There’s an interesting review, by Logan Paul Gage, of Francis S. Collins’s book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. In a backhanded way, Gage makes a good point: Collins is very eager to find design in physical cosmology (not his expertise), but soundly rejects a similar form of reasoning in biology (his own field).

Sigh. At least intelligent design proponents are somewhat consistent. They see design all around. It’s a gross mistake, but hell, if you’re going to screw up, might as well do it in style. What I don’t entirely understand is the sizable group of more liberal-minded theists who see design in areas that just happen not to be their particular expertise. Collins just makes an ass of himself in his discussion of physical cosmology. I’ve also encountered a handful of physicists who have no interest in introducing any designing intelligence to solve physics problems, but who entertained a suspicion that biological entities were just too intricate to be assembled by natural means. Naturally, biology was not their strong suit.