Have just discovered a piece that Mark Steel wrote for the Independent in January 2009, taking the mickey out of the Creationists and Intelligent Design, which he suggests is more like “Vindictive Design”, since a god who designed some of the stuff we have to put up with can’t have been very intelligent. Steel wrote:

… if all species were designed, it was hardly done by someone intelligent. If it was, how do you account for the parasitic wasp that lays eggs on its prey so they hatch and eat its victim while it’s still alive?

More to the point, why are your most sensitive nerves at the end of your toe, where they’re most likely to get walloped? Why are men’s nuts in such a vulnerable location, ay? Bloody vindictive design that is. Why do dogs do the squashiest, most unpleasant turds that hide in the grass and spread themselves in the indentations on the bottom of your shoe, but don’t start smelling until you get indoors and then render the place uninhabitable until you’ve left every window open for a month? Why, why, why?

All good questions. If you’d like to read more about the subject, go to our We’re All Monkeys page.