"The simplest RNA strand has complexity and long-range order. If SETI received ordered signals from deep space, it would interpret them as a sign of intelligence. But when scientists see the complexity and order of an RNA strand, they ignore this evidence in favour of their humanist assumption that it must have been a natural process. This is proof of scientists' dogmatic mindset."

This is a particularly clever deception on the part of creationists, although like all of their other arguments, it dates back to the previous century (slightly updated to account for SETI). But it is a simple lie- scientists will only interpret order as evidence of intelligence when they cannot conceive of an explanation for that order that comes from natural processes (remember Occam's Razor- we don't introduce unnecessary terms into an explanation).

The universe is full of natural order, found in places ranging from the mundane (eg- the pretty patterns of a snowflake), to the microscopic (eg- the crystal lattice structure of a diamond), to the astronomically massive (eg- the most remarkably accurate timepiece in the universe: a pulsar). None of these things are interpreted as proof of intelligent design in spite of the fact that they contain order, for the simple reason that a mechanistic explanation is possible.

So why should the ordered chemical structure of RNA be interpreted as proof of intelligent design? Should we also consider the ordered benzene ring to be proof of intelligent design? Should we consider the incredibly accurate timed signals of pulsars (more accurate than any clock on Earth) to be proof of extraterrestrial intelligence? Since the sun is round instead of having a chaotic shape, do we interpret this as proof of intelligent design? Is the intricate pattern of a snowflake proof of intelligent design? Since every snowflake is different, does this mean that God spends all of the winter months designing snowflakes?

Fallacy watch:

• Non sequitur (makes a leap in logic from "structural order" to "impossible in nature" even though there are many examples of natural structured order).