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To: ZULU
Religion is based on faith. Science is based on observations and tests.

Evolution is based on faith. There's simply no evidence that we share a common ancestror with apes. There are similarities, but it takes a gargantuan leap of faith to come to such conclusions.

Edward Peltzer, University of California, San Diego

As a chemist, the most fascinating issue for me revolves around the origin of life. Before life began, there was no biology, only chemistry – and chemistry is the same for all time. What works (or not) today, worked (or not) back in the beginning. So, our ideas about what happened on Earth prior to the emergence of life are eminently testable in the lab. And what we have seen thus far when the reactions are left unguided as they would be in the natural world is not much. Indeed, the decomposition reactions and competing reactions out distance the synthetic reactions by far. It is only when an intelligent agent (such as a scientist or graduate student) intervenes and “tweaks” the reactions conditions “just right” do we see any progress at all, and even then it is still quite limited and very far from where we need to get. Thus, it is the very chemistry that speaks of a need for something more than just time and chance. And whether that be simply a highly specified set of initial conditions (fine-tuning) or some form of continual guidance until life ultimately emerges is still unknown. But what we do know is the random chemical reactions are both woefully insufficient and are often working against the pathways needed to succeed. For these reasons I have serious doubts about whether the current Darwinian paradigm will ever make additional progress in this area.

105 posted on 07/13/2009 8:11:41 PM PDT by tpanther (The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for g!ood men to do nothing---Edmund Burke)
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To: tpanther

The evolutionary theory does not address the origins of life, it only shows how life has changed since it inception. The is an often repeated misconception.

Here a quote from Darwin on that very subject.

“It is no valid objection that science as yet throws no light on the far higher problem of the essence or origin of life” (Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species. 6th edition, 1882. p. 421).


118 posted on 07/13/2009 8:42:17 PM PDT by Ira_Louvin (Go tell them people lost in sin, They need not fear the works of men.)
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To: tpanther
It is only when an intelligent agent (such as a scientist or graduate student) intervenes and “tweaks” the reactions conditions “just right” do we see any progress at all,

Sounds like you almost believe in evolution. At least, what you are saying is identical to the ID theory which upholds the belief in evolution.

119 posted on 07/13/2009 8:46:18 PM PDT by ColdWater
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