Tony, I like your take on some of your articles, and I welcome your challenges, but the problem with this one is you're not qualified to make the assertions you make any better than anyone else. You start with several incorrect assumptions about existence and God and then build a weak argument from there.

The other thing is, like you say in your bio, your whole purpose is to debunk religion, so you lose your credibility as a scientific authority right there. You're not objectively seeking the truth, which is not science. Instead, you appear to have an axe to grind, and that reduces your articles to near satire.

I will agree that there are many scientifically stupid religious and mystic people out there practicing their quackery. But don't forget that many brilliant scientists acknowledge that science falls far short of explaining the universe's origins. They are more open-minded to a creating force.

In my view, religion boils down to a branch of philosophy held by people trying to understand how everything came to be. They put on weird hats and cloaks at some point and started making up rituals and dancing around rings of fire. Strange, yes, but the primary question of existence still remains within that weird branch of philosophy and also within science. The two can mutually exist if one isn't derailed by religious weirdness or atheistic dogma.

That said, having honest questions about our origins, and wondering if an intelligent force is out there steering it, is not strange at all, and it's neither a scientific nor religious question. It just is what it is; a question. And that question is no stranger than someone who believes that everything came from nothing, and existence sprang from non-existence, as atheists hold.

Best wishes for 2023.