Evolution: A Scientists Religion

I'd like to step back and take a look at a few things here about Evolution.

To start with, I don't believe that Evolution is any more of a "scientific" theory, than the Bible is. "What's that she's saying? Evolution isn't science? How can this be? She's crazy..." maybe not though. I'd like to take a look at what exactly the study of evolution is, as well as the definition of a few things "faith" related. I won't be comparing the beliefs of evolution and creationism in this particular blog, though if you would like to see an article relating to the the controversy between these two belief systems, you can look at my blog here.

Ok, on to some definitions.

Evolution - Biology. Change in the gene pool of a population from generation
to generation by such processes as mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift (Dictionary.com).

Mutation - 1.Biology.

a.	A sudden departure from the parent type in one or more heritable characteristics, caused by a change in a gene or a chromosome.

b.	An individual, species, or the like, resulting from such a departure (Dictionary.com).

Natural Selection - n. The process in nature by which, according to
Darwin's theory of evolution, only the organisms best adapted to their
environment tend to survive and transmit their genetic characteristics
in increasing numbers to succeeding generations while those less adapted
tend to be eliminated (Dictionary.com).

Genetic Drift - Random changes in the frequency of alleles in a
gene pool, usually of small populations (Dictionary.com).

Summary: Basically, for a species to evolve (a dog for instance) the dog would need to mutate genetically over several generations, passing those genetic mutations on to future generations, until it is no longer considered a dog. Perhaps the dog mutated because its environment changed, and it needed to adapt to survive... for example, if there was a sudden ice age, the dog may begin to grow thicker fur, longer teeth, and become more aggressive just a little at a time to survive. According to my Anthropology Professor, evolution does not occur over night and needs many, many generations to occur. Also according to my anthropology professor, for evolution to have occurred, speciation (see definition below) needs to have taken place. Basically for evolution to have taken place within a species or a small population of a certain species, the animal needs to have genetically mutated so much that it no longer interbreeds with others of the species it came from, but only breeds with others genetically like it (ex. a dog mutates so much that it no longer breeds with other dogs... it is now no longer considered a dog, but a new species... one thing changes into another). Because evolution is the claim that one species can change or mutate into another, evolution says that because of random chance, primordial ooze mutated into an amoeba, which changed into a fish, which changed into reptiles, which evolved into birds, which changed into four legged creatures, which mutated into apes, which mutated into humans.

Speciation - 1) The formation of new species as a result of geographic,
physiological, anatomical, or behavioral factors that prevent previously
interbreeding populations from breeding with each other.

2) n. The evolutionary formation of new biological species, usually
by the division of a single species into two or more genetically
distinct ones (Dictionary.com).

Now that we've taken a look at the definition of evolution, lets look at the definitions of science, theory, faith, and religion.

Science -

1.	A branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws: the mathematical sciences.

2.	Systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation (Dictionary.com).

Theory -

1.	A coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena: Einstein's theory of relativity.

2.	A proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact (Dictionary.com).

Faith - Belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis
would be substantiated by fact (Dictionary.com)

Religion - 1) Something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter
of ethics or conscience.
2) A specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon
by a number of persons or sects (Dictionary.com).

When we take a look at plain, basic definitions straight from the dictionary, this all seems fairly easy to understand, doesn't it? Lets continue then to the point of this blog.

Looking at the definition of science above, we see that to be considered science it needs to be based on a set of facts gained by observation or experimentation. That all seems well and good to me. If somebody sits me down and shows me proof of something that they have gained legitimately I have no reason to doubt what they are saying is true. Very quickly lets take a look at just a few things the study of evolution claims as their "scientific" proof, gained through observation and experimentation.

