Banana's proof that God Exists? Why not?

Yesterday, an article published at The Economist started by quoting the video above:

“BEHOLD, the atheist’s nightmare,” declares Ray Comfort, an Australian evangelist, as he holds up a banana in a hugely popular video on YouTube. The fruit, he says, testifies to God’s creative genius. It comes with a colour-coding system that shows when it is ready to eat (green is too early, black too late); an easily gripped, biodegradable wrapper; and a “tab at the top” which, unlike that on a can of soda, works so well that when you pull it “the contents don’t squirt in your face.”

Not everyone is convinced. One video response points out that the banana only achieved its user-friendly qualities through evolution over many centuries of farming.

In fact, the article is not about if bananas are a proof that God exists. It is about a new drink using banana that is somehow "resurrecting" Starbucks.

Maybe bananas don't prove that God exists. But the reasoning behind the funny video is not as ridiculous as some people think. In 1968, in his book Language and Mind, Noam Chomsky, the famous linguist, one of the world's most respected intellectuals, and no friend of religion, stated: "It is perfectly safe to attribute this development [of human language] to natural selection so long as we realize that there is no substance to this assertion, that it amounts to nothing more than a belief that there is some naturalistic explanation for these phenomena."

More recently, in 2003, Dr. Michael Covington, a highly respected artificial intelligence scholar at the University of Georgia, stated: "The emergence of human language and consciousness happened quickly and required major changes in the architecture of the brain. There is no plausible mechanism for how it happened as quickly as it did".

Still, in the April 2002 issue of Scientific American, Ian Tattersall draws the following conclusion: "In light of what we know about evolution, it seems most likely that our extraordinary cognitive capacity was somehow acquired as a unit, rather than in a gradual process of modular accretion, for it is plainly wrong to regard natural selection as a long-term fine-tuning of specific characteristics, however much we like the resulting stories."

This remembers me so much of what Paul, the apostle, wrote in his epistle to the Romans:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. (Chapter 1, verses 18-22)

In an issue dedicated to futurism, the November 1992 Time magazine asked prominent authors to make previsions of what the year 2092 would reveal. The article about science and religion brought an interesting prevision:

It seems amazing now that there was a time when science was supposedly the enemy of faith, and religion was deemed hostile to technological investigation. The end of atheism and agnosticism became inevitable as soon as computer calculations made improbable the odds that random natural selection could be the sole explanation for the ever increasing intricacies found in biology.

Maybe we will have to wait until 2092. Or maybe Jesus will just came back before this...

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (...) Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. (2nd Epistle General of Peter, chapter 2, verses 8-10 and 17-18)

Recommended reading:

Henry F. Schaefer. Science and Christianity: Conflict or Coherence? University of Georgia, Georgia, USA, 2003. http://www.apollostrust.com/