Thomas Moore writes:
>Of course, the hoopla regarding the Cambrian explosion that's going on
>now is largely because of the recent redating of Cambrian rocks. The
>time length of the Cambrian has shrunk considerable in the last 5-10
>years. Before that, that Cambrian was 40 million years, or so, longer.
>Evidence has been gaining about tectonics for at least 70-80 years, and
>anomalous results have been known for much longer than that. So, the
>idea that continents move is old, but there was nothing to really support
>the concept. The same is true for the Cambrian explosion. In the
>60's-70's, paleomag came in and confirmed plate motions. Now, the
>shrinking age dates of the Cambrian are confirming an explosion of
>sorts. They are analogous.
What about the acceptance of the fact of stasis? The Cambrian explosion
is only one example of a failure of "artifact theory" to be born out
by continued finds in the fossil record.
Moore continues:
>Try this correlation, evangelicals are up during the same time -
>evangelicals are the cause. There are a lot more correlations one can
>make, but I have yet to see any evidence of direct causal relationships.
Now this is not true. Evangelicals are up in the last 10 years. This
is an instance of put up or shut up. Show me your data showing a
continuous rise in the number of evangelicals in the country over the
last 40 years.
>
> But, hey, none of this is because we're teaching children that they are
> glorified animals and that nothing they do has any meaning or consequence.
>
>No, it isn't. Why? Because evolution is still barely touched on in
>schools. Some have more evolution theory than others, yet few have much.
>Indeed, look at modern Christians. How many evangelicals are commiting
>crimes? Remember Jim Baker? I think it's about time Christians start
>looking for a real problem rather than beating up on science.
>Christianity has failed us as a country - your argument about teaching in
>school proves it. Christianity has access to America's children at least
>5-8 hours on a week day and up to 16 hours a day on a weekend (which adds
>up to around 3000 hours a year), whereas evolution theory has direct acces
>to children maybe 100-200 hours in their school career (that is, at a
>system that actually teaches it). It's time for Christianity to start
>pointing their finger at themselves if Christians think they have the
>answers. Christians shouldn't need to have access to schools to be able
>to teach Christianity - you have plenty of time to do so. If the
>children are not getting the message, it's the Christian's fault.
Now this is a lie. Show me where the average American child is exposed
to Christianity 5-8 hours a day. Further, Moore is neglecting the
fact that evolution is implicit in everything from Isaac Asimov's science
fiction, to nature shows on PBS and everything in between.
If you are just going to pull numbers out of thin air, Tom, I see no point
in debating with you at all.
In Christ,
robert van de water
associate researcher
UCLA