Evolution's "proof":

• Carbon Dating: Carbon dating (a scientific method of discovering how old something that was once living is) proves that the earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old.
• Fossils: Bones found throughout the world, of animals, apes, and humans prove that humans and apes share the same ancestors (humans and apes were once one in the same).
• Vestigial Organs - Organs such as the appendix, tail bone, and tonsils (organs that we supposedly no longer have use for as humans) are really leftovers from when we were once apes.
• God is not proven: Surprisingly one of the "scientific" proofs given by evolutionists for why Evolution must be the way things happened is that Christians can't prove the existence of God. Therefore, if there is no God, and God didn't create us, then evolution must be the only reason that we are here as the humans we are right now.
• If there is a God, then why aren't we perfect right now?: Another thing many people use to explain evolution is the fact that we aren't perfect right now. (We have organs with seemingly no function (appendix), we have a blind spot in our eyes, and we experience pain and eventually death.

These are just a few claims of Evolutionists today. Now I would like to examine a few of these claims. There should be no problem with taking a look at these claims, right? They're proof... they were found scientifically as a way to prove the theory of evolution, right? Take a look:

• Carbon Dating: Carbon dating is one of the most popular radioactive dating methods used today. Ironically, despite its popularity, it is also one of the most misunderstood methods of dating. Many people mistakenly believe carbon dating can be used to date objects that are millions or even billions of years old. The fact is, carbon dating can only be used to date things up to approximately 50,000 years old. In fact, if an object contains (radioactive) carbon, this should be a clue that the object may not be any older than 50,000 years, (Trueauthority.com). Considering that the theory of evolution claims that the earth is around 4.5 billion years old, they should not be using carbon dating to date things. Another factor that carbon dating doesn't take into account is the fact that time is not the same today as it was thousands of years ago because the universe is expanding. This is why things that have been carbon dated fifty years ago were said to be a certain age, and when they are dated today, they are attributed a different age. This makes carbon dating an unreliable method of dating fossils. Read more about how carbon dating works at Trueauthority.com
  

• Fossils: The following is taken from an article entitled: Evolution: Fact or Fiction, by James Melton.
  

  In 1922, a bunch of bones were found in Nebraska by a man named Harold Cook. After studying the upper and lower jaws and the teeth of some thirty animals, a complete ape known as Ramapithecus was constructed on the basis of ONE TOOTH! Years later, the entire skeleton from which the tooth came was found. It turned out to be an extinct species of pig.

  Dr. Eugene Dubois discovered the famous Java Man (Pithecanthropus erectus) in 1891. This "great discovery" consisted of a small piece of the top of a skull, a fragment of a left thigh bone, and three molar teeth. But, instead of being found all together, these remains were found in an area of about seventy feet, and they were found over about a year's time. They were also found in an old river bed with other assorted extinct animal bones. This, of course, presents a number of problems for Java Man. How can the "experts" be so sure that these remains all came from the same being? Better yet, how do such bones survive for 750,000 years without decaying? Where's the EVIDENCE to PROVE these theories? We know what the scientists want to believe about these findings, but WHERE'S THE PROOF?

  Piltdown man was discovered by Charles Dawson in 1912. Dawson claimed to have found some bones, some teeth, and even some primitive implements in a gravel pit in Piltdown, Sussex, England. He took them to a British museum where anthropologists claimed that they were 500,000 years old. Textbooks throughout the world then proclaimed Piltdown Man as the greatest find to date. Then in October of 1956, Reader's Digest EXPOSED this finding as "The Great Piltdown Hoax." The bones where found to be fraudulent. The jaw bone was proven to have belonged to an ape which had died only FIFTY YEARS before (not 500,000). The teeth had been filed down, and both, teeth and bones, had been discovered with bichromate of potash to cover up their true identity! So much for Piltdown Man.

  The so-called Neanderthal Man was discovered around 1900 in a cave in the Neanderthal Valley near Dusseldorf, Germany. Naturally, he was hailed as another great "missing link." Since that time, it has been proven that Neanderthal wasn't an ape-man at all. He turned out to be a fully erect human being with a cranial capacity of over 13% more than that of normal man. Today, he is classified as "Homo Sapiens" (completely human). The "missing link" is still missing.

