Free Republic Poll on Evolution

Free Republic ^ | 22 September 2006 | Vanity

[PatrickHenry]

Free Republic is currently running a poll on this subject:

Do you think creationism or intelligent design should be taught in science classes in secondary public schools as a competing scientific theory to evolution?

You can find the poll at the bottom of your "self search" page, also titled "My Comments," where you go to look for posts you've received.

I don't know what effect -- if any -- the poll will have on the future of this website's science threads. But it's certainly worth while to know the general attitude of the people who frequent this website.

Science isn't a democracy, and the value of scientific theories isn't something that's voted upon. The outcome of this poll won't have any scientific importance. But the poll is important because this is a political website. How we decide to educate our children is a very important issue. It's also important whether the political parties decide to take a position on this. (I don't think they should, but it may be happening anyway.)

If you have an opinion on this subject, go ahead and vote.

[andysandmikesmom]

This is not about anything from a past thread...it is about what you said concerning my making a leap to a conclusion, and you made that statement on this thread...What some pro-evo may have said in the past concering this subject, has nothing to do with me...Do not make the mistake of thinking that because I agree with what someone else says about one thing, that I happen to agree with them on something else...

[atlaw]

Look, the theory of evolution says nothing about "life coming from non-life." It doesn't address that issue. Abiogenesis is a fascinating area, but it is discrete from biological diversification via changes in allele frequencies over time.

You are apparently stuck on the ridiculous notion peddled in the creationist community that acceptance of the theory of evolution (indeed, acceptance of logical deductions from observations of the evidence in the natural world) requires rejection of God and Christianity. To sustain this, you are forced to view God's very creation as a trick or a trap set by God to test man's abidance with scripture, or perhaps a trick or trap to test man's willingness to shut off his logical faculties.

But nothing in the theory of evolution, indeed, nothing in the study of abiogenic processes, necessitates rejection of God as the prime mover or even rejection of scripture as the revealed word of God.

And your rather sophomoric efforts to create some kind of metaphysical dilemma through cryptic postings are pretty tiring. You ain't no wise man on the mountain, and you could really benefit from a re-reading of Strunk and White.

[tomzz]

There are people on this thread who believe ... that there are cities on mars...

This is a recent NASA snap of the face megalith, roughly two miles top to bottom:

This is a recent NASA snap of the D&M pyramid, named after its discoverers DePetrie and Molinar, roughly a mile and a half on the long sides:

This is a recent NASA snap of the main Cydonia ring pyramid, about half a mile or so across if memory serves:

This is Tom Van Flandern's analysis of the face megalith at Cydonia. Tom is a former director of the Naval Observatory.

Now, as I hear it, about half of the people at NASA and JPL are willing to believe their eyes and the fact that these kinds of things do not happen in nature. The other half are in denial because the standard view towards a history of our solar system does not allow for Mars to have ever been inhabited.

[PatrickHenry]

The Clown Prince of Astrophysics, placemarker.

[Liberal Classic]

Have a nice day!

[jennyp]

If I absolutely had to take a best-shot, wild ass guess as to the relationship between modern man and the hominids, my GUESS would be that apes and the hominids arose on this planet,

OK, but were these apes & hominids related to each other?

[RadioAstronomer]

Now, as I hear it, about half of the people at NASA and JPL

Ummm...NO!

[PatrickHenry]

Ummm...NO!

But ... were you there?
</creationism mode>

[Dimensio]

Perhaps Carl Sagan stated it best: "Matter is all there is"

This statement is not required to be true for the theory of evolution to be valid, nor is it a view held by all biologists who accept the theory of evolution as valid. You are attempting to introduce irrelevant concepts into a discussion of evolution.

[balrog666]

What? No looneys at JPL?

Who'd a thunk it!

[PatrickHenry]

Latest Poll Results

Over 300 more votes have come in. Prior FR polls typically receive around 6,000 votes before they're ended. This one now has 4,270 votes, more than two-thirds complete.

The important votes are from those who have expressed an opinion on the poll question, so I'm ignoring all votes for "undecided" or "pass." Those with an opinion have voted as follows:

Yes (put creationism in science class) 2,479 votes
No (keep creationism out of science class) 1,421 votes
Total votes (excluding "undecided" or "pass") 3,900

Percentage voting "No" is 36.4%

[andysandmikesmom]

PH...thanks for that link to that website...more creepy odd late nite reading for me...its gonna be fun...

Also, thanks for the update on the poll...

[js1138]

[RadioAstronomer]

Oh there were loonies at JPL! :-)

Face on Mars types? noooooo..... LOLOLOL!

[PatrickHenry]

Face on Mars types? noooooo...

I'm trying to think of a tasteful joke about the Face on Uranus, but I can't figure out how to do it.

[RadioAstronomer]

Last time I looked, I did not see a face. Hmmm....

[PatrickHenry]

I found a link to the Face on Uranus.

[js1138]

Those look like stunningly uninformed questions to me.

[tomzz]

Yes, by combinations of microevolution and some other sort of a deterministic process, but not by evolution the way it is normally described.

[tomzz]

There's one other factor involved in the rise of modern humans which nobody has mentioned. You don't need to be an evolutionist to grasp the fact that Elaine Morgan is almost certainly right in thinking that humans originally lived in water. That would have to be water without sea monsters in it, and our own oceans have always had sea monsters in them. I don't really have an answer to that one. As I noted above, if I had to guess, I'd guess that humans were transported here, but a guess is all that would be.