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From the Editor

The Atheists’ Accident

 

By:  David Deschesne

Editor/Publisher, Fort Fairfield Journal

 

When it comes to the origin of life, especially intelligent life, atheists seek to vehemently rule the possibility of a Divine Creator out of the equation. Instead, they defer to what can be described as nothing short of religious faith in dumb luck and blind chance culminating in a series of meticulously tuned accidents in the universe in order to account for how life as we know it formed all by itself by random acts with no outside influence.

 

Now turn on your brains as I walk you through some of those “accidents” of physics in the universe that atheists hinge their faith on to determine just how likely their theory of life could be.

 

It’s apparently an accident that the atmosphere here on Earth is comprised of 21% oxygen. That exact figure is an anthropic constant that makes life on earth possible. If oxygen were 25 percent fires would erupt spontaneously; if it were 15 percent, human beings would suffocate.

 

It’s apparently an accident that the Earth’s atmosphere is at the transparency it is. If it were less transparent, not enough solar radiation would reach the earth’s surface and life would die; if it were more transparent, we would be bombarded with far too much solar radiation and life would die.

 

It’s apparently an accident that the size relationship of the Earth and moon and their distance from each other creates just the right amount of gravitational pull between the two. If the moon was larger, or closer, the interaction would be greater than it currently is and tidal effects on the oceans, atmosphere and rotational period would be too severe. If the gravitational effects were less, orbital changes would cause climatic instabilities. In either event, life on Earth would be nearly impossible.

 

It’s apparently an accident that our atmosphere constantly regulates itself to always contain the right amount of Carbon Dioxide. If the CO2 level was higher than it is now, we’d all burn up; if the level were lower, plants would not be able to maintain efficient photosynthesis to create new oxygen and we’d all suffocate and/or starve to death because there would be no food to eat.

 

It’s apparently an accident that the force of gravity is the strength it is. If the gravitational force were decreased by a fraction of a percent, it would be incapable of squeezing and heating the matter in the hearts of stars to the many millions of degrees necessary to trigger the nuclear reactions that generate sunlight and ultimately convert hydrogen into carbon, iron, oxygen and all other elements necessary for life. If it were increased a fraction of a percent, stars would burn hotter and faster and burn out more quickly, thus not being around long enough for life to develop on their planets. Either way, if gravity was off by a fraction of a percent, life as we know it would not have had the ability to develop.

 

The level of the strong nuclear force in an atom is apparently an accident. The Strong force is responsible for “gluing” together the atomic nuclei. If it were just a few percent stronger, stars would burn their entire supply of hydrogen in less than one second and consequently explode. If the Strong force were a few percent weaker than it is, it would be too feeble to hold together deuterium, an essential step in the generation of starlight and the first stepping stone in the building of atoms heavier than hydrogen inside stars. Therefore, if the Strong force were just a little stronger or weaker than it is, the universe would lack the heavy atoms that are essential for life. But of course, the atheists say this is merely an accident.

 

It’s also an apparent accident that the weak nuclear force in an atom is as fined tuned as it is. The Weak force governs the interaction of neutrinos with matter. If the Weak force was a little stronger than it is, the neutrinos would interact so much with matter that they would be stopped dead in a star’s core. With no neutrinos left to drive away the outer layers, the explosion of a supernova would stall well before it could rip apart the star and seed space with the essential elements of life. If the Weak force was weaker than it currently is the neutrinos would interact so little with matter that they would escape into space without interacting much at all with the material of the star. Once again, there would be nothing to blow away the star’s outer layers and create a supernova and no essential elements of life such as iron, calcium or iodine—all manufactured inside stars - would be blown into space.

 

The level of entropy (disorder) in the universe is also apparently an accident. If too much greater, the early universe would have been too hot to form galaxies and thus stars would not exist today; on the other hand, if the specific entropy were smaller that its value today, almost all the hydrogen would have been made into helium in the big bang. Stars could then exist, but stars made out of helium are not very luminous and would not support plant life and we’d all starve. If the specific entropy varied from its value today, the universe would be extremely different and probably hostile to the evolution of life.

 

It’s also apparently an accident that electrons obey the exclusion principle. If they didn’t, and the electron orbits were slightly different than they are, then oxygen and carbon would not be able to combine to support human life and all other elements would find their electrons clustering into the first shell, unable to interact efficiently with most other elements. Thus, life would not have been able to arise.

