(July 4, 2013 at 6:40 am)DeistPaladin Wrote:(July 3, 2013 at 10:48 pm)Godschild Wrote: Evolution has no factual stance, only stuff made up by those who refuse to acknowledge God.
To those who deny evolution, I'd like to know which part you dispute. By my layman's understanding, there are two parts:
1. Life changes over time.
2. In said changes, traits that are better suited to a given environment are favored over ones that aren't.
That's it, by the way. It's not about how the universe got started. It's not about how life got started. It's not about political ideology, social ideology, moral philosophy, worldviews, etc. It doesn't deny the existence of any god. It doesn't address the question of whether or not or to what degree any god might be involved in the process. It's also not about "better" or "worse" (as commonly thought in our language when we use the term "evolved" in conversation) but rather what suits a given environment.
Evolution is simply the observation that life changes over time in a way that adapts to a given environment.
Creationism disputes point #1. Creationism is not just the belief that a creator got the ball rolling on life but that these beings remained static, in their current form. And yet, we know this isn't true. We need a new flu shot every year because the virus mutates. Scientists can observe changes in micro-organisms because the life cycles are so brief. We've bred dogs from wolves (thus creating a new species). Horse breeding is a big pastime in my state. The Kentucky Derby features horses bred for speed.
The last two examples are what are called "artificial selection", where humans manipulate the process to modify living beings through controlling their environment and breeding. "Natural selection" works the same way but it takes longer. Both are examples of how life changes over time.
Even your own children, if you have any, are not carbon copies of you. They may share traits. There may be a lot of resemblance. But there will also be some differences. Over a very long period of time, these changes will add up. If you can walk a block, you can walk across the country given enough time.
Point #2 is much harder to dispute. It's kind of a no-brainer. Traits that are better suited to a given environment are more likely to survive and get passed on than ones that aren't. Duh.
And the reason all biology scientists accept evolution, and have for almost 100 years, is because the entire field makes no sense without it. It would be like if you could prove Germ Theory (also "just a theory" as some use the expression) to be wrong, most of the field of medical science would make no sense.
In all that I did not see where you said one specie changes into a different one, the flu virus adapted to a vaccine, yet it is still a flu virus. domesticated dogs came from wolves yet both are still canines. Natural selection is obvious, it's there so a specie can survive in it's environment, it doesn't need to change into another specie it only needs to adapt to it's changing environment.
God loves those who believe and those who do not and the same goes for me, you have no choice in this matter. That puts the matter of total free will to rest.