Q&A: From The Origin of Species to the origin of bacterial flagella
From The Origin of Species to the origin of bacterial flagella
Question
Hello and greetings,
I am a biology teacher at a religious high school. I bought your book in order to answer for myself and for my students the supposedly contradictory relationship between science and faith.
On a personal level, from studying and understanding the wondrous complexity of nature and of the human body, I have no doubt that there exists an entity that is beyond the laws of nature.
At the same time, in your book God Plays Dice you argue that the development of the bacterial flagellum indicates that intelligent design is necessary. However, in the article PALLEN, Mark J.; MATZKE, Nicholas J. From The Origin of Species to the origin of bacterial flagella. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2006, 4.10: 784-790. they argue that the article provides strong evidence that the bacterial flagellum developed gradually through evolutionary processes, and was not created all at once. It emphasizes the importance of understanding evolution as a tool for explaining complexities in nature, and refutes the claims of intelligent design proponents.
I would appreciate a thoughtful response regarding this article
Answer
It seems to me that you wrote the question the moment you reached the discussion of the flagellum. Keep reading.
In my book I wrote the exact opposite. The entire thesis is that I do not argue with neo-Darwinians about science, and that there is no need for that at all.
You are invited to look at what Michael Behe writes in his books on this point. He addresses these specific claims of Matzke.