Art Mathers, in his Jan. 17 letter to the editor arguing for "intelligent design," rehashes the theological Argument from Design — a proposition riddled with logical fallacies and thoroughly discredited.

Mathers believes that the complexity of living organisms implies a designer, much like a watch implies a watchmaker. However, his argument is a non sequitur; complexity does not imply a deity.

On the contrary, biological principles that operate according to the characteristics of the substances involved can develop into complex arrangements. Moreover, Mathers' argument falls short because, if accepted, he is left with a deity that himself had to be designed — a scenario that would lead to an infinite regress.

What does Mathers make of "design flaws" such as congenital anomalies? Did the omnipotent and infallible "designer" make an error?

What about ex-nihlo creation violating the laws of thermodynamics?

"Intelligent design" is nothing more than Biblical creationism given the false veneer of science to allow it to claim a prestige to which it has no right. It is overt mysticism and denies facts such as evolution, which even the Vatican accepts, in order to advance an agenda that has abetted the destruction of the scientific reasoning ability of our populace, who consistently are outpaced by other nations in scientific education.