Evolution Is Not Based On Faith
Evolution Is Not Based On Faith
From the Harrisonburg (VA) Daily News Record - Aug 15, 2007 - original
Ruth Hobbs suggested recently in these pages that both creationism and evolution cannot be proved and therefore can only be taken on faith.
Let’s look at her opinion another way. In support of evolution we have the work of thousands of scientists, several of whom have won the Nobel Prize, using the scientific method in their research work.
We have hundreds of thousands of scientific papers published in peer-reviewed scientific journals all over the world, providing data supporting evolution. We also have the fact that there is as much or more evidence supporting evolution as there is for many commonly accepted scientific theories, such as the theory of gravity, the atomic theory of matter, the germ theory of disease and the quantum theory.
The scientific evidence for creationism? Zero, zip, nada, nothing. Since creationism involves supernatural causes, it is beyond the realm of the laws of nature and therefore cannot be investigated scientifically. So the only way to promote creationism is to try to criticize evolution.
Evolution is the descent of living organisms from common ancestors through genetic variation and natural selection. It is not about the origin of the universe or the origin of life. Ruth’s requirement that evolutionary biologists explain these origins is the same as asking us to disregard all of medical science because some diseases cannot yet be prevented or cured. Clearly, that would not be a good idea.
Just as many diseases that had no cures 20 or 30 years ago, now have effective treatments due to scientific research, evidence is accumulating daily on the questions of the origins of life and the universe. I am confident that those questions will be answered in due time.
Don’t just parrot creationist propaganda, read a book on evolution written by an evolutionary biologist and decide for yourself.
Keith Carson
Hightown