird to rise up in the air. Then, in the up-stroke the bird’s wing is folded inwards to reduce resistance. What a cool design!

It's not just the design of the flying mechanism, but the design of air itself and its physical properties that make flight possible. The air surrounding our planet and the water in the oceans, rivers and atmosphere create an environment where life can flourish. The idea that these elements could randomly appear—and integrate so well—is difficult to accept as a working hypothesis because it is lacking in scientific, evidentiary proof. 

There are hundreds of thousands--millions--billions--of design ideas at work on this planet. Design ideas that succeeded. The development of animal flight is just one instance of successful design that should lead the thinking person to deduce that some intelligence was needed to create not only individual instances of successful design, but an environment of matter and physics in which these design ideas could operate. 

Evolution is a powerful force at work in nature. But, it's a huge leap of faith on the part of a believer in random, non-thinking, mechanistic evolution to produce a bird that flies with all the many systems in their brain and anatomy that must cooperate to make this possible. That some non-planned, chaotic, vibration of matter could eventuate into a universe of life in all its forms by chance and without thought has absolutely no evidence to support it.

A theory where some great intelligent system created the universe we live in is not some anthropomorphic urge to create a wise holy father. It is a reasoned, scientific examination of the facts of life. Without the theory of intelligent design, you are left with the theory that all of material creation, all of universe space, even the relativity of time itself, is not the creation of an intelligence beyond our ability to comprehend—it just happened—so forget about it! Or as the songwriter says, “Let the mystery be.”

POSTSCRIPT

Assuming the creator is intelligent enough to create things and life, it's no stretch at all to think that this intelligent system has other attributes similar to a thinking person, only on a grand scale. In other words, that grand intelligence is a being that knows and can be known.

So, there is a Holy Father aspect to my personal belief. It is my belief (again, arising from my own observations) that this intelligent system we call "God" is not only great, but also good. I know my own impulse is to be good, correct, true, honest, trustworthy--all those things we intuitively know are good. It seems logical to me that this impulse for good is shared by the grand creator or creators.

While, you might challenge the premise that the human thinking system is fundamentally good because it's clear that people do horrible things all the time, imagine this thinking system without the need to feed and provide for itself. Take away bad events that may have occurred during childhood. Take away the fear of death, the need to survive. Take away childish emotions like jealousy and feelings of inferiority. Take away fatigue and aging. Take away nationalistic and racial pride, prejudice or shame. Take away ignorance and limited intelligence. Finally, strip away selfishness and, in its place imagine a Father or Mother and their feelings toward their offspring.

If we assume there is a grandfather creator intelligence and that being has no childhood traumas, no need for daily bread and no need to conquer himself. He/she/they exist in pure thought already--no baggage. And this creator regards all his creation as his offspring. It’s easier to understanding that only good exists in the mind of the creator. The thought of an angry God is an absurd and superficial form of anthropomorphism.

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