Creation And Evo Essay, Research Paper
Creation vs. Evolution
Ever since the publication of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species was
published there has been an ongoing debate between science and religion. Scientists
have formulated many theories as to the origins of man and to the creation of the
earth, whereas religious groups have one main creation theory, based on the “Genesis”
story of The Bible. These theories, however, are not the cause of the debate because
the different theories are simply myths meant to explain the unknown– the debate is
caused by different belief systems.
According to a November 1997 Gallup poll 44% of the people that responded
agreed that God created human beings in their present form at one time within the last
10,000 years or so. Based on the same poll 39% of the people said that human beings
evolved from less intelligent life forms, but God guided this process. Only 10% of the
people polled said that God had no part in the creation of human beings (Issues 394).
The main difference between creationists and scientists is the way they fight this
debate. Creationists have developed their own science: Creation Science. Creation
scientists look to prove that creation is right and science is wrong, providing selective
interpretations of the fossil record. But their interpretations are exaggerated and
foolish. Creationists will pick one scientific theory and do everything they can to
point out it’s flaws, disregarding what they can’t prove wrong. They will often use
emotions to control the public to their side. They spend their time trying to discover
false evolution rather than teaching their beliefs to the general public. The theory of
evolution removes humans from the center of the universe, and religious followers
can’t believe that their God, who created us in his image (Bible 2), would allow that.
The creationist arguments can be summed up in one example from the Morris -
Parker book. They state “Evolution is claimed to be ’scientific,’ and still going on, so it
seems like it should be observable and measurable. Yet after 150 years of intense
study of biological variations, evolutionists are still completely in the dark about the
supposed mechanism of evolution. This fact surely is cause for beginning to doubt the
validity of the very concept of evolution” (303). Words such as ‘claimed’, ’should be’,
and ’supposed’ are very powerful, but they don’t give examples as to where and who
claimed or supposed these things, nor do they seem to understand evolution. In 150
years, the evolutionary change that would occur is insignificant, so it is very difficult
to see such changes in such a short period of time, because they are completely
ignoring the evolutionary time scale. Also, they don’t acknowledge that biologists
have seen evolution occur, as in the case of moth’s wings changing color for
protection against their prey. Morris and Parker are also blatantly attacking evolution
as a science and as a fact (303).
When Edward Larson did his research for his book Summer for the Gods: The
Scopes trial and America’s Continuing Debate over Science and Religion, he found
that the overall 95% of scientists admitted that they believed in evolution (Issues 394).
Evolutionists mainly spend their time in the debate defending themselves.
Evolutionists were not content to treat natural selection as simply an observable
ecological process. They intended on making natural selection the touch-tone of a
new philosophy, a “religion without revelation”(Morris and Parker 82). Philip
Yancey said that in the last few years astronomers have openly admitted to under
estimating the number of galaxies by fifty billion or so and missing the age of the
universe. They teach the correct evolution (no, we did not evolve from monkeys). It
is at times difficult to teach correct evolution to the public because the details of
evolution can be very technical. For example, saying that evolution is caused by
“molecular variation of mitochondrial DNA throughout periods of ’statis and anastatis’
in a multigenerational time scheme” (Conroy 51) would confuse and frustrate the
general public. Perhaps the reason why creation scientists have so much influence is
because the average American knows very little if any about science theories and
thought.
The public would much prefer emotional appeal over technical details.
unfortunately for scientists, most of them don’t know how to speak emotionally and
get their information across at the same time. Simply throwing out facts and figures
does not make a case. Mirsky has an example that may catch the attention of the
creation scientists. He said, “these are strange times, when a controlled chain reaction
of uranium 235 atoms can be used to convert water to steam in order to drive turbines
to generate electricity used to provide power to a television set to that a Jimmy
Swaggart can reach a fallow mind with the news that Earth is really only a few
thousand years old”(11,42). Mirsky’s clever quote can be spiritless to religious
believers, but he does make a very good point.
Yes, some scientists use clever slander to show false creation, but the majority
stay well within the regions of what they know. Scientists generally behave
differently when defending their theories to creationists. Instead of trying to disprove
creation and interest the common people, evolutionary scientists try to piece together
the past and explain why we evolve in the ways that we do.
Although both sides of this issue present well thought out arguments, they are still
spending too much of their time fighting against each other rather than furthering their
own knowledge. For example, the Alabama Board of Education requires all
textbooks that mention evolution to carry a disclaimer warning that evolution “should
be considered as theory, not as fact” (Issues 395). The concept of evolution in
textbooks is based on “phantoms”and “figments”of the human imagination and not on
fossils and facts of science (Morris and Parker 142). If they stop criticizing each other
and focus their attention on gathering and processing information, they could find the
proof that would end this debate. Perhaps faith should be kept in the home and
church and true science should be kept in the laboratories. Because it’s not likely
evolutionists will convince creationists that evolution is a fact, and nothing
creationists say will change what evolutionists believe either. In the end people will
believe what they choose.
Religious believers have a tendency to believe that only their theories can be
correct. Scientists believe their own theories, but will abandon them if a new theory
comes along with better evidence to support it. Creationists only have one source to
prove their theory correct: the Genesis story. They believe simply through faith in The
Bible. If you adopt design it opens a new world of questions and discussions.
Scientists, on the other hand, have an abundance of fossil skulls, fauna, and other
biological and ecological specimens to prove that evolution exists. Scientists work to
prove their theories wrong in order to find the true answers. The creation science
argument has constantly said that what they do is use scientific evidence to show that
creation happened, but what they are really doing is trying to prove evolution wrong.
Evolution, properly understood, can only enrich and add to our faith in a loving,
dynamic creator. Evolution does indeed exist, but only because God created it.
A major argument states that if evolution is correct, it is purely an accident. All of
the facts of evolution, much like the facts of reproduction, are no less astonishing for
being natural; because if that was the case the evolutionist would be just as amazed
with the laws of nature. The scientific claim is that the origin of the universe and
everything within it just randomly happened. It is suggested that creation science is a
“controlled accident”, using the hand of the creator as the controller. However,
instead of examining the actual evidence, creationists explain the scientific side of the
issue by taking small bits and pieces of evidence and quotes from scientists to back up
their claims.
and has been proven time and time again with examples such as the jaw bones of
reptiles migrating over thousands of years into the ear bones of mammals and the
human anatomy showing that we were once long ago quadrupeds. Theories are in
debate about the processes of evolution. The only thing that is being questioned and
has not been proven is the history of species. For example, human evolutionary
theories have one through a great history of change because of new evidence. At first
it was thought that Neanderthals, a prehistoric human ancestor from Europe, were part
of the lineage that led to modern humans. Now it is believed that they are strictly a
side group that became extinct. Discovery of new fossils more similar to humans but
from the time period of Neanderthals have made scientists question their original
beliefs, but they don’t question evolution itself. Writer Stephen Barr put the way
science is based the best. He said, “Science derives and explains order by order”. He
also said that God has brought all things including the earth’s common ancestors into
existence through creation (14) .
Theories surrounding the processes of evolution will undoubtedly continue to
change with political movements and new evidence, but it will take a lot to disprove
evolution whether it is caused by natural forces or by some higher power, it still
exists. “Life on earth-however it began-has evolved and will continue to do so,
regardless of what a scientist and/ or a religious group wants to happen.
In order for this debate to ever end, some common ground must be reached. Either
one theory or the other has to be ultimately proved beyond the shadow of a doubt,
but there is an incredibly small chance of that happening. Even if it were to happen,
to prove either side, there would still be disbeliveers and those who think the
evidence is a hoax.