(March 14, 2012 at 2:43 pm)Undeceived Wrote: Agreed, but my key term was "apparent". Before secular science devised evolution as its proof for atheism while using atheism as its premise, people had no reason to believe there wasn't a God.
Ugh! Let me be patient and give you a primer on what evolution is and is not so we can even have a coherent discussion.
EVOLUTION IS:
How life changes over time as suited to its environment.
Period. Full stop.
It is used by biologists to explain the variety of life, the similarities found in this variety (common ancestry) and to predict how life will change. In fact, the entire field of biology, from genetics to taxonomy, as it exists today would make no sense except in light of evolution.
Some aspects of evolution you don't need a degree in biology to understand:
1. Why dogs exist. We bred them from wolves. Not sure if this is technically under the umbrella of evolution since this is artificial selection (as opposed to natural selection) but it's still the same concept. Natural selection just takes longer.
2. Why you need new flu shots every year.
3. Why, when you take antibiotics, you need to take them until you've used up the prescription completely. Otherwise, the infection may gain a resistance to the antibiotic.
If ID were true, life would be static. All things in their current form would be as they were at Creation. But we know this isn't true. You can see in the above examples that it isn't true.
WHAT EVOLUTION IS NOT:
1. Evolution is not inherently atheistic. Evolution does not rule out a god or gods. There could, for all we know, be a divine hand in the entire process or one that just tweaks the system now and then. Science is not about proving or disproving God. Some evolutionary biologists are devoutly religious.
2. Evolution is not abiogenesis not does it discuss how life began. It only deals with how life changes.
3. Evolution is not "social-darwinism", eugenics or any other sort of pseudo-scientific racism. Neither does evolution suggest any "superiority" of one group or other, since an advantage in one environment might be a disadvantage in another.
4. Evolution is not a moral code or any other lifestyle guide.
5. Evolution is not a religion.
6. Evolution is not dependent on any one fossil find. The process of peer-review ferrets out frauds and mistakes to process the legitimate finds from those that should be discarded.
7. Evolution is not "devised" for any political, religious or economic purpose, nor does it suit any such purpose, nor is it being promoted by any worldwide conspiracy. Ben Stein's movie is the stuff of tin-foil hat wearers.
Any questions?
Or corrections from those more versed in science than myself?
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
