Reply To: Okay, Nerdy Keith, I'll bite: Why would someone be a deist?

[Nerdy Keith]

Davis wrote:

On one hand…completion is on its way…but on the otherhand…we can never say the universe is done.

Davis I was referring to this comment you made. I was just wondering what you meant by “completion is on its way”. I don’t actually view the universe as a project; I’m just open to the plausibility of it existing due to an external first cause.

Well I don’t agree that they are “epic failures”. I think many people are so used to hearing the Christian intelligent design where; every aspect of creation is hand crafted by a revealed deity; that it can be very different to the idea of basically “deistic evolution” for a better phrase.

They key here is to say for argument sake that the God of nature is real. Just imagine that for a second. If that where they case what conditions and criteria would need to be present for the universe to come about in this way? In my view this deity needs to create a universe externally without interfering when the ball is rolling (so to speak). So therefore it would need to devise processes like the big bang and evolution to go about this; while also setting up laws of nature to maintain order within nature.

I think perhaps you may have misunderstood where I was going with my comment about a completed universe. I’m actually denying the possibility of a completed or finished universe. The ongoing formation of the universe; as far as I am concerned is eternal. I have the very same view on evolution as it happens. I don’t think that any one specie will be at the end of the evolutionary process; humans aren’t even at the end of our evolutionary process.

Now returning to this idea of a flawed design or arguably flawed universe. It is only flawed as far as human beings are concerned. What we might subjectively find more desirable to us; may not be suitable to the rest of the universe. There is a lot we just don’t know about the rest of the universe; so I would argue that it is likely that the harshness of nature may be actually essential to maintain balance and order within the universe itself.