Your favorite false or dumb argument against evolution & for creationism?

Question

For many Christians belief in creationism seems as important as belief in God. I'm amused at their false "proofs" against evolution. Most really believe these silly arguments because it's what they're taught, and they don't challenge their leaders.

A few:
>It's just a theory (so is number theory; so math isn't real?)
>If man evolved from monkeys (wrong) why are there still monkeys?
>No transitional forms, missing links (false, there are many)
>Carbon dating is grossly inaccurate (yet all real scientists trust it?)
>Evolution can't be proven (not if you reject evidence & logic, but yes it can, & has been)
>Evolution should still be ongoing (it is)
>2nd law of thermodynamics; the "watch parts in a tumbler" argument (falsely assumes that specific animals were the "goal" of evolution)
>God (or Satan) planted fossels to trick us (why?)
>Man's made in God's image & God's not a monkey (just dumb)
>The Earth is only 10,000 years old (uh-huh)

What are your favorites?

James W: You provide a perfect example of one logical error creationists exploit: Taking a statement out of context & applying a false argument. You quoted my words: "evolution is a theory," then say I "condemn others for saying the same thing."

The falacy: I never condemned anyone for saying that Evolution is a theory, because it is. A scientific theory isn't an opinion, speculation, or "guess" like it means in the vernacular. "Theory" in science means the best, most logical explanation based on the evidence available. It is subject to change as new evidence presents itself, but that does not make it false. Hence number theory, the theory of gravity, music theory, etc. Read the wikipedia entry for theory:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory

You asked, "Does every Science agree that evolution is THE ANSWER?" Simply, yes. Creationism and "intelligent design" are not sciences.

Science seeks answers and truth, religion purports to already have all the answers, and the truth.

SexyMama, you wrote: "Now call me crazy but maybe you could inform me past the point of your mockery of Chrsitians. Remember just because some one does something different doesn't make it wrong it's still just different."

I do not mock Christians. I rightly mock the presumption of knowledge where there is none. I mock those who think they know more than the entire scientific community, who say all those scientists, with all their education and training, all the research in history is wrong simply because it contradicts their own interpretation of the Bible.

I would similarly mock the medieval Holy Roman Church for presuming to know more about the solar system by reading the Bible than Galileo & others knew by looking through a telescope.

You are right that just because some one does something different doesn't make it wrong. But truth is truth and knowledge is knowledge, and to say otherwise, and to teach children otherwise, is not just different. It is wrong.

Answer 1

I'm quite the fan of, "Look outside, isn't everything just so beautiful and perfect?! God must have created this!" Warp that around into any ridiculous design argument or cosmological argument, and you have a hilarious mess which only frustrates once you realize how many people really, honestly, truly prescribe to such crap. It's unfortunate how many of our fellow men fear life so much to have to retreat into such a fantasy world.

Answer 2

I'm not a biologist, but I do believe that evolution is false. I'm not in a position to engage in a debate with you, but examining the creation "arguments" you gave, let's see:

>It's just a theory (so is number theory; so math isn't real?)

This is not a good argument for creationism. I do agree with that. A theory is not a hypothesis, it is something that has been proven. Trying to prove something false by refering to its category is simply ineffective. The evolutionists can simply change it to the Law of Evolution anytime.

>If man evolved from monkeys (wrong) why are there still monkeys?

Okay, this is not a good argument.

>No transitional forms, missing links (false, there are many)

Is there? I think there should be millions of transitional fossils. Yet we've only been able to find a handful or so.

>Carbon dating is grossly inaccurate (yet all real scientists trust it?)

Just because a lot of "smart" people trust it, it doesn't mean it's true. Many scientific theories that have been trusted for so long have been proven false. The same is with carbon dating. There is still the possibility that it is not accurate at all.

>Evolution can't be proven (not if you reject evidence & logic, but yes it can, & has been)

I don't think evolution can be proven. You'll need at least a few billion years to do so. A hypothesis can be proven if you can keep repeating the same process. For example, we know gravity exists because the ball keeps falling to the ground no matter how many times we throw it. In the case of evolution, no major experiment has been done to reenact evolution. We just gather evidence. Then it's not really scientific method. It's more historical. In the same way, creationism can't be proven scientifically.

>Evolution should still be ongoing (it is)

Again, we need several hundred thousands of years at least to actually prove this.

>2nd law of thermodynamics; the "watch parts in a tumbler" argument (falsely assumes that specific animals were the "goal" of evolution)

Still, evolution is the process of life forms getting more and more complex and well-adapted to their surroundings, and therefore it is contradicting the 2nd law of thermodynamics.