 

The delicate balance of the metabolic activity of a living cell is also apparently a chance accident. If ATP is not regulated properly, and thus the subsequent products GDP AMP and ADP then metabolism fails. When the regulation of metabolism fails, the result is illness or death.

 

The highly complex 30+ step cascade process that creates a blood clot in mammals is also apparently an irreducibly complex accident. If any of the chemicals are released too soon or in too great an amount, the mammal’s blood would solidify throughout the body; or it would never clot and the mammal would bleed to death. Either way, death would result unless everything in the clotting process worked flawlessly. (The clotting process is also one that could not have developed by a sequence of small steps gradually improving upon the original design as evolution dictates. With blood clotting, all the chemicals and pathways had to be there at the beginning or the blood clotting mechanism would never work, but the atheist says the 30+ step cascade process just appeared on the scene fully functioning as just another random accident that allows life to exist).

 

The highly specified chemicals adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine form a DNA sequence billions of characters long that contain the entire blueprint of a living organism. DNA can not replicate by itself without cellular mechanics to metabolize the process. Cellular mechanics cannot exist by themselves without a DNA strand with highly specific instructions encoded within it to tell the cell how to function so it can replicate the DNA. The atheist simply says all these chemicals and mechanics formed together in a pre-biotic soup by accident without one shred of evidence to support their claim. Instead, they latch onto it with the religious fervor on par with the most devout Christian’s belief in God.

 

The centrifugal force of planetary movements being precisely balanced is also an apparent accident. If it were slightly more or less powerful, nothing could be held in orbit around the sun and life would never have arisen.

The rate of the universe’s expansion is also an apparent accident. If it had expanded at a rate of one millionth more slowly than it did, expansion would have stopped, and the universe would have collapsed on itself before any stars had been formed; if it had expanded faster, then no galaxies would have formed.

 

The speed of light is also an apparent accident. Even a slight variation in light’s speed would alter the other constants in the universe and preclude the possibility of life on earth.

 

The water vapor levels in the atmosphere are an apparent accident. If levels were greater than they are now, a runaway greenhouse effect would cause temperatures to rise too high for human life; if they were less, an insufficient greenhouse effect would make the earth too cold to support human life.

 

The fact that Jupiter is in its current orbit and has the mass it does is also apparently an accident. If it were not in its current orbit, earth would be bombarded with space material such as asteroids and comets. Jupiter’s gravitational field acts as a cosmic vacuum cleaner, attracting asteroids and comets that would otherwise strike earth.

 

The thickness of the earth’s crust is also apparently an accident. If the thickness of the crust was much greater, too much oxygen would be transferred to the crust to allow the atmosphere to support human life; if it were thinner, volcanic and tectonic activity would make human life impossible.

 

The rotation rate of the earth is also an apparent accident. If it took longer than 24 hours, temperature differences would be too great between night and day; if it were shorter, atmospheric wind velocities would be too great.

 

The tilt of the earth’s axis is also an apparent accident. If the tilt were altered slightly, surface temperatures would be too extreme to support advanced life.

 

The discharge rate of electricity (lightening) in the atmosphere is also apparently an accident. If it were greater, there would be too much fire destruction; if it were less, there would be too little nitrogen fixing in the soil and plants would die—thus we would starve.

 

The rate of seismic activity is also an apparent accident. If more seismic activity much more life would be lost; if less, nutrients on the ocean floors and in river runoff would not be cycled back to the continents through tectonic uplift. Thus, plants would die and we would starve.

 

The electromagnetic force constant is also an apparent accident. If larger or smaller, there would be insufficient chemical bonding.

 

The ratio of electromagnetic force constant to gravitational force constant is also an apparent accident. If it was larger, no stars less than 1.4 solar masses, hence short stellar life spans and uneven stellar luminosities; if smaller, no stars more than 0.9 solar masses, hence no heavy element production.

 

The ratio of electron to proton mass is also an accident. If larger or smaller, there would be insufficient chemical bonding.

 

The ratio of numbers of protons to electrons is also an apparent accident. If larger or smaller, electromagnetism would dominate gravity, preventing galaxy, star and planet formation.

 

The mass density of the universe is also an apparent accident. If larger, there would be too much deuterium from the big bang, hence too few heavy, life-supporting elements forming; if smaller, there would be insufficient helium from the big bang, hence too few heavy, life-supporting elements forming.

