Don’t Be Brainwashed by Bankrupt Arguments for Evolution

An article by a columnist for The New York Times appeared this past weekend. The writer stated:

When the dog days of summer come to an end, one thing we can be sure of is that the school year that follows will see more fights over the teaching of evolution and whether intelligent design, or even Biblical accounts of creation, have a place in America’s science classrooms. In these arguments, evolution is treated as an abstract subject that deals with the age of the earth or how fish first flopped onto land. It’s discussed as though it were an optional, quaint and largely irrelevant part of biology. And a common consequence of the arguments is that evolution gets dropped from the curriculum entirely.

This is a travesty. It is also dangerous.

Evolution should be taught—indeed, it should be central to beginning biology classes—for at least three reasons. . . .

Now, I have reprinted below, with comments I have added, some of the supposed startling and convincing evidences for Darwinian evolution—read carefully:

The second reason for teaching evolution is that the subject is immediately relevant here and now. The impact we are having on the planet is causing other organisms to evolve—and fast. And I’m not talking just about the obvious examples: widespread resistance to pesticides among insects; the evolution of drug resistance in the agents of disease, from malaria to tuberculosis; the possibility that, say, the virus that causes bird flu will evolve into a form that spreads easily from person to person. The impact we are having is much broader.

Comment: we have heard this same old argument so many times—it gets tiring. There are a number of articles on drug resistance in bacteria on AiG’s website.

For instance, we are causing animals to evolve just by hunting them. The North Atlantic cod fishery has caused the evolution of cod that mature smaller and younger than they did 40 years ago. Fishing for grayling in Norwegian lakes has caused a similar pattern in these fish. Human trophy hunting for bighorn rams has caused the population to evolve into one of smaller-horn rams. (All of which, incidentally, is in line with evolutionary predictions.)

So, we still have cod, and we still have bighorn rams! Such a change in the population has nothing to do with molecules-to-man evolution. To claim this is evidence for evolution is ridiculous! I refer you to articles on AiG’s website about natural selection/speciation.

Conversely, hunting animals to extinction may cause evolution in their former prey species. Experiments on guppies have shown that, without predators, these fish evolve more brightly colored scales, mature later, bunch together in shoals less and lose their ability to suddenly swim away from something. Such changes can happen in fewer than five generations. If you then reintroduce some predators, the population typically goes extinct.

And guppies are still guppies! The writer does not understand natural selection nor what is happening in the examples she has given above! She needs a basic course in genetics! You can read the entire article at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/opinion/13judson.html

AiG’s Evolution Exposed in NYT Article

In another New York Times article on the teaching of evolution in schools this past weekend, one of AiG’s books received an interesting mention. The article is a very sad one as it illustrates how young minds are being brainwashed into believing evolution—the students don’t even know the right questions to ask. However, those that have AiG’s books hopefully will read and understand the answers to what is being taught. In the article we read:

The discovery that a copy of “Evolution Exposed,” published by the creationist organization Answers in Genesis, was circulating among the class did not raise his flagging spirits. The book lists each reference to evolution in the biology textbook Mr. Campbell uses and offers an explanation for why it is wrong.

Where the textbook states, for example, that “Homo sapiens appeared in Africa 200,000 years ago based on fossil and DNA evidence,” “Exposed” counters that “The fossil evidence of hominids (alleged human ancestors) is extremely limited.” A pastor at a local church, Mr. Campbell learned, had given a copy of “Exposed” to every graduating senior the previous year.

AiG has published two books now that are being used to reach high school and college students:

1. Evolution Exposed: Biology—every mention of evolution in the four main biology texts used in the public schools in America is listed, and answers with article links are given

.2. Evolution Exposed: Earth Science—every mention of millions of years/evolution in the three main geology texts used in the public schools in America is listed, and answers with article links are given.

You can obtain copies of both books from AiG’s online bookstore.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken