I don’t lay any obligation on you to accept anything. I don’t lay any obligation on anyone to accept anything.
I agree. But it’s pretty hard to converse here for long, or even watch conversations here, and not notice (I’m not speaking of your posts) a sentiment that strongly leans in the direction of (even if it never comes out and says it) that religion is bunk, false, and on the whole bad for humanity. And where this sentiment is expressed, it’s frequently couched in this sort of epistemology: “science – reliable knowledge; philosophy – dubious or bogus knowledge; theology and religion – non-knowledge, error, socially regressive error.” The tone and lines of argument are scientistic, even if no one here openly endorses the epistemology of scientism.
Well, if by that you mean that when Denton and others reason from certain kinds of order in the universe to the existence of a rational mind behind it, you aren’t going to argue against it, because it’s philosophy and not science, and you’re only interested in science, then we have no quarrel.
As I said, it’s a matter of indifference to me whether ID arguments are called “scientific” arguments for design or “philosophical” arguments for design (reasoning from certain scientific discoveries). My only point in posting the bit about Townes was to show (a) that one can have reached the highest levels of scientific accomplishment, and still find the idea of design very credible; and (b) that it is not just people from the ID sphere, such as Denton, who have suggested that design and evolution can be simultaneously true. If these two facts are conceded by the ID-haters here, I’m different whether they then go on to praise Townes, rip his arguments apart, or ignore his statements all together. They can discuss his view here if they like, or not.
If there is no interest in discussing or debating his views, then I recommend that people just stop responding, and in 7 days the thread will be closed. I wouldn’t be offended. Not everything posted here generates discussion. That’s just a fact of life.
Best wishes.