Creationism vs. Evolution

Bang on, FH.

Your beliefs are your beliefs but you don't drag "the world is only 5,000 years old" religious belief into a science class nor present it as an alternative in a a scientific "debate".

 

Anyway, I think the Pierce article is worth reading.

That's all.

 

And they say we're incapable of a reasoned debate around here. :

 

Fuck any assclown who says some dumb shit like that.

 

Federally funded schools have to teach the science. That's simply all there is to it.
Parents, churches, private schools, etc., can tell their kids whatever they want about the beginning, the end and anything in between, but you can't allow a school to start espousing religious theories.
The next step is a fundamentalist Muslim teacher explaining why 9/11 is one of the great days in the world's history. Or an anti-Semite explaining what was so great about the Holocaust.
If you're going to allow the first step, you are going to have to allow the last. That's why you never let it get started.
The entire point of the separation of church and state was to protect the church from the state.
Arguments like the creation vs. evolution one remind me of that.
As a Christian, I want to teach my children what I believe and why. I don't want some idiot who has no understanding of science or beliefs totally contradictory to mine trying to do it.

 

I have a friend that is an archaeologist. I hadn't talked much to him about this topic but it came up on our last visit before he left for expedition in Africa. He said, "Evolution is a fact. Anyone that tells you otherwise has no scientific understanding or study what-so-ever. Saying another other is downright insulting to the very basic knowledge obtained throughout the years."

"So," I said, "What about the 'gaps' in evolutionary linearity?"

"There are no gaps," he said, "It has been poorly conveyed to the populace what know. People keep saying that there is some missing link, but really there isn't one. We have the information in front of us that fills in what minimal space exists."

When it comes to this "discussion" what you really have is people who understand and know fully about evolution and those that have some understanding of it but, whether it be faith or a poor educational system, don't know enough about it.

Creationism is a concept, an idea. There is no evidence of it only a desire for many people to believe that it is true.

 

Part of the misunderstanding people have about evolution is they expect to see animals that are halfway points.
So, if a bird is descended from a dinosaur, as the theory goes, then there should be an animal that looks a little bit like each.
But the thing is, evolution doesn't work toward a set goal.
If a dinosaur has a genetic mutation that gives it extra hairs that provide extra body temperature control, that's an advantage that is likely to carry on because those dinosaurs will survive winters better.
It gets more and more pronounced over time and suddenly you have dinosaurs covered in feathers (which they have found fossils of).
That is a step toward a bird, though the dinosaur didn't sit down and say, "You know, if I became a small egg-laying thing with wings, life would be better."

 

Whatever.

 

I don't begrudge people who want to hang onto Biblical tradition if those are their personal beliefs. I may not agree with them, but I certainly wouldn't persuade them otherwise. What I do begrudge however, is when those people try to force their beliefs on others in the face of scientific fact, which evolution of course is.

 

The objection is the teaching of evolution as scientific fact instead of scientific theory.
There are still gaps in our understanding of the start and development of life. The most glaring is abiotic synthesis. It's an intresting theory, although it directly refutes the long held tenet against spontaneous generation.
If we find evidence of life on one of the moons of Jupiter or Saturn or some other place that has liquid water and organic building blocks, that would be a huge step in our understanding.
But right now it's really a theory, although there's overwhelming amount evidence in favor it being the best explanation.
Intelligent design is actually an interesting theory also, when you consider some of the many winding roads it can take that the creationists and other hyper-religious people never intended.
If we discover life on Titan or Europa or Enceladus in the next 50-100 years, then things are going to get really interesting.
(By the way, if you haven't been watching 'The Universe' on The History Channel, you should check it out.)

 

Did anyone else's paper receive this not-so-little gem in recent weeks? It's nice to know that the crackpots who believe in evolution have little ideological soulmates in the Islamic world.

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1143252007