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One of the hottest topics of contention among Freepers is the Creation/Evolution debate. Well here is a poll that asks all Freepers just where do you stand. Where do Freepers Stand in the Creation/Evolution Debate If by chance you are confused as to where you would stand then may I suggest reading the following statements I found at a site called Exploring Constitutional Conflicts, it does a good job of describing what each side believes. Who is What in the Creation/Evolution Debate A CREATIONIST: A creationist is a person who rejects the theory of evolution and believes instead that the...

In neo-Darwinian theory, mutations are uniquely biological events that provide the engine of natural variation for all the diversity of life. However, recent discoveries show that mutation is the purely physical result of the universal mechanical damage that interferes with all molecular machinery. Life’s error correction, avoidance and repair mechanisms themselves suffer the same damage and decay. The consequence is that all multicellular life on earth is undergoing inexorable genome decay. Mutation rates are so high that they are clearly evident within a single human lifetime, and all individuals suffer, so natural selection is powerless to weed them out. The...

Paleontologists said Thursday that they had discovered what amounted to a miniature prototype of Tyrannosaurus rex, complete with the oversize head, powerful jaws, long legs — and, as every schoolchild knows, puny arms — that were hallmarks of the king of the dinosaurs. But this scaled-down version, which was about nine feet long and weighed only 150 pounds, lived 125 million years ago, about 35 million years before giant Tyrannosaurs roamed the earth. So the discovery calls into question theories about the evolution of T. rex, which was about five times longer and almost 100 times heavier. “The thought was...

Sept 16, 2009 — This month finds us two thirds of the way between Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of his Origin of Species. Taking advantage of the extra attention Darwin is getting this year (as if he needed more), three films on his life and ideas are being released from three different companies...

Sept 17, 2009 — Readers of this headline may say it is not news to say that intelligent design has been found in DNA. Others may be ready for a fight on that issue. But in this case, the design has been verified beyond any shadow of doubt. The designers are not who you may be suspecting. They are...

New Book Debunks Human-Chimp Similarity by Brian Thomas, M.S.* Evolutionary science repeatedly declares that chimps and humans are 98 percent genetically identical, which is then taken as solid evidence that mankind evolved from an apelike ancestor. But a former BBC producer’s new book has found reasons to emphasize research that is often overlooked by evolutionary advocates—scientific results that reveal the uniqueness of man. In Not a Chimp: The hunt to find the genes that make us human, which was reviewed in New Scientist magazine, evolutionist Jeremy Taylor investigated not only the genetic distinctions between humans and apes, but also the...

Deepening Darwin's Dilemma By: Jonathan WellsDiscovery Institute September 16, 2009 The newly released film “Darwin’s Dilemma” argues that the geologically abrupt appearance of the major groups of animals (the “phyla”) in the Cambrian Explosion posed a serious problem for Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution (as he himself knew), and that subsequent fossil discoveries—far from solving the problem—have made it worse. In January 2009, however, the Journal of the Geological Society, London published an article titled “A solution to Darwin’s dilemma of 1859.” So, is Darwin’s dilemma solved, or not?According to Darwin’s theory, all living things are modified descendants of a...

Fresh Fossil Feather Nanostructures by Brian Thomas, M.S.* Bird feathers can contain pigmentation for a wide range of colors, with specific molecules reflecting certain hues when light touches them. They also can display “structural” colors, where the thicknesses of layers of cells and connective tissues are fine-tuned to refract certain colors. Scientists recently described structural coloration that is still clearly discernible in well-preserved fossil feathers. Why do these fossil feathers have their original cell structures laid out in the original patterns if they are millions of years old?In 1995, paleontologists Derek Briggs and Paul Davis provided an overview of fossil...

Inside the mind of a killer The Finnish high school tragedy once again shows that ideas have consequences --snip-- * 'I am a cynical existentialist, antihuman humanist, antisocial social darwinist, realistic idealist and godlike atheist.’ * ‘Life is just a coincidence … result of long process of evolution and many several factors, causes and effects.’ * ‘There are no other universal laws than the laws of nature and the laws of physics.’ * ‘Evolution is both a theory and a fact, creationism is neither one.’ * ‘Religious people, your gods are nothing and exists only in your heads. Your slave...

Steve: You're doing really interesting work. You've decoupled sort of, "Is evolution true?", you know, "What are problems with evolution?", from people's interpretations of whether or not they accept evolution. Regardless of evolution itself, we're just talking about the psychological profiles of how you come to either accept or not accept evolution. Some of that work is yours and some of it you're very well familiar with from other people; so let's talk about some of the basics and some of the surprises about the people who accept and don't accept evolution and their reasons for it. Lombrozo: Sure. So...

