BB thank you for the ping.
FWIW, not being the greatest scientific mind I try to break discussions down to the simplest point possible. In this case, the argument for or against a designer of nature, it seems the question is how did inorganic matter become organic and then self replicating. The deeper question of course is where did the matter come from. For me the answer is obvious.
However, I have a good friend who is in charge of the biology department at a prestigious medical school. He runs the research dept and teaches medical students. He will agree there is no explanation for how inorganic matter became organic and then self replicating, but continues to deny there was a designer that caused it.
One gathers that not a few scientists nowadays are committed to a posture of agnosticism in the face of the obvious.
Whatever. One senses that, today, an academic scientist who believes that God created the universe would be regarded in horror by most of his colleagues. Plus he would probably have enormous difficulty in obtaining research grants. Better just keep your mouth shut, or the editors at the prestigious science journals will refuse to publish your work.
To me, the enforcement of conformity, even orthodoxy, in science today is profoundly troubling.
I wish your friend well, wmfights. Thank you so very much for writing!
Thank you so much for sharing your insights, dear brother in Christ!