Christian answering questions.

[abaris]

Bones and flesh dissolve, deteriorate, rot or whatever.  It is only under special circumstances that a fossil forms at all, let alone a good one.  So where are all these "transitional species"?  They rotted away like 99%+ of all lifeforms.  That we can find any record of evolution is amazing.

And hardly a year goes by without yet another interesting find.

[Pat Mustard]

My question for someone with your background would be your thoughts on the fossil record as it relates to evolution.  It is my understanding that the fossil record does not support evolution in the sense that there are few, if any, fossils of transitional species.  Examples of fish evolving into land animals and such.  That the record shows several periods of many  new species emerging, but nothing that would show evolving from one species to another.

Well, considering that every fossil is either one of a transitional species or a species that died off without a direct descendant, your first post is wrong. On your point about a seeming lack of evidence, there are a number of threads here with plenty of evidence provided for evolution, from fossil rdcords to DNA to observed speciation with plenty in between. I'd suggest you use the search function before you again declare a paucity of evidence for evolution.

[pocaracas]

[PETE_ROSE]

I can't help but feel that people here are making a lot of assumptions about me.  For starters, I don't go to church, and my knowledge base is not rooted in the rantings of "local pastor lampoons".  I would not discard the Christian bible as a storybook.  I don't watch much television, when I do its generally a documentary or something educational.  I spend most of my free time in a library or on line.  I was not raised in America, so I do not beleive I have been biased by the typical religious upbringing.  In my search for answers and meaning in the world I try to remain open minded and follow the trail wherever it leads.  I did pay attention in school and have always enjoyed learning.  I see a lot more information out there now as we gain understanding and increase our knowledge. 

In regards to using the search function before declaring a paucity for evolution (had to get my dictionary out on that one), I was looking for some conversation on a Saturday night and not merely browsing the forum.  

I do thank you all for the responses and I am looking into the information shared. 

V/R

Pete

[TheRocketSurgeon]

[abaris]

I am no longer one because I was working as a field biologist for the state government, when I was incarcerated for nearly a decade for something I didn't do. It would have been longer than a decade, but I won my appeal to show the judge had been biased and that I couldn't have been convicted if I had been allowed to admit evidence that showed I was not guilty. So I was let out with a "so sorry" and what amounted to a shove.

Wow, man. Sorry you had to go through something like that.

[Pat Mustard]

I would not discard the Christian bible as a storybook.
In regards to using the search function before declaring a paucity for evolution (had to get my dictionary out on that one), I was looking for some conversation on a Saturday night and not merely browsing the forum.  

Pete

On the bible, it is a storybook. Even a cursory investigation of its contents will reveal that it's mostly mythology (there was no garden of eden, there was no exodus from Egypt, there was no unified kingdom, &c ad nauseum)with no basis in reality.

Regarding me telling you to look up what was previously shown to support evolution, there have been a lot of people that made the same idiotic statement you did, viz that evolution has little to no evidence for it both here and elsewhere, and every single one of them has been thoroughly refuted. I am tired of the same old stupidity rearing its ugly head every few weeks, by people who think they're making a gotcha argument.

[TheRocketSurgeon]

Oh, and I should point out that there's a valid reason behind the hostility you faced. We have several Creationist posters who like to come here and "just ask questions", playing a sort of coy game in which they engage in passive-aggressive tactics and denial of their actual motives for questioning, trying to "bait" us into saying something they can leap upon and build a straw-man argument out of. It happens almost weekly that we get a new example of this type of personality (often, it's the same people "making a sock", by pretending to be a new user, which is why people here said talking "like a sock of a previously perma-banned user" was a bad idea). You appear to be genuinely new and to not share that desire to try to verbally manipulate us. That being the case, I'd ask the other users here to go more gently with you.

Hope you like it here.

[PETE_ROSE]

Wow, I can't fathom how being incarcerated under those circumstances must feel. I am sorry to hear that. Makes any challenging circumstances in my life pale in comparison. I am happy to hear you have found joy in your love of motorcycles. I can definitely relate to that as I owned several in my younger years. I sold my last GSXR 600 when I came home from Iraq and my son was born. Seemed like too much of a chance I was taking with the near misses and unobservant drivers. No one looks out for motorcyclists. I do look forward to retirement years annd after my children are grown to the possibility of riding again. Cruising the Grand Canyon and the Dragons Tail in TN are two things I never did check off on my MC bucket list

---

I assure you that I am a new user. I am gaining an understanding of the lay of the land here. I am disappointed in the attitude and tactics used by Christians as well as others here. I have only been involved in a couple of on line forums ever. A heavy equipment site where we talk about bulldozers and such and for many years I was a member in a sports gambling forum called FreeWinners under the same username I have here. I have since stopped "sports investing" as I always called it. Not really for religious views but mainly to study the investment markets and that I finaly realized I wasnt good at it.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

My question for someone with your background would be your thoughts on the fossil record as it relates to evolution. It is my understanding that the fossil record does not support evolution in the sense that there are few, if any, fossils of transitional species. Examples of fish evolving into land animals and such. That the record shows several periods of many new species emerging, but nothing that would show evolving from one species to another.

Erm...if new species emerge, where do they come from if not evolved from other species? And could you point out an instance of 'fish evolving into land animals' where they are NOT different species?

Boru