After 100 years, automobiles still need engine oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid, antifreeze, power-steering fluid, and so on. Wouldn't it be great if just a single multipurpose fluid could be circulated from a central reservoir? Each part would use only the needed properties of the fluid, exclude detrimental properties, and then send it back. The new system’s worldwide impact would ensure a huge market--and academic honors--for the clever developers. This lucrative breakthrough, however, would not be pioneering. Just such a brilliant integration of fluid properties to the diverse needs of the physical body has already been achieved in human blood--in...

We commissioned Karen Armstrong and Richard Dawkins to respond independently to the question "Where does evolution leave God?" Neither knew what the other would say. Here are the results. Karen Armstrong says we need God to grasp the wonder of our existence CLICK ON THE ABOVE LINK TO READ WHAT SHE HAS TO SAY... Richard Dawkins argues that evolution leaves God with nothing to do CLICK ON ABOVE LINK TO READ WHAT HE HAS TO SAY...

The Wall Street Journal may be an unusual venue for theological debate, but this past weekend's edition featured just that - a theological debate of sorts. The "of sorts" is a necessary qualifier in this instance, because The Wall Street Journal's debate was not, as advertised, a debate between an atheist and a believer. Instead, it was a debate between two different species of atheists. The paper's "Weekend Journal" section front page for the September 12-13, 2009 edition featured articles by Richard Dawkins and Karen Armstrong set in opposing columns. The paper headlined the feature as "Man vs. God: Two...

This past May, a fossil nicknamed Ida was loudly heralded by the evolutionary scientific community as the long-sought-after “missing link” that supposedly proved ape-to-human evolution. Directly following the unveiling, ICR News reported reasons why Ida, in fact, linked nothing, being merely an extinct variety of lemur.[1] ICR News also predicted what has now occurred with Ida’s popularity campaign, stating, “After further study, however, this claim will be quietly rescinded.”[2] Ida has been surreptitiously...

Reducible Versus Irreducible Systems and Darwinian Versus Non-Darwinian Processes Recently a paper appeared online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, entitled "The reducible complexity of a mitochondrial molecular machine." As you might expect, I was very interested in reading what the authors had to say. Unfortunately, as is all too common on this topic, the claims made in the paper far surpassed the data, and distinctions between such basic ideas as “reducible” versus “irreducible” and “Darwinian” versus “non-Darwinian” were pretty much ignored. Since PNAS publishes letters to the editor on its website, I wrote in. Alas,...

The fossil record reveals a history of life characterized by the abrupt appearance of new species followed by no change and eventual extinction in most cases. Needless to say, abrupt appearances and no change is not exactly what evolution expected. Much of this was known in Darwin’s time and he figured that the fossil record was incomplete. Today such speculation doesn’t work anymore. The evidence reveals even more clearly this pattern of abrupt appearances followed by stasis. --Snip-- As in Darwin's day, the fossil record does not match evolutionary expectations and evolutionists have been trying to solve the riddle. How...

The launch of Ida, alias Darwinius masillae, in May this year was unprecedented. It raised eyebrows across the whole range of media-savvy people. Whilst scientists have learned how to capture the interest of the media and promote their work, this particular indulgence was a shock and it was quickly recognised as hype...

Rare find: The 9000-year-old figurines dug up in Turkey are thought to have been used as educational toys Amazing artefacts: Many of the figurines resemble animals like sheep and goats

The flax, which would have been collected from the wild and not farmed, is believed to be more than 34,000 years old, making these fibers the oldest known to have been used by humans... The items created with these fibers increased early humans' chances of survival and mobility in the harsh conditions of this hilly region. The flax fibers could have been used to sew hides together for clothing and shoes, to create the warmth necessary to endure cold weather. They might have also been used to make packs for carrying essentials, which would have increased and eased mobility, offering...

Sept 10, 2009 — In slapstick comedy, the fall guy gets the pie in the face when the clown in front of him ducks. It’s funny because most of us instinctively duck when we see something coming. But two recent experimental studies are revealing new automated capabilities built into the eye and brain that are quicker and more automatic than our reflexes or the brain’s visual center. A team from the Canadian Institutes of Health, publishing in PNAS,[1] ran experiments on a subject that had damage to the visual cortex. They were surprised to learn that the subject could still...