Posted on 05/27/2004 8:16:55 AM PDT by Michael_Michaelangelo
Why is it that they want to teach religion in the public schools? As I hear of the debate going on about teaching evolution or intelligent design, I have to protest. There are those who want to teach creationism from Genesis. No one wants this, as this is not science. Let's leave history to the historians, religion to those trained in theology and science to scientists. I do not want my child being taught religion, of any sort, by anyone but a member of the clergy -- one whom I have approved of. My neighbor may pick someone else. This is as it should be.
When it comes to science, we assume that our children are being taught the scientific method, from the development of a hypothesis, to the gathering of evidence to the formulation of a working theory. Science knows that most things cannot be established as absolute fact. It works with reasonable theories that more often than not hold true under scrutiny. So far, science.
This is the problem: Our children are being taught that evolution is a fact. There simply is not enough evidence to even make it a theory. At best it is a hypothesis. This is fine, but this is not how it is presented. Anyone remember the TV show Cosmos? Carl Sagan said that evolution is a fact. By saying this, he was telling us about his faith and belief, but not science.
Intelligent design is science. Let's take it out and away from Genesis and leave it there so that we can explore scientifically a body of evidence. Even many scientists have decided that life here on Earth was seeded by an alien race, as the data just does not support Darwinian evolution. Not one link to bridge any species-to-species jump has turned up.
Intelligent design is based on information theory. Information theory states that the least bit of randomness introduced to an information system creates chaos and destroys that system. It will never lead to positive change.
Our DNA is an information system, and all life has it. Mathematics sides with design rather than chance. The probability for chance to create such great diversity of life, let alone one strand of DNA, on this planet is very close to impossible. Design, on the other hand, is most highly probable.
All this is science and ought to be taught. Just because it requires a super-intelligence is of no concern to science. There are many things we have discovered that are bigger than we are. Not all things can be known.
I wish humanity would get off this arrogant kick that it can get its little finite and mortal brain around everything.
Why can't there be something far bigger and superior in the universe (or outside it) that we never can explain? Let's deal with what we do have and look at it scientifically.
Evolution has simply become a religion -- the opiate of the masses. It takes faith to believe in something that lacks so much in evidence to support it. Let it become extinct with the dinosaur. We have invested so much time and money into it, but it is time to be honest and let it go. As a great society that leads the world in its information technology, we ought to turn this talent to good use. The wonders of life have the imprint of a great mind, which we ought to be thrilled to investigate.
I was asked if there were Dino's in the Bible. I have no idea if there are or not. I simply posted a link that may or may not have answered his question.
I do know that donkeys talk. Specifically, "Balaam's Donkey" in Numbers 2:22-36. When I teach young people how to first ride a horse, I recite the tale of Balaam's Donkey, his mistreatment of the animal and how the animals senses saved Balaam from the Lord's wrath. The Bible is rich in good things, there is no reason to muck it up in a battle with science.
Scientists will eventually find their way to the creation of the universe with experiment and theory. Along the way, those that have a Bible on their stack of science books will find the answer first.
Few people yet realize that current cosmological research demonstrates a physical universe with no spatial center. All the matter and energy of the universe reside on the three-dimensional surface of the expanding four-dimensional universe. Just as all Earth's cities reside on the planet's two-dimensional surface and none can be identified as geographically central to all others, likewise none of the galaxies, stars, and planets hold the center position on the cosmic 3-D surface.
In one sense, the anthropic principle is possible because Copernicus was right. What makes humanity's location in the cosmos unique, or special, is that Earth resides away from the center of any astronomical system, such as Earth's galaxy. Humanity lives in a unique location—and moment—in cosmic space-time that allows not only for the possibility of human existence but also for the opportunity to discover that human existence represents a miracle, a special case.
Earth's particular location gives humans a special window to the solar system, the Milky Way galaxy, and the universe itself. In virtually any other galaxy or at any other location in Earth's galaxy and at every other time in cosmic history, the view to the surrounding area would be so unstable and/or so occluded that the form, structure, size, and other characteristics of the galaxy and universe would remain obscure to any sentient observers.10 Earth's creatures enjoy a special view to the splendors of the cosmos. Nowhere else and at no other time in the universe would such glory be visible. Few people yet realize that current cosmological research demonstrates a physical universe with no spatial center. All the matter and energy of the universe reside on the three-dimensional surface of the expanding four-dimensional universe. Just as all Earth's cities reside on the planet's two-dimensional surface and none can be identified as geographically central to all others, likewise none of the galaxies, stars, and planets hold the center position on the cosmic 3-D surface.
