[donh]

I will give you a layman's view. When Francis Crick invokes space aliens as the cause of life on earth because spontaneous development would be impossible-- the science has fallen. I'd say the benchmark is the space aliens.

Yes, that would indeed be the view of a layman. However, we do not consult the views of laymen to determine scientific issues, we consult the views of our best specialized scientists as expressed rigorously in the technical journals of their specialization--and nowhere in that venue has abiogenesis fallen. In precise point of fact, in its proper venue, with Woese's work, abiogenesis is a newly healthy subject, after being moribund for some time.

[Tribune7]

Yes, that would indeed be the view of a layman. However, we do not consult the views of laymen to determine scientific issues

Unless you're asking for money. You're not saying that a self-defined "community of experts" should be above scrutiny are you? Remember Carl Sagan predicting a new ice age because of oil well fires in the Gulf War?

we consult the views of our best specialized scientists

Like Francis "ET" Crick?