Missing the Obvious
Lone Ranger and Tonto
The Lone Ranger and Tonto are
camping in the desert, set up their tent, and are asleep. Some hours
later, The Lone Ranger wakes his faithful friend.
"Tonto, look up and tell me what you see."
Tonto replies, "Me see millions of stars."
"What does that tell you?" asks The Lone Ranger.
Tonto ponders for a minute.
"Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of
galaxies and potentially billions of planets.
Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo.
Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three.
Theologically, it's evident the Lord is all powerful and we are small and
insignificant.
Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.
What it tell you, Kemo Sabi?"
The Lone Ranger is silent for a moment, then speaks.
"Tonto, you Dumb Hoss, someone has stolen our tent."
The above joke is a good lesson in missing the obvious. Chances are that you were surprised by the Lone Ranger's response. However, the first sentence of the joke tells you that the Lone Ranger and Tonto were camping in a tent. It should have been clear at Tonto's first response that he was missing the obvious.
Likewise, those who have already decided that God does not exist and that all processes must have a naturalistic explanation, do not see the obvious evidence that the universe was designed, rather than happened by chance. As discussed on another page, rational explanations for the creation of the universe come down to two main possibilities:
- Design by an intelligent being
- Happened by random chance
What are the differences between the two creators?
| Characteristic | God | Super Universe |
| Transcendence | Yes | Yes |
| Eternal | Yes | Yes |
| Creation of Universe | Designed | Random |
| Intelligence | High | Stupid |
What we see in the table is a comparison of the two possible types of creators. Both creators must possess certain characteristics in common, such as being eternal and being transcendent to this universe. However, the naturalistic creator must be "stupid" and must have created our exquisitely-designed universe through some sort of random process. For some reason, the atheist chooses to believe that the universe arose randomly by the action of a stupid creator, instead of seeing the obvious - that a well-designed universe would most likely come into being through the actions of an intelligent designer. Let me give you an example. I show you a computer and ask you to make your best choice as to how it came into being:
- Designed and put together by intelligent human beings.
- Random computer parts were put into a large box and the parts soldered randomly by spraying molten lead into the box as it was rotated. This process was continued many times until the computer happened to be produced.
Well, its your choice. Have you checked your tent lately?
Today's New Reason To Believe
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- 05/16/2008 12:05 AM
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Hobbit Walk Speaks Volumes
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SDSS Measurements Confirm Existence of Dark Energy
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Statements about Science that Bother Me, Part 1 (of 3)
Kenneth Richard Samples On the Internet the other day I came across a forum that used the following statement as a discussion thread: There’s just no point arguing with science unless you are a scientist. Have you ever come across a statement, like this one, that just sticks in ... - 05/12/2008 03:57 AM
Evolution as Mythology, Part 2 (of 5): Evolution is not a Scientific Theory
Editor’s note: Today we present an article by guest scholars Dr. Hugh Henry, Ph.D. , Daniel J. Dyke, M.Div., M.Th., and Dr. Charles Cruze, Ph.D. A previous article noted how the theory of evolution evinces characteristics of a myth. This article will consider how it measures up to the ... - 05/09/2008 12:05 AM
Bombarded by Design
David H. Rogstad, Ph.D. “Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose.” — Richard Dawkins, atheist biologist, in The Blind Watchmaker “Biologists must constantly keep in mind that what they see was ... - 05/08/2008 12:05 AM
Explanation for Origin-of-Life’s Molecular Handedness is Insoluble
Posted by Fazale ‘Fuz’ Rana, Ph.D. Another Mechanism to Explain Origin of Homochirality Questioned One of my teenage daughters is left-handed. And nobody in our family wants to sit next to her when we eat at the table. It’s not because she has bad manners. It’s because her ...
Last Modified March 10, 2005
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