Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Weighing the Evidence: An Atheist Abandons Atheism
BreakPoint with Charles Colson ^ | January 10, 2005 | Charles Colson

Posted on 01/10/2005 2:47:28 PM PST by Mr. Silverback

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 281-300301-320321-340 ... 361-366 next last
To: Viking2002
Well, regardless of what he says drew him to the conclusion that there is a Higher Power, I can guaran-damn-tee you that being 81 years old and staring down into the six-foot deep hole he'll occupy for Eternity had a good bit to do with it. *chuckle*

Trust me, you have no clue what you're talking about.
A working mind over 50 with a lifetime of experience and learning behind it operates on a lot more than fear.
In fact, I can confidently say that fear is the smallest ingredient. A good human being embraces the end without fear, in spite of his uncertainties.

301 posted on 02/01/2005 6:14:02 AM PST by Publius6961 (The most abundant things in the universe are hydrogen, ignorance and stupidity.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: shubi
Most IDers are religious. They have to be. There is no science there.

Are you absolutely certain of that?

302 posted on 02/01/2005 6:34:02 AM PST by Publius6961 (The most abundant things in the universe are hydrogen, ignorance and stupidity.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 151 | View Replies]

To: Publius6961

Yes.


303 posted on 02/01/2005 7:13:17 AM PST by shubi (Peace through superior firepower.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 302 | View Replies]

To: r9etb

I have never been in a hole. Why do creationists always go to personal attack? Answer: Because no science is available to them.


304 posted on 02/01/2005 7:17:14 AM PST by shubi (Peace through superior firepower.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 232 | View Replies]

To: steve-b

I think you have misperceived the scientific definitions of microevolution and macroevolution. You can't use creationist definitions and make a coherent argument. Macro is accumulation of allele changes sufficient to produce speciation. Speciation is defined by science.

I am no expert on horse linage, but it is clear that horses have speciated over millions of years, your apparent claim to the contrary notwithstanding.


305 posted on 02/01/2005 7:21:38 AM PST by shubi (Peace through superior firepower.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 246 | View Replies]

To: Michael_Michaelangelo

Yes, ID is creation science with a new name.


306 posted on 02/01/2005 7:23:40 AM PST by shubi (Peace through superior firepower.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 241 | View Replies]

To: r9etb

OK, show us a speciation event that you know God influenced?


307 posted on 02/01/2005 7:25:45 AM PST by shubi (Peace through superior firepower.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 230 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Silverback

The atheists distort theology the same way creationists distort science. They are both wrong.


308 posted on 02/01/2005 7:28:41 AM PST by shubi (Peace through superior firepower.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 297 | View Replies]

To: shubi
I have never been in a hole.

Your inability even to admit your assumptions is indeed a "hole".

Why do creationists always go to personal attack?

Why do you assume that I'm a "creationist?" And does not your use of the term consitute a persobal attack? And for that matter, when you use the term "creationist," what does it mean?

Answer: Because no science is available to them.

If you construe the application of logic to the comments you've made to be "a personal attack," then I suspect your motivations have less to do with "science" than with personal opinion.

But as the let's start fresh. Please refer back to post #230 and answer the questions I've posed.

309 posted on 02/01/2005 7:30:32 AM PST by r9etb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 304 | View Replies]

To: Michael_Michaelangelo

ID is based on the same misinterpretation of Scripture creation science is.

You can demonstrate ID is science if you could show one peer reviewed paper in a reputable scientific journal by an ID proponent that refutes evolution.

(Don't include ID proponent papers that support evolution.)


310 posted on 02/01/2005 7:30:47 AM PST by shubi (Peace through superior firepower.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 257 | View Replies]

To: GLDNGUN

"A cell doesn't have the genes needed to produce even a simple nodal chord, nor does a fish have the genes to produce legs. "

Heeheehee Now here is a budding biologist! LOL


311 posted on 02/01/2005 7:31:51 AM PST by shubi (Peace through superior firepower.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 269 | View Replies]

To: r9etb

First, admit that you are a creationist.

If you are a scientist that knows evolution is a fact, I have no need to debate you.


312 posted on 02/01/2005 7:34:17 AM PST by shubi (Peace through superior firepower.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 309 | View Replies]

To: shubi
OK, show us a speciation event that you know God influenced?

