Hi, Blacknad. Some bones to pick with you:
You said:
"It interests me that you include the word 'marvellous'. Try as materialists might, they cannot get away from invoking such words when they talk about the universe"
and
"marvellous: being or having the character of a miracle "
I found three definitions of marvellous (below). It's no coincidence that you chose No.2 is it? - when it's quite obvious that Ellis chose No.1. I, also, am inclined to use such words from time to time with reference to the cosmos or, equally, to it's more miniscule contents. Is there a problem with that, or must such words be reserved for religious experience?
1 : causing wonder : astonishing
2 : miraculous, supernatural ?Gothic tales of the marvellous and the bizarre?
3 : of the highest kind or quality : notably superior ?has a marvellous way with children?
You said:
"...Atheist Professor Anthony Flew who, after decades of aggressive atheism, renounced it all and said that advances in the understanding of cosmology and genetics made it clear that there was AN OVERWHELMING ARGUMENT TO DESIGN"
Given an hour or so, I could give a long list of links to the views of other professors who make it clear that there is AN OVERWHELMING ARGUMENT AGAINST [intelligent] DESIGN.
As for rationality, Intelligent Design adherents might be harmless enough if they didn't propagate opposition to rational scientific research. Unfortunately that?s exactly what they do.
