Sir David Attenborough receives hate mail over his belief in evolution, the British broadcaster and naturalist has revealed.
Sir David is preparing for more letters telling him to "burn in hell" when his latest television show, a documentary on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, is aired in the UK on Sunday.
"They tell me to burn in hell and good riddance," Sir David told Radio Times magazine.
The popular 82-year-old said people often asked him why he did not "give credit" in his programmes to God for creating the natural world.
"They always mean beautiful things like hummingbirds," Sir David said.
"I always reply by saying that I think of a little child in East Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball.
"The worm cannot live in any other way, except by burrowing through eyeballs. I find that hard to reconcile with the notion of a divine and benevolent creator."
This year marks the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and 150 years since his most famous work, On the Origin of Species, was published.
With many species under threat of extinction, keen conservationist Sir David was worried by the notion that the world was a gift to humans from God.
He also declared it as "terrible, terrible" that some British state schools can teach children that creationism and evolution are equal alternative view points.
"It's like saying that two and two equals four, but if you wish to believe it, it could also be five," Sir David said.
"Darwin revolutionised the way we see the world fundamentally, but his basic proposition is still not taken on board by a lot of people."
However, Sir David acknowledged "it would be a very bold scientist, and certainly not me, who believes it's the be all and end all".
Britain's Australia Day Foundation this week named Sir David Honorary Australian of the Year for his work in highlighting Australia's native plants and animals in his award-winning television documentaries.
