Evolution and atheism (Introduction)

by dhw, Wednesday, February 20, 2013, 20:11 (4295 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: What remains is the mystery of how the intelligence got into the genome in the first place. Our panentheist David thinks he knows the answer. So, presumably, does the atheist Brian Cox.-DAVID: Cox does not have the answer. He assumes it is chance. -No-one has the answer. My post means that Brian Cox, just like you, THINKS he knows the answer.-DAVID: Information and intelligence have to come from intelligence. There is no other source. Look at the entry about Dr. Tour who doubts Darwin.-I have looked at Dr Tour, have commented very favourably on his article (see my post of 19 Feb. at 19.58 under "7 Nobel Anti-Darwin"), and have quoted his complimentary remarks about Darwin. When someone expresses doubts about aspects of Darwin's theory, I do wish people would not label it "anti-Darwin". This suggests total opposition to the whole of evolution, whereas Tour is quite explicit about the area of his doubts: "Some are disconcerted or even angered that I signed a statement back in 2001 along with over 700 other scientists: "We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged." He accepts microevolution, and I have found nothing to indicate that he rejects common descent, but: "I simply do not understand, chemically, how macroevolution could have happened."
 
And I do wish, just as he does, that people would not assume his doubts put him on the side of ID - a ploy often used by theists and atheists alike when anyone raises a single objection to Darwin's theory:-"I have been labeled as an Intelligent Design (ID) proponent. I am not. I do not know how to use science to prove intelligent design although some others might. I am sympathetic to the arguments on the matter and I find some of them intriguing, but the scientific proof is not there, in my opinion."-You think the answer is ID. Cox thinks the answer is chance. Tour doesn't offer an answer. He is simply bewildered. And clearly he has not allowed the fact that he is a practising Christian to cloud his scientific judgement.