Letters: Debating the origins of the universe

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The letter "Facts of Life" (June 1) made the claim that the evidence for evolution is so overwhelming that it is indisputable. This no doubt reflects the general level of public discourse on the matter, but it has no relation to what is happening in the real world.

The writer seems blissfully unaware of the desperate battle being fought at the forefront of the sciences by the last "hold-outs" of the theory of evolution, and the growing number of proponents of intelligent design.

Serious academic heavyweights such as biochemist Dr Michael Behe, astrophysicist Dr Hugh Ross, and geophysicist Dr Stephen Meyer have taken the fight to their naturalistic counterparts and demonstrated the overwhelming "appearance of design" from the farthest reaches of the cosmos, down to the tiniest aspects of nano-biology.

Furthermore, with each new scientific discovery, our understanding of the utterly mind-bending complexity of nature grows, and the odds against it all having happened by chance grow exponentially.

People love to posit cogent arguments for a purely naturalistic explanation for the origin of the universe.

The fallacy is every single one of them relies on an underlying assumption that cannot be supported. In simple terms, every single informed hold-out for evolution relies on the pre-existing belief in the non-existence of God.

Their posit is that, since there is no supernatural cause, all evidence that points in that direction is automatically discounted without rational consideration.

The enlightened believer labours in vain against such a dogmatic, irrational, unscientific, and foundationally unstable world view.

JACK SHALLARD
Rotorua

Spatial plan
Nobody is denying that Rotorua is having a growth spurt. But, like house prices, can sustained growth out to 2050 be assumed for spatial planning purposes?

The Residents and Ratepayers' Alternative Spatial Plan cited a range of demographic research studies to conclude (page 14) that "a prudent spatial planning strategy should therefore include projections for population surges and periods of stagnation, and decline in the longer term, and use four dimensions; people, profit, planet and progress".

No such subtlety from the acting mayor (Letters, June 5). He used one source and a short time frame to predict that Rotorua "will be upgraded in status to a medium growth area".

And more, "should Rotorua's rate of growth increase even further", council should move "quickly to complete our spatial plan consultation with our community to support investment decisions like Te Ngae Rd".

It was pity he mentioned Te Ngae Rd. It was the decision not to redesignate the long-planned Eastern Arterial that will guarantee congestion for many years. Why speed up planning that creates such disasters?

It was also a pity that council said it would not be responding to Spatial Plan submissions before the deadline. This week we see a new PR strategy; an aggressive public defence of the council's draft Spatial Plan and an extended deadline (to get the answer right?).

[ABRIDGED]
REYNOLD MACPHERSON
Rotorua