 

The current age of the universe is also an apparent accident. If it was older, no solar-type stars in a stable burning phase in the right part of the galaxy to support life; if younger, solar-type stars in a stable burning phase would not yet have been formed.

 

The initial uniformity of radiation also seems to be an accident. If smoother, stars, star clusters and galaxies would not have formed; if coarser, the universe by now would be mostly black holes and empty space; either way, no life would have developed.

 

The fine structure constant (a number used to describe the fine structure splitting of spectral lines) is also an apparent accident. If larger, DNA would be unable to function; no stars more than 0.7 solar masses would be in existence; if smaller, DNA would be unable to function, no stars less than 1.8 solar masses.

 

The average distance between galaxies also seems to be an accident. If larger, insufficient gas would be infused into our galaxy to sustain star formation over an adequate time span; if smaller, the sun’s orbit would be too radically disturbed.

 

The average distance between stars also seems to be an accident. If larger, heavy element density too thin for rocky planets to form; if smaller, planetary orbits would become destabilized.

 

The decay rate of a proton seems to be an accident. If greater, life would be exterminated by the release of radiation; if smaller, there would be insufficient matter in the universe for life.

 

The 12Carbon to 16Oxygen ratio seems to also be an accident. If larger, there would be insufficient oxygen; if smaller, there would be insufficient carbon. Either way, advanced life would not exist.

 

The ground level state of 4Helium is also an apparent accident. If larger or smaller, there would be insufficient carbon and oxygen for life to exist.

 

The decay rate of 8Beryllium is also an apparent accident. If slower, heavy element fusion would generate catastrophic explosions in all the stars; if faster, no element production beyond beryllium and, hence, no life chemistry possible.

 

The mass excess of neutron over proton is also an apparent accident. If greater, neutron decay would leave too few neutrons to form the heavy elements essential to life; if smaller, proton decay would cause all stars to collapse rapidly into neutron stars or black holes.

 

The initial excess of nucleons over anti-nucleons also seems to be an accident. If greater, too much radiation for planets to form; if smaller, not enough matter for galaxies or stars to form.

 

The polarity of the water molecule also seems to be an accident. if greater, heat of fusion and vaporization would be too great for life to exist; if smaller, heat of fusion and vaporization would be too small for life’s existence, liquid water would become too inferior a solvent for life chemistry to proceed; ice would not float, leading to a runaway freeze-up.

 

The rate of supernova explosions is also an apparent accident. If too close, radiation would exterminate life on the planet; if too far, not enough heavy element ashes for the formation of rocky planets; if too frequent, life on the planet would be exterminated; if too infrequent, not enough heavy element ashes for the formation of rocky planets.

 

The rate of white dwarf binaries in existence also seems to be a complete accident. If too few, there would be insufficient fluorine produced for life chemistry to proceed; if too many, there would be disruption of planetary orbits from stellar density, life on the planet would be exterminated; if too soon, not enough heavy elements made for efficient fluorine production; if too late, fluorine made too late for incorporation into proto-planet.

 

The rate of exotic matter to ordinary matter is also an apparent accident. If smaller, galaxies would not form; if larger, the universe would collapse before solar type stars could form.

 

These are just some of the scientific discoveries that show just how precisely balanced our earth, solar system and universe is in order for human life to exist in it. Those who believe in God would attribute all of these finely detailed points to an intelligent creator who deeply cares about his creation and is paying close attention to how everything in that creation interacts with each other in order for life to continue to exist. Atheists, however, in a futile attempt to rule God out of the equation simply default to the nonsensical “accident” theory where they claim everything just happens to be exactly and precisely the way it is all by itself.

Either position requires faith of the believer to hold their position as true.

My belief is that a caring, intelligent and loving God—the God of the Holy Bible—did this. What’s your belief?

 

Bibliography

Information for this editorial gleaned from the following sources:

 

- The Creator and the Cosmos, Hugh Ross Ph.D. ©1993 Reasons to Believe

- Darwin’s Black Box, ©1996 Michael J. Behe

- The Quantum World, Kenneth Ford, ©2005 The President and Fellows of Harvard College.

- Perfect Symmetry, ©1985 Heinz Pagels

- The Universe Next Door, ©2002 Marcus Chown

- I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, ©2004 Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek

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