"Let's go! AAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaagggghh!!!"
Posted on 06/21/2006 8:33:46 AM PDT by PatrickHenry
In a veiled attack on creationism, the world's foremost academies of science on Wednesday called on parents and teachers to provide children with the facts about evolution and the origins of life on Earth.
A declaration signed by 67 national academies of science blasted the scriptural teaching of biology as a potential distortion of young minds.
"In various parts of the world, within science courses taught in certain public systems of education, scientific evidence, data and testable theories about the origins and evolution of life on Earth are being concealed, denied or confused with theories not testable by science," the declaration said.
"We urge decision-makers, teachers and parents to educate all children about the methods and discoveries of science and to foster an understanding of the science of nature.
"Knowledge of the natural world in which they live empowers people to meet human needs and protect the planet."
Citing "evidence-based facts" derived from observation, experiment and neutral assessment, the declaration points to findings that the Universe is between 11 and 15 billion years old, and the Earth was formed about 4.5 billion years ago.
Life on Earth appeared at least 2.5 billion years ago as a result of physical and chemical processes, and evolved into the species that live today.
"Commonalities in the structure of the genetic code of all organisms living today, including humans, clearly indicate their common primordial origin," it said.
The statement does not name any names or religions, nor does it explain why it fears the teaching of evolution or the scientific explanation for the origins of planetary life are being sidelined.
Signatories of the declaration include the US National Academy of Sciences, Britain's Royal Society, the French Academy of Sciences and their counterparts in Canada, China, Germany, Iran, Israel and Japan and elsewhere.
It comes, however, in the context of mounting concern among biologists about the perceived influence of creationism in the United States.
Evangelical Christians there are campaigning hard for schools to teach creationism or downgrade evolution to the status of one of a competing group of theories about the origins of life on Earth.
According to the website Christian Post (www.christianpost.com), an opinion poll conducted in May by Gallop found that 46 percent of Americans believe that God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years or so.
Scientists say hominids emerged around six million years ago and one of their offshoots developed into anatomically modern man, Homo sapiens, about 200,000 years ago, although the timings of both events are fiercely debated.
Nearly every religion offers an explanation as to how life began on Earth.
Fundamentalist Christians insist on a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis in the Bible, in which God made the world in seven days, culminating in the creation of the first two humans, Adam and Eve.
A variation of this is called "intelligent design" which acknowledges evolution but claims that genetic mutations are guided by God's hand rather than by Charles Darwin's process of natural selection.
US President George W. Bush said last August that he believed in this concept and that he supported its teaching in American schools.
The academies' statement says that science does not seek to offer judgements of value or morality, and acknowledges limitations in current knowledge.
"Science is open-ended and subject to correction and expansion as new theoretical and empirical understanding emerges," it adds.
"Let's go! AAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaagggghh!!!"
The origin of the chemical reaction that produced the light was created by the One who created all things.
Ah, of course.
Ahura Mazda.
The Hell you were! Don't wuss out on us now!
;-)
When these scientists can make a human being from nothing, we'll talk.
Ah, Grasshopper, there are many things beyond your understanding. The fabric of the universe, which is what expanded at the time of the Big Bang, is not matter, or even energy, and is not mathematically restricted by those limitations. It is merely a boundary.
Of course, that is merely one theory of the origin of the universe we inhabit. Is it the correct one? I do not know, young Master Pikachu. Perhaps the creating entity waved its appendages and this Big Bang occurred. I do not know that, either. Perhaps it is merely the science experiment of some youthful non-universal entity in some other plane. I do not know that, either. I do know that we appear to be part of a universe with some essential physical laws. How that universe came into being is not knowable by this lowly human. As to the origins of life on this minute speck circling a rather insignificant star, I cannot speak, either. Those origins, at the moment are a matter of hypothesis.
Thanks for the ping!
if you haven't already gotten a ping or seen the thread, crevolist ping.
Or as a creationist would put it, "Commonalities in the structure of the genetic code of all organisms living today, including humans, clearly indicate their common designer..."
"When these scientists can make a human being from nothing, we'll talk."
Why wait? Humans have made god from nothing.
A mutation which could have been caused by a deletion of DNA. Also, apparently doctors successfully removed the boy's extra arm.
"Why wait? Humans have made god from nothing.
"
Hey, that's true. And they've done it over and over again. There are so many gods out there, I've lost count.
Ok :-)
Shhh... One of them is watching.
You're stating your own religious belief, not a fact, stormer.
That might be interesting if the alleged Designer had any attributes. Shutting off inquiry is not what science is about.
Tell us something about the Designer that would be useful or which would suggest further research.
A tired rehash of Pascal's Wager is the best you have to offer? Anything substantive?
How about this for a wager: Define the scientific theory of evolution and then post your ONE BEST argument that reduces it to "folly." It should be instructive for everyone.
"Shhh... One of them is watching."
I know. Pretty soon it is going to come over here, rub up against my leg, and expect me to feed it. Darned Egyptians!
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