Posted on 05/13/2019 1:51:58 PM PDT by EveningStar
It is a crowning achievement of Western civilization and a rejoinder to the modern myths of the Left.
As an evolutionary geneticist and a conservative, I take some interest in critiques of Darwinism. I have come to expect that every few years a new book by Michael Behe, a professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University, will trigger commentary relaying his skepticism of evolutionary theory to the interested public. And this will result in vociferous rejoinders from evolutionary biologists.
But evolutionary biology is nothing for conservatives to fear, because it is one of the crowning achievements of modern Western civilization. It should be viewed not as an acid gnawing at the bones of civilization, but as a jewel. The science built upon the rock of Charles Darwin’s ideas is a reflection of Western modernity’s commitment to truth as a fundamental value. And many Christians well-versed in evolutionary science find it entirely compatible with their religious beliefs.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Why would I fear a theory without any real evidence?
My dad was an aquantance with one of the guys that invented/developed radar in America. The man was also a strong Christian. My dad (also a Christian) asked him how he was able to resolve the two things.
He replied something like:
“Oh - it is very easy. The more I learn about how remarkable our earth is, and all the various principles, and how they interact in just the proper way - it just shows me even more that there is a Creator.”
There’s no evidence that we are descendants of monkeys.
If the author actually wants to reach his target audience next time, he might want to skip the part where he leads with the leftist tactic of pretending people can only possibly disagree with his viewpoint based on some irrational fear or “phobia”.
That’s pretty much the worst way imaginable to frame his message.
If I post a picture of Sarah Jessica Parker, does that mean we are descended from horses?
Which end of the horse?
As if you actually have a credible answer?
I’m only here for the comments.
Evolution threads on FR are quite...entertaining
How can anyone wake up in the morning, see the sun come up right on time.. see spring turn into summer, look into the vast sky with everything on place... snd deny there is God in charge.
Man cannot do anything in order and on time. To say we evolved is to try to reason man’s denial that God is.
I firmly believe in MICRO-evolution.
Take Darwin’s finches - the changes exhibited by those birds are small in scale (longer beaks to reach deep into the crevices and eat the bugs hiding there) or shorter beaks when food was plentiful and they didn’t have to hunt as hard for food.
Now, an alligator sprouting wings and flying? (AKA, MACRO-EVOLUTION), species changing? Nope.
Not in a trillion years.
Origin is the beginning point for the very first bit of life. Evolution is how life changed and adapted over long periods of time. They are two entirely different things. I don’t get the struggle with understanding this. If you don’t think we know that life changes and adapts with time then I think you are really lost. Also belief that the Earth is only a few thousands years old is akin to believing the Earth is flat and the moon is made of cheese. God gave us a big brain for a reason, use it.
Evolution is just one of God’s tools.
I don’t fear evolutionary theory. I don’t fear homosexuals. They’re both wrong. It’s an acknowledgement. Not a fear.
I try to bee ennertained. It could be an interesting topic ...
No one “fears” the THEORY of Darwinian evolution:
1. Darwinian evolution is nothing but a THEORY.
2. Darwinian evolution is a non-provable theory.
3. Darwinian evolution is a non-testable theory.
4. Darwinian evolution is a completely absurd theory: Darwinian evolution is nothing more than a slightly dressed up version of the older spontaneous generation theory in which life springs whole from mud puddles. In fact, the only real difference between Darwinian evolution and spontaneous generation is the amount of time involved: they both start with mud puddles and end with home sapiens with no explanatory motivating force in between.
Nonetheless, I’ve proposed a mind experiment, namely, let’s take a few laptop computers along with a few DVDs with OS images and grind them to powder, mix all of that with sea water in a flask, and then bombard the flask with lightening.
The question is: how many billions of years before that system evolves back into the original laptop? Will tiny discrete components like resistors form, followed by transistors, and they in turn evolve ito primitive integrated circuits, followed by CPU chips and such? And how will the software come into being and evolve? Perhaps, a simply assignment statement happens first, then a DO loop, and then a full blown algorithm that slowly evolves into Windows 7?
Quite frankly all of the above has a much greater probability of occurring naturally and much quicker than the evolution of seawater and lightening into human beings because laptops and operating systems are trillions of times less complex than human beings.
I prefer to fear Lyell’s Geology. Just for uniformitarian’s sake.
“The science built upon the rock of Charles Darwin’s ideas”
Rock? I’m pretty sure that modern evolutionary theory isn’t built upon Darwin anymore, rock or no rock.
Isn’t Punctuated Equilibrium the current rage? Or has evolutionary theory evolved beyond Punc Eq?
Besides, Darwin thought cells were something like jello. He had no way of knowing about chromosomes and DNA information that looks like computer code. Today’s Evos have to deal with information theory. Darwin: learn to code.
“I would like for an evolutionist to explain how life can come from non-life.”
I’ll tell you, after this observation: that volutionists (most) don’t even understand what I am about to write.
Life doesn’t come from non-life because there is no distinction between life and non-life in the physical-materialist worldview.
It’s all simply physical-chemical properties. There is no life, there is no non-life, just matter.
Life has certain general properties, that’s all, but is a subjective concept.
“I take some interest in critiques of Darwinism”.
I think the defensiveness against criticism of “Darwinism” and associated philosophy is more interesting.
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