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.Merely stating that "Creation was a Divine Miracle" does not fulfill the req-uisites of a scientific explanation.Once again, ID proponents are free to believe whatever they please about the origin of the cosmos, but their claim of having scientific "proof' of their religion is utterly empty.Moreover, the very premise of the Kalam argument—i.e.,"everything that begins to exist needs a cause"—has been flatly contradicted by the findings of modern quantum mechanics.The 2 3 9ATHEIST UNIVERSEcentral reason why quantum mechanics is categorized as non-classical physics is its concept of non-causality at the atomic level, where physical states of "existence" and "nonexistence" are ultimately determined.The Kalam argument therefore fails on both the macro and micro levels.William Lane Craig, like all creationists, is hypocritical when discussing the subject of causation.He demands absolute adherence to a strict determinist viewpoint—until the topic of human"free will" is introduced.Flip-flopping yet again, Craig is then forced by his religion and his Bible to claim that humans possess"free will," i n d e p e n d e n t of external causes or exculpatory antecedents.Need I remark that Craig and his sympathizers cite laws of causation on a blatantly ad hoc basis?William Lane Craig truly revealed ID's guiding principle when he said, "Should a conflict arise between the witness of the Holy Spirit to the fundamental truth of the Christian faith and beliefs based on argument and evidence, then it is the former which must take precedence over the latter, not vice versa" (Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, Revised Edition, page 36).Spiritual Rags to RichesTo me, what is among the most annoying habits of ID's writers is their peculiar tendency to plagiarize each other's life stories.Virtually every ID author doles out the identical biographical yarn that, before his awakening to the impeccable logic of Intelligent Design, he was a notorious atheist (e.g., immoral, crude, self-centered).I suspect that such a spiritual rags-to-riches tale goes over well at church revivals and tent meetings.But I have yet to locate a single bit of reliable, independent evidence to corroborate any such personal history of any well-known advocate of Intelligent Design.Their claims to having been morally depraved atheists appear more a theatrical stunt than a reflection of past reality.Such a smear and distortion of atheism, however, are perfectly consistent with past Fundamentalist propaganda.And—have no 2 4 0" I n t e l l i g e n t Design": C h r i s t i a n i t y ' s Newest Cult doubt—the Intelligent Design movement is a Fundamentalist revival disguised in a lab coat.Another life experience common to many ID writers is that their "journey of discovery" from atheism to Jesus began only after a close family member became a born-again Christian.Several of ID's leading spokesmen—among them, Patrick Glynn and Lee Strobel—openly tell their audiences how a loved one's repentance from sin caused bitter arguments and serious marital problems until they themselves saw the light and repented from sin as well.I am reminded here of the famous observation by Eric Hoffer that, when we are pressured by family circumstance to change our opinion about an important issue, our recantation is likely to be genuine, rather than insincere, so that we may honestly look ourselves in the mirror.We may preserve our self-respect if we turned to Jesus "because science pointed the way," but not when "our wives and in-laws nagged our balls off and whipped us into a Fundamentalist mentality." Hoffer's valuable insight also explains why ID's "evidence" of a Creator appears much more convincing to ID's own choir than it does to impartial observers.Presumptuous AnalogiesGenerally speaking, Lee Strobel, William Dembski, Michael Behe, William Lane Craig, Hugh Ross and other ID authors are good writers and speakers, and use colorful analogies and examples in their books.The most common analogies they use to purportedly model the complex interactions of the universe include: (1) pocket watches, (2) computers and (3) mousetraps [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]