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> dhw: [i]Here is an alternative explanation for the weaverbird&apos;s nest: early birds had the intelligence to realize it would be safer to make their homes in trees, and they used the available materials to build simple nests. The weaverbird has a particular flair for intelligent design, and his nest is therefore a lot more complex. It is not unusual in Nature for different species to come up with variations of greater or lesser complexity. They use what may be their God-given intelligence to work out their own solutions to problems.[/i]-DAVID: [i]Neat just-so story. Did Wally Weaver really need something so complex, which takes great time and energy? Perhaps he was the Frank Lloyd Wright of bird architects. No efficiency here.[/i]-I expect Wally&apos;s nest serves his purpose admirably. Your alternative? Your God preprogrammed the nest 3.8 billion years ago or gave Wally private tuition, because the complex nest was necessary for God to balance Nature in order to feed human beings. Now that really is a just-so story.-dhw: [i]&#147;He doesn&apos;t work that way&#148; suggests you know how he works! ..... I have offered a different interpretation of the way God may work. What is wrong with that? If God exists, every attempt to explain the nature of our world has to be an attempt to understand his intentions and his methods.[/i]-DAVID: [i]But you want very specific intents and I prefer to draw with a broad brush. [/i] There could scarcely be a narrower intent than evolution having the sole purpose of producing and feeding humans. Your broad brush smudges out all the inconsistencies of such a hypothesis, as above re the weaverbird.-dhw: [i]According to you, evolution has proceeded in accordance with what your God wanted, and so the concept of live creatures eating other live creatures was his invention. (In passing, I didn&apos;t know lions had the freedom of will and/or action to become vegetarian if they wanted to.)[/i] DAVID: [i]Their guts and metabolism are built for meat, I&apos;m sure.[/i]-Of course they are. And according to you, that&apos;s what God wanted, and according to me that&apos;s a pretty gruesome system of survival. Yes, I am a softy, and no, I like eating my fish and my turkey, and yes, I think non-carnivorous evolution would have been &#147;nicer&#148;!  No need to go into further details!