I don't have to, since I have not made the "God did it" argument. I have simply pointed out that a "rational theist" such as yourself has no logical grounds for ruling out the possibility that God could do such a thing. And yet you have done so, apparently on a global basis -- which represents a very significant assumption on your part, about the way the world runs. Can you not simply acknowledge that assumption?

What I have done, is argue for the efficacy of intelligent design as a valid hypothesis. On that score, I can show you many instances of intelligent design: the dogs and cats in your neighborhood, the wheat in your bread, and various genetic manipulations being some that should be immediately familiar to you.

The true fact of this sort of intelligent design points out a weakness in the question you've posed. We know, because we've done it, that human intelligence explains significant characteristics of many familiar life forms. And yet I doubt that you could pose a scientific test to detect this human involvement, because the paradigm within which you're working is based on an assumption of natural processes, not processes guided by intelligent agents.

It would be folly to argue against the presence of natural processes in the development of life -- that would indeed be to blind myself to the evidence. However, the data before us demonstrate that, for at least as long as there have been humans, that natural processes are not the only factor at play in the development of life -- intelligent agents have had an influence as well.

So you're faced with a problem: you have a theory that does not explain -- indeed, assumes away -- something we know to be true: that intelligent agents can and have influenced the development of life on Earth. It's a weakness in your hypothesis. I'd go so far as to call it an unacknowledged bias.

313 posted on 02/01/2005 8:02:54 AM PST by r9etb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 307 | View Replies]

To: shubi
I don't mean to be pedantic, but it seems to me that you're tossing around terms that don't have any fixed meaning. I'm going to ask you to define them.

First, admit that you are a creationist.

What do you mean by "creationist?"

If you are a scientist that knows evolution is a fact, I have no need to debate you.

What do you mean by "evolution?"

314 posted on 02/01/2005 8:05:12 AM PST by r9etb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 312 | View Replies]

To: r9etb

"However, the data before us demonstrate that, for at least as long as there have been humans, that natural processes are not the only factor at play in the development of life -- intelligent agents have had an influence as well. "

Of course you will give us evidence for this "assumption"?


315 posted on 02/01/2005 8:25:01 AM PST by shubi (Peace through superior firepower.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 313 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Silverback

"Flew has, thus, become a Deist—that is, he acknowledges God as creator but not as a personal deity."

But belief in Him is still refused?

How strange.


316 posted on 02/01/2005 8:26:40 AM PST by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RobRoy

The Screwtape Letters live on and as feasible as ever!


317 posted on 02/01/2005 8:27:40 AM PST by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: r9etb

I didn't think you knew what evolution meant. No creationist does.

Evolution is the change in allele frequency in populations over time.

Creationism is the rejection of the above, plus "literal" belief in Bible passages in Genesis. Generally these interpretations are devoid of common sense and understanding of realities that scientific discoveries dictate. They also are weak from the standpoints of exegesis and theology of Christian belief. Creationism inserts Creation into the Theory of Evolution when it is not actually there.


318 posted on 02/01/2005 8:29:10 AM PST by shubi (Peace through superior firepower.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 314 | View Replies]

To: shubi
Of course you will give us evidence for this "assumption"?

Now, really, shubi. A "rational" person like yourself should know better to ask such a silly question.

You know that the Golden Retriever down the street was not a product of natural selection, but rather a product of human-guided breeding. You know that the wheat in your morning toast did not arise by chance, but was almost certainly a strain developed by researchers at an American university. You know that the corn in your Tostitos was most likely gentically modified for insect and disease resistance. You're no doubt aware of the large and growing field of genetic engineering.

Can you not simply admit that these are but a very few examples of how intelligent agents have influenced the development of life on Earth?

319 posted on 02/01/2005 8:34:09 AM PST by r9etb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 315 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Silverback
Sing out as soon as you can produce a benficial mutation.

I've done it. In biology, we observed bacterial cultures in petri dishes evolve to become penicillin-resistant. This was a beneficial mutation as far as the cultures were concerned.
320 posted on 02/01/2005 8:43:46 AM PST by Stone Mountain
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 111 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 281-300301-320321-340 ... 361-366 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson