Prager's Chorus
Actually, I almost returned to writing in this blog several days ago when I first came across Dennis Prager's column Monkeys and atheists . As usual, Prager returns to the false alternative between "randomness is the creator" and God as the "Creator/Designer." It was not so much this theme that upset me but the way Prager presents it and the implicit "you would have to be a complete moron to believe otherwise" attitude that pervades the column. At first the column so outraged me that I thought I had to respond to it in detail and take it apart line by line. I even considered writing a reverse column, perhaps titled "Monkeys and theists." But in the end I thought better of it. I reminded myself that I have addressed the essential issue before (although for some reason I can't locate it in my archives). Briefly, the Chance/Randomness vs. Creator/Designer false alternative is resolved via the forgotten third option of Identity/Causality and the absurdities in the culture and science have to do with the decline of reason not the decline of religion. And frankly I have better things to do than constantly harp on Prager's misrepresentations of the supposed consequences of secular thinking.