[MHGinTN]

"Since the one and only atribute that is claimed is deliberate, intelligent purpose, it is fair to ask about motives and purpose, particularly in regard to the bacterial flagellum, which seems particularly well designed to kill young children. ... What was the designer thinking about?" Your query is just a strawman, since you posed the unspoken assumption that the designer made flagellum TO kill children, or the designer made flagellum stupidly because flagellum do occasionally kill children. The randomness of evolutionary process can be just as culpable in the divergence from first intents as this 'dumb' designer you seem to pose. That you or I cannot see back through every step, to the origin of the flagellum in relation to the life then extant does not mean a mistake may have been made. Just as throwing out the workable theory of evolution just because we cannot see back through every step prior to our advent would be poor reasoning.

[js1138]

The randomness of evolutionary process can be just as culpable in the divergence from first intents as this 'dumb' designer you seem to pose.

ID advocates say the flagellum is nearly unique among life structures in that there is no way to reach its functionality through a series of step mutations. That is the cornerstone, the poster child of the ID movement. Behe testified under oath that the designer of the flagellum is God.

I merely find it odd that the Signature of God is something that lives in feces and kills children. My observation isn't scientific; it's an expression of curiosity.