On Thu, 01 Feb 2001 15:43:42 -0600, "M.A. Smith" wrote:

>Since you think that faith and logic are mutually exclusive, I was
>motivated to add my two cents.
>
>I have spent most of my life questioning the existence of a creator. I
>had been agnostic for years until I decided that I wanted something more
>in my life than what this lonely position (agnosticism) offered. The
>person who believes strictly in logic may not believe that we create our
>own reality. I do. One logistician surmised that since you can neither
>prove nor disprove the existence of a divine being, doesn't it make sense
>to come down on the side of a blind faith, just in case?
>
>Then I heard this metaphor (roughly paraphrased): "The odds that life
>just randomly occurred are the same as those of a tornado plowing through
>a junk yard and creating a Boeing 757." The parameters for the conditions
>allowing life to occur on earth, as it has, are amazingly narrow. Maybe
>with a nearly infinite amount of solar systems in a like quantity of
>galaxies, these parameters were met by luck. A colossaly lucky role of
>the dice. My bet goes the other way. We are not alone.
>
>I am certainly not here to proselytize. I know someone who has a strict
>faith in logic can shake off this reasoning. But it seems to me there is
>a better than 50% chance for the big guy.

I come down on the side of "the big gal" who sets down
the "rules of the game", then sets off "the big bang"
that starts it all, and then just watches what
develops...;-)
(My $01.238673985641105497... worth! ;-)