Would any of you drive a car made by Darwin's ideas?

[*Deidre*]

I now understand.
I should have promoted natural selection to the status of a god, making it's decisions on what it wants to keep and what it wants to throw out. Very good.
You have gotten rid of that pesky god you didn't like, and gotten a new one instead.
Well done.

If a god exists, why do you presume that evolution wouldn't have been "his" plan? I ask that because with many believers, it seems that they refuse to accept the evidence to support the theory of evolution, as this will somehow appear (to their god?) as a betrayal of sorts.

You can be Christian and also believe in the basic premise of TOE. (as long as the story in Genesis is tossed out) Many Christians believe in the fundamentals of the TOE, but they tend to start struggling with how to view the Bible if the reader needs to start dismissing different sections in order to support what they know is true in science)

Darwin himself, was once a Christian, until he systematically refuted the OT and then the NT of the Bible.

[Esquilax]

I now understand.
I should have promoted natural selection to the status of a god, making it's decisions on what it wants to keep and what it wants to throw out. Very good.
You have gotten rid of that pesky god you didn't like, and gotten a new one instead.
Well done.

Ah, I see you've decided not to take my advice about abandoning this whole "look how little I know!" style of debate, eh? Whatever floats your boat.

Combining that with snotty, untrue theistic canards is an interesting choice, but I dunno how well it'll work. It's coming across more as childish and irritating, than it is cogent and intelligent.

Perhaps you'd like to enlighten us all about what education you have with regards to the biological sciences and evolution, before we continue? You know, really show everyone how badly you screwed the pooch coming in here like you know anything?

[JesusHChrist]

I now understand.
I should have promoted natural selection to the status of a god, making it's decisions on what it wants to keep and what it wants to throw out. Very good.
You have gotten rid of that pesky god you didn't like, and gotten a new one instead.
Well done.

No, based on your posts, I don't think you understand evolutionary concepts at all.

When you come to a fork in the road, take it!

This is one of those forks. You can persist in your ignorance, or you can peruse the refutations and links presented in this thread, study and learn so as to not repeat the same tired claptrap again and again. Such a course will serve you well.

[Alex K]

I now understand.
I should have promoted natural selection to the status of a god, making it's decisions on what it wants to keep and what it wants to throw out. Very good.
You have gotten rid of that pesky god you didn't like, and gotten a new one instead.
Well done.

If a god exists, why do you presume that evolution wouldn't have been "his" plan? I ask that because with many believers, it seems that they refuse to accept the evidence to support the theory of evolution, as this will somehow appear (to their god?) as a betrayal of sorts.

You can be Christian and also believe in the basic premise of TOE.

While I understand why you make this argument in response, I am annoyed that the OP is launching this distraction.

[max-greece]

I now understand.
I should have promoted natural selection to the status of a god, making it's decisions on what it wants to keep and what it wants to throw out. Very good.
You have gotten rid of that pesky god you didn't like, and gotten a new one instead.
Well done.

Well I don't think using words like "I now understand" is really a safe thing for you to do.

The good news is that you are getting closer to the truth. Natural Selection isn't a God - it merely replaces the need for one to explain the diversity of life on this planet.

Its not perfect. 98% of all the species that have ever lived have gone extinct. In response to environment change a given species does one of 2 things - it adapts or it goes extinct.

Those that adapt are merely lucky enough to have a variation within their ranks that allows survival.

Consider the following silly experiment:

Imagine you gather as many mice as you can find. You then take them all to the 20th floor of a building and open the windows.

One by one you throw the mice out of the windows yelling - "Evolve wings you bastards." None do.

One of the mice, however, happens to have an extra fold of skin between its front and rear legs. When you throw that one out it glides to the floor. That mouse might otherwise have been unable to compete for a mate but now, with you throwing mice out of windows it has the choice of any mice that you missed. The probability of its offspring being born with the same genetic abnormality as it had are relatively high.

If you continue your process of throwing mice out of the window over time the proportion of mice that have the genetic trait of this extra fold of skin and that survive the fall will grow.

Eventually all mice with have the fold.

Note - there was no planning here. Natural Selection simply allowed a natural variation in the population to become dominant as anything without the variation died.

There's no omniscience, no omnipotence, no morality and no planning.

In the above example if no mouse happens to have that particular genetic variation then eventually you will run out of mice as they will have gone extinct.

Help any?

[SteelCurtain]

I now understand.
I should have promoted natural selection to the status of a god, making it's decisions on what it wants to keep and what it wants to throw out. Very good.
You have gotten rid of that pesky god you didn't like, and gotten a new one instead.
Well done.

So you're going to pout? Instead of actually backing up your argument, you're going to erect a strawman and pout?

[*Deidre*]

If a god exists, why do you presume that evolution wouldn't have been "his" plan? I ask that because with many believers, it seems that they refuse to accept the evidence to support the theory of evolution, as this will somehow appear (to their god?) as a betrayal of sorts.

You can be Christian and also believe in the basic premise of TOE.

While I understand why you make this argument in response, I am annoyed that the OP is launching this distraction.

lol Yeah, the topic isn't really "philosophical" if at the end of the day, the topic turns into a debate about evolution vs. Creationism.

I shouldn't presume but I tend to look at what a poster's religious views are, (username title/tag line) and more often than not, I'll know where the thread might be heading....eventually. In this case, I assumed correctly.

In all honesty, if you buy into religion or a particular faith, it will shape how you view the world, even science. We hear about scientists who are "religious," but both schools of thought can't have equal time in a person's mindset. The religious side usually wins out.

[Ben Davis]

I now understand.
I should have promoted natural selection to the status of a god, making it's decisions on what it wants to keep and what it wants to throw out. Very good.
You have gotten rid of that pesky god you didn't like, and gotten a new one instead.
Well done.

No, I'm not standing for that. Evolution is not a deity, it's a human term to describe a natural process! People who understand that evolution is factually existent are not 'as bad as believers' and you don't just get to say so because your feelings get hurt!

The theory of evolution is based on physical evidence, rigorously repeatable & reproducable testing with demonstrably practical real-world results. Unlike God for who the only 'evidence' is anecdote, wishful thinking and faith.

[Alex K]

I now understand.
I should have promoted natural selection to the status of a god, making it's decisions on what it wants to keep and what it wants to throw out. Very good.
You have gotten rid of that pesky god you didn't like, and gotten a new one instead.
Well done.

No, I'm not standing for that. Evolution is not a deity, it's a human term to describe a natural process! People who understand that evolution is factually existent are not 'as bad as believers' and you don't just get to say so because your feelings get hurt!

The theory of evolution is based on physical evidence, rigorously repeatable & reproducable testing with demonstrably practical real-world results. Unlike God for who the only 'evidence' is anecdote, wishful thinking and faith.

It's just the oldest intellectual defense mechanism in the book (quite literally), which devout believers often employ to shut down thinking: claiming that a particular insight or piece of knowledge is tantamount to replacing God by a false idol allows you to disregard said insight without thinking about it. This is what "professor" has attempted with this sorry bit of pouting.

[Anomalocaris]

...

Please don't besmirch the name "professor" by hijacking it for your christain use.