Creationist Nonsense

bq. When Charles Darwin introduced the theory of evolution through natural selection 143 years ago, the scientists of the day argued over it fiercely, but the massing evidence from paleontology, genetics, zoology, molecular biology and other fields gradually established evolution’s truth beyond reasonable doubt. Today that battle has been won everywhere–except in the public imagination.

Scientific American: 15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense: :: *Opponents of evolution want to make a place for creationism by tearing down real science, but their arguments don’t hold up.* Based on the Bible, the universe was created about “six thousand and 9 years ago”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ussher-Lightfoot_Calendar, so it stands to reason that evolution isn’t possible for so many people the world over.


There are some Islamic “writers”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harun_Yahya who also “support the creationist nonsene”:http://www.harunyahya.com/books/darwinism/atlas_creation/atlas_creation_01.php spouted by so many in America, but thankfully they are still in the minority. Of course, if the local “MMA”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muttahida_Majlis-e-Amal could spare time from discussing how “women rights”:http://eteraz.org//?op=displaystory;sid=2006/11/24/151819/16 are turning Pakistan into a “free-sex” state they might just start attacking evolution next.

Half of the American population believes that the universe is 6,000 years old. I wonder how the Pakistani population compares on this metric to the rest of the world.

7 thoughts on “Creationist Nonsense”

  1. Hameed, your accusation demonstrates a basic ignorance of the methods and principles of science. Take a “look around on Google”:http://www.google.com/search?q=evolution%20just%20a%20theory before making such vastly wrong statements.

    From “Wikipedia”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory:

    bq. In science, a theory is a proposed description, explanation, or model of the manner of interaction of a set of natural phenomena, capable of predicting future occurrences or observations of the same kind, and capable of being tested through experiment or otherwise falsified through empirical observation. It follows from this that for scientists “theory” and “fact” do not necessarily stand in opposition. For example, it is a fact that an apple dropped on earth has been observed to fall towards the center of the planet, and the theory which explains why the apple behaves so is the current theory of gravitation.

    See the “Wikipedia entry on Evolution”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution also.

  2. KO:

    Evolution, per se, as the becoming common of some traits in a population over time makes sense, but trying to believe in our evolution from a single cell, to reptiles, to monkeys to human over millions of years goes against what Islam tells us.

    We all know very well that what was once yesterday’s scientific fact is today just a bunch of theories gone wrong. It happens all the time. You’ll read one research telling you tea is good for you and another the next day, maybe even from the same magazine, telling you the opposite. There has yet to be any solid scientific evidence to show the remains of any mammals connecting the link between humans or monkeys. All of those which were said to be “discovered” in the last century have eventually been discarded as fakes/frauds. And even before they were discarded, every artist who drew their perception of what the original beings whose remains were under study looked like vastly differ amongst each other. Besides, the timeline under scrutiny here is one from the Bible, one we know to have been greatly altered by men in history, and not from Islamic traditions.

    Supposedly, even if I were to believe in evolution in both its types, i.e. macroevolution and microevolution, that would suggest that God first created a single cell, let it hang around for a couple of million years on earth while it “evolved” into multiple cells, into insects, reptiles, birds, animals, dinosaurs, etc and yet another 4 million years till it started to resemble humans. Time, ofcourse, would hold no meaning in such context, but doesn’t that mean that the creation of Adam would hence be “accidental”. Wouldn’t that also mean that there were human mutations that would resemble Adam and those would be hanging around having kids with those mutations that might resemble “Eve”. or were Adam and Eve accidentally the only ones who could have kids. Ofcourse that doesn’t make sense so Adam and Eve would have to be crossed out of the equation.

    I’m sorry, I just can’t make a compromise on what Allah tells me against our very limited “scientific” knowledge. I’d suggest you go through one of Harun Yahya’s books on evolution. To read you remark “There are some Islamic writers … but thankfully they are still in the minority” was very discouraging.

  3. I had the benefit of religious high school education. When we started biology some students excitedly asked our teacher, “Will we study evolution or creation?” The teacher, a religious man, said “This is a science class. We will study evolution. You may study creation in your Bible Class and in Chapel.” That gave me the clear answer at an early age, and I have continued to believe in classic evolution, at least as a partial if not a complete answer, ever since. That does not rule out the essential religious truth that God created man and he created him in his image, so the creation stories are important and true in a religious sense.

    If the question was posed in a poll, as it sometimes is, I might say that I believe in creation for a couple of reasons: to be silly and to skew the poll’s results, and also because there are essential truths in both views: one religious and one scientific.

    When those measurements of American’s beliefs are made, it is far more likely the pollsters are measuring how many people actually believe that God made man (as opposed to an accidental happening), and not as a rejection of science. Generally, those polls are highly political in nature, reflecting on trends in teaching and schools, and I doubt whether half of Americans reject evolution.

    All of this being said, this blog is #1 in my book for pointing out in a light hearted manner the silliness that can result when we turn to religious leaders in order to understand science. Like my wise science teacher, I think KO understands the dfference between science and religion, and the “ancient science” reflected in scripture.

  4. bq. I’d suggest you go through one of Harun Yahya’s books on evolution.

    I suggest you do the same yourself. His books on creationism plagiarize from Christian literature, many times lifting the text straight from them, and are full of lies, inconsistencies, and basic contradictions.

    His book _Fascism: The Bloody Ideology of Darwinism_ (Istanbul: Kultur, 2002) begins with a “To The Reader” section, where Yahya explains that evolution is at the root of evil today:

    bq. The reason why a special chapter is assigned to the collapse of the theory of evolution is that this theory constitutes the basis of all anti-spiritual philosophies. Since Darwinism rejects the fact of creation, and therefore the existence of God, during the last 140 years it has caused many people to abandon their faith or fall into doubt. Therefore, showing that this theory is a deception is a very important duty, which is strongly related to the religion. It is imperative that this important service be rendered to everyone. Some of our readers may find the chance to read only one of our books. Therefore, we think it appropriate to spare a chapter for a summary of this subject.

    Harun Yahya (or the collective group of people who write under that pen name) are so violently against evolution that they say to believe in evolution you are a defacto non-muslim. Just see “The Collapse of the Theory of Evolution

    in 20 Questions”:http://www.harunyahya.com/articles/20questions04.php – it is so full of holes, logical fallacies and sheer stupidity that it is amazing anyone with even a basic education (i.e ability to read and comprehend) can believe the crock he writes. You may well not believe in evolution, but that doesn’t mean you should close your brain to the nonsense other evolution-deniers spout.

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