>God (or Satan) planted fossels to trick us (why?)
This is not an argument utilized by many current creationists. In fact, some creationists believe that God planted fossils to prove evolution is wrong. I think that only the authoritarian Catholic bishops and popes used this argument a long, long time ago to provide an excuse without actually dealing with the real problem.

>Man's made in God's image & God's not a monkey (just dumb)

I do agree that this is not a good argument as it has an unjustified premise explicitly stated in the first part (man is made in God's image). Yes, many people would simply disagree with that. It does seem to be a "dumb" argument, even though a more civilized intellectual would use words like "false", "ineffective", "illogical", etc. However, it might not be an argument at all; it may be a statement simply to show an aspect of the incompatibility of literal Bible interpretation and evolution.

>The Earth is only 10,000 years old (uh-huh)

This is not an argument, but you present it as such. Of course, it's a part of creationist belief, and it does not have any reasoning. By the way, you haven't disproven it also.

===

In the end, I want to repeat that both evolution and creationism can't be proven. Some people actually believe in theistic evolution, which is even more difficult to disprove or prove. Creationism is NOT a scientific theory, it is more like a historical theory. We can't explain how God created the universe by using our knowledge of science and scientific method. Evolution is, as I have stated, also a not a true scientific law, as it is impractical to repeat it.

Answer 3

My favorite would be why would you chose to believe that we all came from nothing? Is it because you've done so many horrible things that it's easier to not consider the repercutions that will follow when God judges all people. For me even being a Christian I have a problem trying to believe that we all came from some ooze or that there was a big bang, once you trace these steps far enough the question has to come to mind who created the ooze? Who created the stars or planets that eventally went bang. Now call me crazy but maybe you could inform me past the point of your mockery of Chrsitians. Remember just because some one does something different doesn't make it wrong it's still just different.

Answer 4

I've always loved "If we evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?" I can't tell you how many times i've heard that, and always by really dumb people (not an insult, just a fact). And the funniest (or saddest) part is that they never give it a second thought after that. as if no scientist had ever thought of that. Yeah you just proved evolution false. congrats.

Answer 5

How far fetched evolution? people have this thing that us being created by a superior being is too far fetched, but really, think about it. Isn't it so much easier to think that. And how can we come from monkeys. Monkeys copy us... how can they copy something that wasn't in existance until after they evolved. And why are there still monkeys? Also, they say that evolution took tons of years, but if that was the case, shouldn't we be finding all of these half monkey half people skeletons all over the place? We find all of these other skeletons that are millions of years old of animals and stuff but noooo no half monkey people... o yah thats because they don't exist. There's plenty more at http://www.creationevidence.com/

Answer 6

you stated:

"It's just a theory (so is number theory; so math isn't real?)"

"Evolution should still be ongoing (it is)"

evolution is a theory (you say it is--you condemn others for saying the same thing.)

"Man's made in God's image & God's not a monkey (just dumb)"
evolutions view of God is that: God is not a monkey--I AGREE

Does every Science agree that evolution is THE ANSWER?

Answer 7

I wouldn't say favourite exactly - more cringe-worthy.

The worst I've seen are probably the 'hurricane going through a junkyard and resulting in the formation of a boeing 747' (or the likes) and 'Darwin repented on his death-bed which obviously disproves evolution' one.

It gets frustrating to the point where you just want to slap these people across the face with any book besides the Bible and say "F*king read it!" I'm not angry, just, as I said, slightly frustrated by peoples' ignorance of reality and their attempts to force-feed me their fantasy scenario.

Answer 8

To me most of the arguments leads to "God say this..... in the bible" but it is written by someone and not God himself.
They claim that it is divinely inspired but we all know the follies of man. The early church fathers are notorious for their shady dealings and aren't they also divinely inspired. If they have been seduced by Satan, why can't God who is indefinitely more powerful than his Foe, prevent his chosen ones from straying.
Critical thinking is what they lack.

Answer 9

The worst is when they don't give any arguments.
I give them arguments pro evolution, they say "true" and continue to believe in god. It happens to me all the time and I can't figure out why. I mean some of them seem bright

Answer 10

"It is inconceivable that anything as complex as a protein, let alone a living cell or a human, could spring up by chance."

Quite the opposite: natural selection, the principal known mechanism of evolution, harnesses nonrandom change by preserving "desirable" (adaptive) features and eliminating "undesirable" (nonadaptive) ones. As long as the forces of selection stay constant, natural selection can push evolution in one direction and produce sophisticated structures in surprisingly short times.