PKU

PKU

Begun: Saturday, June 4, 2005

Wikipedia, the free online encyclopaedia, describes PKU as a human genetic disorder caused by a defective gene for the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase. If undetected this condition can impede infant brain development that leads to mental retardation. Phenylketonuria (PKU) occurs in about 1 in 15000 births.

Evolution accommodates genetic anomalies such as PKU within its well established framework. Evolution is not a perfect mechanism of replication. Disease is sometimes the product of imperfection. Human engineers would try to eliminate such foibles in their designs.

What use does a creator have for PKU? Why would a designer include a mechanism that would sometimes lead to a defective product? What would we say about a human designer who did that? Comments would not be complementary.

Is it easier to live in an undesigned universe and accept the imperfections that sometimes inconvenience or even harm us or to try to explain why the divine designer devised nefarious processes that result in damaged goods?

If we wish to maintain that there is a divine designer in our midst are we not drawn to the conclusion that He must be either clueless or a monster?

PKU is evidence for an imperfect evolution that operates without knowledge of our preferences. We are at its mercy and must act to correct the results that we do not like. If we envision a deity behind this cold mechanism of development then we spit in the face of His creation as we seek cures for His afflictions. This would not be a deity of love but a dirty devil.

Last: June 25, 2005