February 12th is Charles Darwin’s birthday. He wrote the seminal book about Evolution titled ‘On the Origin of Species’. He introduced the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection. Of course, even in 2014, there are some people who either refuse to accept Evolution or seem to have no idea what it is.
Last week Bill Nye debated Ken Ham on the topic of creationism (a debate Nye clearly won) and the website Buzzfeed posted images of several debate attendees who offered questions they wanted Evolutionists to answer. All of the questions were the standard creationist claptrap that have been refuted time and time again. Here is one that cracks me up every time:
If we came from monkeys then why are there still monkeys?
If we came from monkeys then why are there still monkeys?
Yep, people think that ridiculous argument will destroy a scientific theory that has been basically unchanged since “On the Origin of Species” was published in 1859.
If we evolved from apes, why are there still apes today?
Huh?? Scientists think that one group of apes, in response to their environment, started evolving in a way that would eventually lead to humanity (and many other now-extinct hominids). Why on earth should that cause the rest of the apes to go extinct? It’s as silly as saying “If I am descended from Irish ancestors [which I am], why are there still Irish people around?” (Yes, I’m aware that I haven’t evolved from my Irish forebears; the point is that whatever happened to my ancestors, it didn’t affect the rest of the Irish population.)
If you don’t believe me, please note that the leading creationist organization Answers in Genesis agrees with me, and now lists this argument in their Arguments we think creationists should NOT use web page.
Hopefully, one day, all people will accept Evolution and stop using stupid non-science arguments to refute it.
As someone commented on a blog post I read the other day about creationsism:
Science is not a “free speech zone”. It is an area where your conclusions need to be backed up with data.
Other than that, Happy Darwin Day!
