Intelligent Design (a Religious Issue)

Introduction

There has been a recent push by many individuals towards the idea of Intelligent Design and away from Evolution. The idea behind Intelligent Design is that some intelligence was needed to create life. That is, life is too complex to have evolved on its own through the natural forces of the universe. Therefore, the complexity of the universe can only be explained by a creator. However, there are more than a few flaws in this logic.

Overly Complex

First, living things are so complex and have so many flaws that it is very easy for something to go wrong. One only needs to check the medical books to see all the ailments, maladies, genetic defects, syndromes, and other problems that afflict us human beings. It does not seem logical that any intelligence would purposefully create something that was as complex and flawed as life is on Earth. If I wanted to create life, I would want to create something that was elegant (i.e., simple, but versatile).

In many respects, our genetic code is like a computer program. When a programmer designs and writes a program, he or she is limited by what already exists, which includes the computer operating system, the programming language and any existing code. These limitations will force the programmer to write more code that is more complex than is desired and that is more vulnerable to failure. Over time, the program may be further enhanced by the same or different programmers and may continue to get more complex.

On the other hand, if a programmer could start from scratch and write an operating system, programming language and code specifically designed to what he or she wanted to create, then things could turn out much simpler. However, it would take much longer to create the computer program.

Evolution

Next, let us, for the moment, assume that God did create Adam and Eve, and that we all did descend from them. Then, how did we get the current diversity in the human population? Well, it had to be some form of evolution. The truth of the fact that living things change and evolve is all around us.

Throughout history, we have even used evolutionary forces to domesticate plants and animals. Especially today, with the pressures that our modern society places on the environment, we can, within our own lifetimes, see these changes taking place in the plants, animals, and diseases around us. Therefore, it should be obvious, to anyone who looks, that Evolution can create complex changes.

There are many things that affect how an organism evolves from generation to generation. The forces that influence the evolution of life include the weather, natural disasters, competition from other organisms, and the availability of food and water. On the other hand, this still leaves open the possibility that supernatural forces could, to some small extent, be influencing evolution.

Creator

Now, let us again, for the moment, assume that God did create life on Earth. This would mean that God must have had much more intelligence than we have. Where did God get all this intelligence? Intelligence is a very complex thing. Therefore, according to Intelligent Design, God could not have evolved intelligence, so God must have been created.

Then, who or what created God? It would have to have been an even greater and more intelligent being. We all should be able to see where this is leading.

The only answer is that, at some point, something must have evolved from something simpler. The scientific evidence strongly suggests that life on Earth evolved from simple single celled organisms which were created through natural means without the intervention of any supernatural being. Then those simple organisms evolved on their own into the diverse life forms we have today.

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