Good putdown of creationist claims

[n2doc]

Young Earth Creationist: Ignorance Of What You Dispute
By BGH

Sickening at times, frustrating and maddening always. The claims of a Y.E.C. (Young Earth Creationist), who purports the earth is less than ten thousand years old, have nothing to base their claims upon other than a book deemed sacred by its creators. Instead, with little to substantiate any assertion they make, the YECs go on the offensive and attempt to attack evolutionary theory, a well supported scientific understanding in regards to the process of change in biological organisms over time and how this explains biodiversity on the planet.

1. Evolution is not a theory that explains the origin of the universe, that field of study is referred to as Cosmology and it is a field of study not covered by Charles Darwin’s, The Origin Of Species.

2. Evolution is not a theory that describes the first origination of life on this planet, that field of study is called Abiogenesis. While Darwin might have remarked his feelings about the theory in a letter to a colleague, it is not part of the scope of evolution, which by definition describes the change in species over time and natural selection.

3. Evolution is not inherently atheistic, the theory describes nothing regarding the existence of god, it is a scientific theory confining itself to prediction and observation of the natural world.

4. The theory of evolution does not say, “humans came from monkeys”. The theory shows clear evidence supporting the hypothesis that at some point around 6 million years ago, humans, the great apes and primates diverged from a common ancestor.

more:

http://uniformvelocity.com/2009/03/23/young-earth-creationist-ignorance-of-what-you-dispute/

comments section is good too. a few fundys show up and get smacked around.

[pleah]

1. K&R That was very entertaining!

Thanks!

[ixion]

2. Excellent points, albeit they'll be lost on the whacko-fundie crowd

in large part, at least.

[havocmom]

4. Speaking with fundies who also breed cattle/horses...

When you ask them, no, evolution doesn't happen!

Then, you point out that it was silly for them to spend thousands of dollars on stud horses and bulls.

But, we are improving our stock by bringing in good genetics! 'Them bulls is worth every penny!' They just go all lovey-dovey with the notion that good genetic materials, introduced at the proper times in herd management make all the difference. How? Well, when you ask, they have piles of observational data; some even keep very precise records of improvements in calf production, better weight gain on same foods (which would be an EVOLUTIONARY function) and so on. Yep they love that genetic improvement thing.

But there's no such thing as evolution.

They see wildlife adapt and flourish, or fail to adapt and die off. They see the same with native plants and planted crops. They work to make the latter better.

But there's no such thing as evolution.

When called on it, those who have a modicum of critical thinking skills have actually told me: Yes, evolution DOES happen in plants and animals.... but NOT people. People have ALWAYS been the same.

Then, one took me to some old cabin ruins and pointed out how low ceilings and doorways were, 'cuz people used to be shorter back then'.

:banghead:

[Leftist Agitator]

9. I had some asshat in front of my college student union w/ a bullhorn once...

Lecturing a disinterested crowd of students about Satan's insidious attempt to use evolution to make the sinners stray from God's path.

I explained, as loudly as possible to counter the bullhorn and draw a crowd, how Staphylococcus used to be treatable with methicillin. Then I explained that through the magic of evolution, certain strains had developed a resistance to methicillin within the past 20 years.

Then I told him that I'd give him a hundred bucks if he would infect himself with MRSA and use nothing other than methicillin and the power of prayer to effect a cure.

You get one guess as to whether he took the bet.

[havocmom]

14. Excellant!

I am so gonna steal your idea! :applause:

[hendo]

3. please do not generalize that all people who believe in Creation follow the absurd Y.E.C. beliefs.NT

[n2doc]

7. Because the belief that Man has remained static and unchanging over the whole 4.5 billion year

life of the Earth is somehow less crazy? :eyes:

[hendo]

8. I never claimed that. I see nothing wrong with Creation and Evolution existing together NT

[14thColony]

11. And neither does Darwinian Evolutionary Theory

As the author noted in Point 2, evolutionary theory is not interested in how life arose on Earth. Evolutionary biology is only interested in what happened to that life starting 0.0001 seconds after it became life. How it got here - whether spontaneous abiogenisis, alien seeding, bacteria falling to Earth onboard a meteorite, or Divine Providence, is outside the scope of the theory. Any of those origins is just peachy as far as evolution is concerned.

This is something that seems to be lost on most people. Not that YECs would care, but others might if it was better explained to them.

[hendo]

17. I applaud your excellent post

too bad that is often lost in arguments on both sides though.

[BlueJazz]

5. I love it when I'm talking to someone and they say something like...

"I don't believe that evolution crap...I didn't come from some damn Ape"

I tell them "Well, actually, Humans are Apes"

Pisses them off to the Max.

[havocmom]

6. Fundy neighbor had years of problems keeping babysitters for her kids.

She will go ballistic on the subject of evolution. "My kids are NOT apes!" all wild eyed, nostrils flaring, veins standing out on temples and neck, breathing short and rapid.

Yeah, that many baby sitters must be wrong, and, would she like a banana to calm down?

The woman hates me. :rofl:

[infidel dog]

13. Personally, I get an amusing reaction from fundies

when I tell them I'm descended from wolves.

[nichomachus]

10. I went to Catholic schools in the '50s

at that time the nuns taught us that there was no incompatibility between evolution and the creation stories we were taught.

They said that the creation tales were allegorical and that evolution could have been the method God used to create the world.

That was in the 19 - freaking - 50s. We seem to be running backwards here -- or those nuns were decades ahead of their time.

[Nihil]

15. The Catholic nuns were still teaching this in the 60s too.

> They said that the creation tales were allegorical and that evolution
> could have been the method God used to create the world.

It was only much later that I found out that some other Christians had
problems with this ... much to my confusion as the nuns at the school
and the Jesuits in the church were very much "the doctrine is the law"
so the concept of them being the more reasonable & open-minded group
was stunning at the time ...

:shrug:

[hendo]

16. thats what I had learned too

not in catholic schools, but in church.

[14thColony]

12. At the risk of being labeled pedantic

I'd suggest the author could have worded point 4 better. Saying that humans, great apes, and primates all diverged ca. 6 million years ago undermines credibility for those who know that Humans are a species of Great Apes which are, along with Monkeys, all Primates. Probably meant to say "around 6 million years ago, the Great Apes and Monkeys diverged from a common ancestor." Which was probably Proconsul or a similar proto-primate.