  Finally, we come to Lucy, a 40% skeleton found in Ethiopia by D.C. Johanson in the 70's. Johanson claimed that "Lucy" had walked on two legs, because of the "angle of the thigh bone and the flattened surface at it's knee joint" (National Geographic, December, 1976). However, the knee joint was badly crushed; so Johanson's conclusion is mere speculation. Anatomist Charles Oxnard said the "Lucy" did NOT walk upright, at least not in the same manner as humans. The chimpanzee DOES spend some time walking upright, so this was probably just another ape. (Evolution: Fact or Fiction). To effectively use a fossil record as evidence that humans are the descendants of apes and other creatures, there needs to be a fossil linking creature A to creature C... do you see what I'm saying? If creature A is an ape, and creature C is a modern day human (you or me) there needs to be a fossil linking the two together. Today, with all of the fossils that have been found, there is no fossil B (the missing link effectively) to show that A evolved into C. If someday the right fossil is found, the fossil record will read A B C... right now it has wide gaps in it and reads something like: A C E G H I M O P...

• Vestigial Organs: Many medical doctors agree that all of these organs have important functions in the human body, and aren't "vestigial organs" in any sense. The appendix contains a rich blood supply which serves as some defense against cancer. The tail bone isn't where your monkey tail used to be, as Darwinians believe, but it instead provides support for the muscles which control elimination. The pineal gland contains important hormones which the body needs. The plica semilunaris helps to keep foreign particles out of the eye, and the tonsils help to keep foreign particles out of your child's throat. The tonsils also help to keep infection from spreading. Yes, even the ear lobe has a purpose, for it helps to keep our ears warm during cold weather (Evolution: Fact or Fiction).

• God is not proven: Now, going back to the definition of science: Systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation, it isn't really fair to use this as evidence for the theory of evolution. Scientists can neither prove, or disprove the existence of God.

• If there is a God, then why aren't we perfect right now? Again, going back to the definition of Science, we know that this isn't something that can be used as evidence for the theory of evolution... it cannot be proven or disproven that God didn't make us perfect to begin with. According to the Bible God made us in His image, and originally we were perfect until we allowed sin to come into the world... originally we were made to live forever, originally women were made to give children without pain, originally we were essentially perfect according to the Bible. Seeing as how science can neither prove or disprove the validity of the Bible, this is not evidence of evolution. We've already covered that the appendix does have a function in our bodies today (and if we were created perfect in the first place then the appendix most certainly had a function when man was first created). As far as having a blind spot in our eyes where the nerves connect to the back of our eyes... that's why God gave us two eyes. Because we have two eyes, and also because our eyes are constantly making small adjustments that we don't even notice, we do not see a blind spot as we look around a room or look at an object. If we only had one eye, that would definitely be a problem... hm... do think God was smart enough then to give us two eyes? Of course he was.

So now that we've taken a look at why the study of evolution isn't exactly science according to the definition of science, let's take a look at faith and religion. While there is still no specific evidence showing that evolution exists, many scientists and other people today still avidly pursue the belief that it does exist, and still try to prove that it does today. They believe that one day they will find the evidence they need to prove their theory about why and how we are the way we are. Faith being a: Belief that is not based on proof, and religion being, Something one believes in and follows devotedly, just looking at the definitions Evolution is beginning to seem more and more like religion, is it not? Evolutionists have faith that what they believe in is true, and are so devoted to their beliefs that they are willing to follow what cannot even be considered as scientific evidence. Even my anthropology professor said one day, "Nature knowingly created us this way." For somebody who constantly tells us that there is no God and no intelligent design, it sure sounds to me as if he believes nature is "smart" enough to know to create us the way we are. In itself does that statement not show that he believes in evolution as a religion?

In conclusion I'd like to say that the theory of evolution is being taught in public schools today with no other theories being taught beside it. The definition of theory being: A coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena, does the Bible not fit this definition, then also becoming at the very least a theory just like evolution? Evolution is a faith based theory, just as is the Bible. Evolution offers us an explanation for why things are the way they are, and yet cannot be proved scientifically. The Bible also offers us an explanation for why things are the way they are, and yet cannot be proved scientifically. Both evolution and the Bible are based on faith. Should both not be taught side by side in both public and private schools so that people can choose what to believe for themselves? Are evolutionists, scientists, and teachers so afraid that people will choose what makes the most sense to them that people will stop believing in evolution completely?

-CBSB