[angryoldfatman]

You repeat to get advice, I repeat what I told you to do with your advice. Like I need advice from a half-assed Christian, who exemplifies all of the hypocrisy atheists like myself point out and ridicule.

Please continue. Do not repent, turn the other cheek, forgive, or love. Live like I do then die in your sins while I laugh and point, hypocrite.

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But it’s indisputable that humans are the Earth’s apex predators & life form generally.
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So? That proves evolution works and has nothing to do with the existence of a deity. Or fairy, or whatever name you want to call it.

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As to whether such natural order “proves” the existence of anything, or Anyone, supernatural, that’s a matter of choice which Gould obviously answered negatively.
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Here’s the rub. Follow along, short bus rider:

Gould plainly says he finds natural selection (more commonly known as evolution) to be contrary to belief in an “omnipotent and benevolent creator”.

ON THE OTHER HAND, Gould was the man WHO INVENTED THE VERY EXCUSE YOU USE TO COUNTER HIM!

NOMA.

Non-overlapping magisteria.

Why would Gould say on one hand that evolution contradicts belief in the Christian God (supposed omnipotent and benevolent creator), while on the other say evolution has nothing to do with belief in the Christian God?

Here’s the simplest answer (Occam’s Razor) - Gould didn’t believe in NOMA, but came up with the idea to deceive gullible Christians (or half-assed Christians like yourself) into discarding just enough god duties to allow evolution room. Like a cuckoo’s egg.

I’ll make the quote today about that very thing - the purpose of NOMA:

You cannot bludgeon kids with truth (or insult their religion, i.e., their parents and friends) and hope they will smile and believe you. Yes, NOMA is wrong, but is a good first tool for gaining trust. You have to bring them over to your side, gain their trust, and then hold their hands and help them step by step. And on that slow journey, which will be painful for many of them, it is OK to use some inaccuracies temporarily if they help you reach the students. - Bora Zivkovic (aka Coturnix of Science Blogs)

[BroJoeK]

angryoldfatman: "Non-overlapping magisteria."

I wondered what that was all about, never saw the term before, though have read some of Gould's work.

Gould introduced at least one other theory which is today seen as "not quite right", namely punctuated equilibria.
What's "not quite right" about it is Gould's claim that species remain unchanged for long periods of time, before undergoing rapid evolution in times of turmoil, so to speak.

We now know that evolutionarily speaking, there is no period of "stasis", that both descent with modifications and natural selection happen in every generation, with the accumulating results that over long periods of time, species which can appear similar in the fossil record are not necessarily closely related enough to interbreed.

In other words, it's not what happens on the outside which creates new species, but rather, what happen within a population's DNA which makes them more, or less, incapable of interbreeding.

NOMA -- Non-overlapping Magisteria, I would put in that same category -- nice try, but not quite right.
What's wrong with it is that the Bible claims, and Judeo-Christianity teaches, that there is not only plenty of "overlap" between natural & Supernatural realms, but also that Supernatural God created, controls, rules over, and on occasion, overrules the natural realm.
So it's not a "live and let live" religion, rather, we believe Supernatural God rules the natural realm, according to His plan and will.

Of course, as an atheist, Gould naturally wished for free reign to explain nature without reference to the Divine.
Understandable, but, not going to happen.

angryoldfatman: "Like I need advice from a half-assed Christian, who exemplifies all of the hypocrisy atheists like myself point out and ridicule."

Your pose is busted, old man.
It's all fake, you're a fraud, you pose this way, pose that way, always posing, always angry, never truthful, never humble.

So, you are not just self-declared "angry", "old" and "fat", you are also sick in the head, FRiend, and you need to get that straightened out.
Learn to be truthful, learn to be humble, learn to use questions instead of accusations, and most important, begin by losing some weight.
You'll feel better, you'll love life and life will love you, so you won't need to pose or babble nonsense on Free Republic threads.