Anti-Evolution Article, How do I Respond?

Question

Today in my crap newspaper, for reasons other than this viewpoint, there was a publiushed view that spouted trash about evolution. The main "areguments" of this viewpoint were

1-we have so many people delighted to come from pond scum
We accept the fact that evolution accuretly and correct describes, how we came about. Simply because we do not want to think something happened, does not mean it did not happen. As much as Americans would like to forget about slavery, the fact is it happened and wishing for it not to happen, does not make it any less real.
2-Evolution does not answer what "power/force/agency allthe nessicary changes take place to make all this happen"
Ironically some1 wrote a letter descibing the hunting of deer and talked about passing on of traits in the very same issue.
3-Evolution is just a theory
4-Wait until you have a prayer answered, and see God's power
5-Everything is a result of a Intelligent designer

3-Just a theory
In the respected scientific community a theory is not simply an idea that someone has made up and has put in a book. Hypothosis are weeded out by experimentation. The hypothosis that make in through rigerous testing, are unifed into a theory. This theory is more than "just a theory" but rather a knowledge that is able to explain unknown phenamon. Evolution has done just this, predicting where in earths 4.5 billion life, certian fossil should be.
4-God and evolution are perfectly compatable. There is even evolution mass once a year apart of (the name of the project, ill look it up)
5-Inteligent design has been disproven, by the science community. And if one watched the NOVA on the issue one would see that Intelligent Design, has no scientific background.

The letter itslef needs to be short so it fits into the paper, i just need help condesing my ideas

pressconnects.com go to viewpoints and submit a letter

Answer 1

Here are my answers to that article:
1: Who cares if we did come from pond scum? The only thing that matters is we're here right now. I mean, come on, can we seriously believe that us humans are perfect enough to have been created by some all-powerful guy with infinite wisdom? You're pretty arrogant if you believe that. And it's not that we don't want to think something happened: it's that what you're thinking happened DIDN'T happen.
2: There is no power/force/agency. Things less capable of being alive died. Things more capable of being alive survived. Mutations came and the "alive of not" process filtered them out again. No power/force/agency needed.
3:Evolution is a theory with proof. Intelligent design is less provable than panpsychism. A rock with a mind definitely makes more sense.
4: (This one really made me laugh) And how much do you have to wait till the prayer's answered? If there is a God, his answering machine's been running for about 5000 years. And he hasn't checked his messages.
5: Yeah, I was guessing somebody was just trying to screw us with the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

Answer 2

1. Where we originated from 4 billion years ago does not diminish what being a human is today.

2. I don't understand what you are asking for this one.

3. In science the term theory has a different definition than it does in everyday use. Theory in science is an explication of how and why of a fact. Evolution being the fact, the theory being the explication of how it happens and why it happens.

4. No one can prove with empirical data that a prayer has ever been answered.

5. There is no scientific data that is peer reviewed to support ID.

Answer 3

1) "Pond scum" is related to abiogenesis, not evolution. And it, itself, is wrong in relation to that subject anyway.
2) Is it supposed to? It only explains what happened, and the theory explains how and why it happened.
3) It is a theory and a fact. The theory, a series of facts, explains the fact.
4) Prayer is an optical illusion.
5) The intelligent designer is, by definition, under everything, so the intelligent designer has an intelligent designer who has an intelligent designer and so on forever backwards making this idea implausible. Also, why must it be a designer, much less an intelligent one?

Answer 4

Forget the letter. Move far away. Where the hell do you live?

"God and evolution are perfectly compatible." Which it is. Evolution speaks nothing about where we come from. It says that animals adapt over long periods of time. The chain of human evolution is still being studied; the closer we get to "the beginning", the more unsure we are. But even if scientists are unsure, they are willing to admit this AND study the subject further.

You know ... just send a link of this news paper and article. I want to write to these people myself.