In one sense, the anthropic principle is possible because Copernicus was right. What makes humanity's location in the cosmos unique, or special, is that Earth resides away from the center of any astronomical system, such as Earth's galaxy. Humanity lives in a unique location—and moment—in cosmic space-time that allows not only for the possibility of human existence but also for the opportunity to discover that human existence represents a miracle, a special case.
Earth's particular location gives humans a special window to the solar system, the Milky Way galaxy, and the universe itself. In virtually any other galaxy or at any other location in Earth's galaxy and at every other time in cosmic history, the view to the surrounding area would be so unstable and/or so occluded that the form, structure, size, and other characteristics of the galaxy and universe would remain obscure to any sentient observers. Earth's creatures enjoy a special view to the splendors of the cosmos. Nowhere else and at no other time in the universe would such glory be visible.
I see no problem with the mention of dragons in the Bible and the non mention of dinosaurs. According to my Websters, there was no such word as dinosaur until 1841. The Old Testament was written in HEBREW. According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, the Hebrew word translated "dragon" is "tanniym". Strong defines this word as meaning a sea or land monster. To me, that sounds like that could describe a big lizard. The Greek word in the NT is dragon, but I think we err by projecting our 21st century concept of what a dragon is into the 1st century AD. I doubt they thought of a dragon as the fire breathing creature that we think of.
Oh bubba. So many falsehoods in a single statement. First off, evolutionary theory says nothing about whether life forms from 600 MYA could still exist (please brush up on the actual theory -- if you can't get the simple stuff right, how can we trust what you say on more complex matters?). Yes, random mutations are happening all the time -- but the population will still clutter about the environmental norm. As long as the environment is pretty much the same, the species inhabiting that niche will remain pretty much the same. Second, I'm not sure what critters that were around in the Cambrian (600 MYA) are still around. I think that's pretty much limited to velvet worms -- and the modern descendents bear only passing resemblances to those present back then. Sharks most definitely were not around in the Cambrian. The first trace fossils of what could be sharks date from 400 MYA (Silurian/Devonian) -- and they bear little resemblance to modern sharks. Indeed, early sharks bear only a passing resemblance to their modern descendants; you make the mistake of thinking that, if sharks were around back then, they must be the same sharks around now. That's like saying that lizards were around at the time of the dinosaurs so they must be identical to the skink I keep in a terrarium in my living room.
So a single error in one of your textbooks will destroy your college degree?
A single error published in a science journal will destroy the entire field?
A single error in creationist theory will disprove all of their nonsense? This right here seems like an error to me. I guess that means creationism has disproved itself. Maybe the theories behind it really were useful if they could get rid of something so worthless.
To quote Foghorn: "It was a joke, son"
Go tell that to the surviving branch Davidians.
You are wrong on two counts.
First, there is a creature called a "Behemoth" mentioned in the Bible in Job 40 that had a tail like a cedar tree. That matches a dinosaur better than any other creature. Of course if Job was able to record that some 4000 years ago, then the evolutionist time frame is badly off.
Secondly nobody claims that the Bible is meant to be an exhaustive source of all knowledge. Thus, just because something is not in the Bible, doesn't mean it can't exist. In fact, God continually reminds us that our knowledge is extremely limited compared to His. Also, if you read the story of the tower of Babel, you will learn that God intentionally slowed man's progress by dividing him into nations and different lanquages.
"Festival of Mirth and Madness" placemarker
Demonstrate that "macroevolution" needs to exist. Give me an example of something that could not have arisen by known processes, in steps of sizes that can be observed in current living things.
Dancing on the head of a pinhead placemarker.
How did Job miss the fact that dinosaur bones are not made of bronze tubing?
Job didn't say that behemoth's bones were tubes of iron. He said that his bones were AS brass. That's figurative language. That it's figurative is made obvious in the next line where behemoth's bones were like bars of iron. These are two similes presented in the style of Hebrew parallelism that dominates the poetry of the Old Testament.
I was being facetious.
I disagree. You ideas on evolution are not quite correct. Neccessity is the mother of invention. It applies to organics as well as machines. Just because a 3-armed human seems to have advantages, does not mean it will happen. There has be a need for it, or it has to allow a significant advantage to out perform 2-armed humans. Environment and food supply are what drives the physical form and function of living things. Sharks are the way they are because they fit perfectly into their environment. And the shark's food supply is always abundant.
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