Actually the people I was talking to on this thread were saying that evolution did not exist. If you look back at some of the replies to my posts they were sending me links about modern humans being found in cretaceous deposits. So when you say Nobody is arguing that I have to say that is not true, plenty of people are.
Now, why would you believe that a single cell can acquire the DNA to produce all life, survive for the appropriate amount of time in the appropriate environment, then solely through natural selection and mutation/recombination evolve into all known life?
I never made any references to the actual creation of life, so why do you think I have this belief? I was simply arguing that life evolves through natural selection. You seem to agree (?) on this so.... why are we having this discussion?
Of course, if you wanted to discuss this that is fine. My official statement is: "I really don't know how life started." I think there are a lot of missing pieces that fail to explain scientifically how life was created.
Do I think that scientists should just throw in the towel and say "Hey... it must be God!". Well, no I do not. Why? Well if scientists did that everytime they hit a stumbling block then whey would never really get very far, would they?
Remember that at one time, people yelled at Benjamin Franklin regarding the lightning rod. They thought that lightning striking a house for example was God's punishment and that anyone who tried to thwart God wrath was a bad person themself. Franklin was blamed for all sorts of bad stuff because of his lightning rod but in the end... the lightning bolt isn't God's wrath is it? If it was, I do not think that we could stop it (or in this case redirect it).
My point is science doesn't (or shouldn't) use metaphysical reasoning to explain things. If we stayed in that mindset we would never have gotten to the technological level where you and I are discussing it from miles apart.
Because when I asked "should one insist that all life descended from a single cell? " you answered " Well...is that so hard to believe given we all individually start out conceived as a single cell when a sperm and egg meet?"
I was simply arguing that life evolves through natural selection.
Life certainly evolves through natural selection. Natural selection, however, even mixing in genetic mutation/recombination, does not adequately explain biodiversity as the Theory of Evolution claims.
My point is science doesn't (or shouldn't) use metaphysical reasoning to explain things.
Science shouldn't use metaphysical reasoning to explain things. There are those, however, speaking in the name of science who claim a certainty of understanding on things they can't explain. Even worse, there are accredited members of the scientific community who make metaphysical claims -- sacrificial love is simply a product of evolution (except of course when it's convenient to claim it's not), sexual misbehavior is not a matter of choice, children in the womb are not alive, animals have rights etc.