Answer 5

{I'll just address one of these points (you seem to have a handle on the others):} >"2-Evolution does not answer what "power/force/agency allthe nessicary changes take place to make all this happen" Actually evolution does answer this question ... and creationism does not! Specifically, the entire brilliance of Darwin's theory is that it describes the *mechanism* that drives evolution. Call that mechanism a "power/force/agency", if you want .. the point is that it *explains* what *causes* evolution to happen. We understand the causal agency (the mechanism) for evolution far better than we understand the causal agency (the mechanism) for gravity! But creationism precisely does NOT "answer what power/force/agency" caused creation. Just giving that power/force/agency a name (God, YWEH, Allah, The Creator, The Designer) explains precisely NOTHING about it. This is why creationists fail to understand science! They are so used to being asked to believe things without need for understanding (as an acceptancy of mystery, is a legitimate path to many legitimate questions ... but not this one), that they have no real concept of what a true *EXPLANATION* even looks like! This is why they can also *reject* things without real understanding. -------------------------- {end of my main answer ... the following are additional details you are free to use if you want}: -------------------------- This inability to understand what constitutes an EXPLANATION, is why creationists use phrases like "just a theory" ... or "unproven", or "has not risen to the level of 'law' or 'fact' "... they utterly fail to understand that the goal of science is not to "prove" things, but to *EXPLAIN* things. A 'theory' is the highest rank an explanation can obtain. Namely, a theory is an explanation that has been tested on so much evidence that it has huge explanatory power ... it explains a lot of things. ------ Science always puts *understanding before belief*. Religion puts *belief before understanding*. This is not to say that religion is bad ... belief-before-understanding is a good thing for some issues (like issues of your own morality and mortality and the questions of purpose and behavior ... all of which can be addressed by believing in things without need to fully understand them). But belief-before-understanding is the exact antithesis of science. The only good news is that, because they are arguing against things they clearly don't understand ... they are not very formidable opponents.

Answer 6

First off - nothing has been proved or disproved. one cannot even disprove that the (what was it?) giant spaghetti monster didn't come to earth and create life.

Intelligent design has no scientific background - as much as the creationist/ID folks want it to. Its background is purely based on faith.

Evolution has scientific background but cannot be proven, if for no other reason, due to the extreme amount of time involved and evidence lost to said time.

There is nothing wrong with learning both. I still don't know why Creationism/ID/Evolution aren't all taught as possibilities in the creation of man. Our student can choose to accept or reject each hypothesis (I really don't think any of them qualify as full blown theories anyway based on lack of testable methods) as they see fit. Their parents and their churches can teach what they will in addition to their school work.

Here's the thing folks - burying your head in the sand and refusing to learn someone else's ideas because you don't think they're sound isn't very bright. Knowledge is power. How do you expect to argue *against* creationism/ID/evolution if you don't *understand* it?

Answer 7

Now it is true that rejection of six literal days doesn’t ultimately affect one’s salvation, if one is truly born again. However, we need to stand back and look at the big picture.

In many nations, the Word of God was once widely respected and taken seriously. But once the door of compromise is unlocked, once Christian leaders concede that we shouldn’t interpret the Bible as written in Genesis, why should the world take heed of God’s Word in any area? Because the church has told the world that one can use man’s interpretation of the world, such as billions of years, to reinterpret the Bible, this Book is seen as an outdated, scientifically incorrect holy book not intended to be believed as written.

As each subsequent generation has pushed this door of compromise open farther and farther, they are increasingly not accepting the morality or salvation of the Bible either. After all, if the history in Genesis is not correct, how can one be sure the rest is correct? Jesus said, “If I have told you earthly things, and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?” (John 3:12).

The battle is not one of young earth vs. old earth, or billions of years vs. six days, or creation vs. evolution—the real battle is the authority of the Word of God vs. man’s fallible opinions.

Why do Christians believe in the bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ? Because of the words of Scripture (“according to the Scriptures”).

And why should Christians believe in the six literal days of creation? Because of the words of Scripture (“In six days the Lord made ...”).

The real issue is one of authority—is God’s Word the authority, or is man’s word the authority? So, couldn’t God have used evolution to create? The answer is No. A belief in millions of years of evolution not only contradicts the clear teaching of Genesis and the rest of Scripture but also impugns the character of God. He told us in the book of Genesis that He created the whole universe and everything in it in six days by His word: “Then God said ... .” His Word is the evidence of how and when God created, and His Word is incredibly clear.

Answer 8

Maybe just write a letter explaining to them what a theory is. Then let them know that next week you will write them a new letter detailing 5th grade science. You don't want to confuse them with the first letter.

Answer 9

You should ask this in the Biology section. Asking it in here only gives more credibility to the erroneous argument that believing the theory of evolution is tantamount to atheism..

Answer 10

someone actually wrote " Simply because we do not want to think something happened, does not mean it did not happen" ???

Wow, impressive use of "not"... and a good argument against ID... even if they don't want evolution to be true, it doesn't mean it's not :)