Evolution and Darwinism (MP3)

Dr. Rick Byrn

(2 stars; 4 reviews)

TALKING POINTS: EVOLUTION AND DARWINISM Evolution is true; Darwinian evolution is false: Evolution comes from the Latin word meaning “to unfold.” Evolution is the process by which organism change over time. This is an observable fact. BUT, it is often used for Darwinian evolution, meaning that all organisms descend from a single living ancestor by modification, based on the Darwinian Theory of Evolution (DTE). DTE is accepted by faith, since there is no scientific evidence for it, only, at best, circumstantial evidence, after 150 years of vigorous looking. Examples of evolution (or micro-evolution): Bacteria developing resistance to antibiotic; color changes in humans, and other environmental adaption events. DTE requires: 1) random mutation of genes resulting in desirable traits, 2) natural selection of the desirable traits, leading to the creation of new life forms after 1000’s of minute changes. BUT: Only 1 in ~100,000 mutations results in desirable traits. (Note: Darwin had no concept of mutations of the genes). Darwin’s test for the validity of DTE: Admitted that his theory might “absolutely break down,” but set as the criteria that “if it is demonstrated that any complex organ existed that could not possibly have been formed by numerous successive, slight modification.” This is not the rules of the scientific method. But Michael Behe showed that DTE is false by his irreducibly complex mechanisms (blood clotting, flagellum, eye, DNA). Natural selection or “Survival of the fittest” proves nothing: Darwin’s theory that natural selection is the mechanism for bringing about evolution is a circular argument (logical tautology). “Who are the fittest? Those that survive.” Darwin’s Galapagos Islands’ finches no proof of DTE: Darwin found 13 species of finches in 1835 and assumed they came from a single finch species. But after 173 years, we still have only the same 13 species, although Darwinist expected about 13 more species to evolve in 200 years. (Even if a new species occurred, it would be micro-evolution, and not an example of DTE) Fossil record does not support DTE: It shows vast numbers of species appearing suddenly without any ancestors, remaining mostly unchanged for millions of years, then disappearing. There are no finely graduated sequences of evolution. Darwin knew this, but said the fossils had not been discovered. But 150 years and over 250,000 fossil species later, the situation has not improved for DTE. Some examples has been discredited (David M. Raup, “Conflicts Between Darwin and Paleontology,” Bulletin, Field Museum of Natural History, January 1979). No record of DTE mutation failures: Not only does the fossil record show no record of the intermediates for the graduated evolution of species, it has no record of the billions of “unfit” organism that are predicted by DTE (like dinosaurs with eyes on the back of its head, dogs with webbed feat). Cambrian Explosion shows that DTE is false: About 543 million years ago, all but perhaps one of the phyla known (~70) appeared in the fossil record within less than 5 million years. Much too fast for DTE (and the time could have been much shorter). Mathematics of Evolution proves that DTE is false: Written in 1987 by Sir Fred Hoyle, British astronomer, mathematician and director of Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge. Revised and published in 1999. Holye won many international science awards and was a self-proclaimed atheist and anti-Christian. As he (with C. Wickramasinghe) showed the improbability of the origin-of-life by chemical evolution, his book proved mathematically that DTE (or evolution in the large) is wrong, but micro-evolution (or evolution in the small) is possible. Hoyle remarked that “scientific challenges to evolution (in the large or DTE) have never had a fair hearing because the developing system of popular education [from Darwin’s day to the present] provided an ideal opportunity...for awkward arguments not to be discussed and for discrepant facts to be suppressed.” Communist Chinese Scientists have more freedom to disagree with TDE than those in USA: Chen Jun-Yuan, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, says the fossil record shows just the opposite of DTE or the “tree of life,” wide at the base (early time) and narrowing. High school teacher Roger DeHart of Washington was banned from teaching biology because he taught about the Chinese fossils results in his class. The ACLU threatened to sue his school if he wasn’t stopped.(LA Times, March 25, 2001) Proofs of DTE are often hoaxes: Examples include: 1) Piltdown Man – 1912 “peer reviewed” intermediate from ape to man. Celebrated in “NY Times” with “Darwin Theory Is Proved True.” Fraud exposed in 1953. 2) Archaeoraptor – Missing link between birds and theropod dinosaurs. Made the cover of November 1999 “National Geographic.” Later exposed as hoax. 3) Peppered moth – Pale white moths turned gray-black due to Industrial Revolution soot to evade birds. (Doesn’t really prove DTE.) Proven false in early 1950, but still used. 4) “Ontology recapitulates phylogeny” – Ernst Haeckel’s drawings of embryos in the late 19th century, still used in biology textbooks, were faked to prove “biogenetic law.” See Jonathan Wells Icons of Evolution for above and other examples. Darwinist, including Richard Dawkins, falsely assert the existence of computer simulations of DTE for the eye: Dawkins (the “High Priest of Darwinism”) does so in his book, River out of Eden, but it does not exist, as shown in David Berlinski’s article in the February 2006 Commentary. Why do so many biologist and other scientist support DTE?: Darwinist use micro-evolution or “evolution in the small” proofs to support DTE, then assume (as they have been taught) that these events can be extrapolated to all life forms. But the fact that micro-evolution is true is not sufficient to support DTE (macro-evolution), which has never been empirically validated by a single discovery. But Darwinism is their worldview and it is almost impossible to change someone’s worldview once it has been accepted