the great debate

In a recent post I talked about the new Discovery Channel series Life. My observations about its evolution-leaning dialogue spawned a comment from a blogger in Florida as follows:

"What I find truly annoying is how heavy the evolution speak is. Why is it, when confronted with the most intricate, complex, diverse and amazing creatures on this earth, we have to use words like evolved and adapted. First of all, have we forgotten that Darwin's theory is just that? A THEORY. It seems like the more scientists learn about different species, the more tightly they cling to the preposterous idea that it was all a big timely accident."

The natural selection of favorable mutations is not an accident. A theory is the highest level of understanding in science. Please don't mix up the two definitions of theory. The definition scientists use is completely different from the 'theory = guess" definition that non-scientists use.

It's probably a complete waste of my time to suggest this, but why not learn something about evolution instead of complaining about it. There are countless books about the subject, but the best book for a non-scientist, because it's easy to read, easy to understand, and extremely interesting, is "Why Evolution is True" by the University of Chicago biologist Jerry Coyne.

A little education won't kill you.

He followed it with a post on his own blog: Human Ape. He wasn't quite as cordial on his blog as he was in his comment. A brief perusal of his blog should fill any reader with fear at his rather angry and one-sided opinions, including the opinion that all Christians are morons and those who believe in Creationism are "god-soaked idiots."

His blog does not accept comments from non-Team Members. And since I am uninclined to becoming a team member of his, I thought I'd post my response here. Perhaps he'll find it and read it.

Your beligerence, anger and obvious disdain for anything other than your own views leaves me doubtful that you'll post this comment, let alone read it with an open mind. But in the spirit of good debate, I hope you will.

However, if I may ... the fact that I am a "reader, a knitter, a backpacker and an occasional cook" does not preclude that I am unintelligent or unstudied. I have come to my own beliefs and views through much thought and objective study of my own.

In your comment on my blog, which I posted, you asked me to step out of my box and read "Why Evolution is True" by the University of Chicago biologist Jerry Coyne. I'd be more than happy to read it, with an open mind even ... on one condition. Do me the honor of reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis? It's a bit heady, as Lewis was a brilliant man. But he was also once an atheist. The book is his story about how he set out to disprove God's existence, and what he discovered in the process.

Readers of mine, please feel free to weigh in on this debate. I find it a fascinating one, and since this post and its comment I have found myself reading more articles online and looking for other good books myself. For starters, here's a great article on Breakpoint.com. Reading through the comments is also full of good times. Enjoy!

Anybody out there have a book they enjoyed on the subject?