As a young child, I was taught that there is order in everything -- in my life, in the terrestrial world, in the universe -- because there was a person, my parents and the Bible called him Jehovah, who created all things. Jehovah is a person with a personality who loved life and created man in his image.
When I went to school I learned an alternative explanation of the universe -- it was an accident, created in a chaotic big bang. What's more, I learned an alternative explanation of life and human intelligence -- it was, also, an accident. Perhaps a happy accident, but an accident nonetheless. Life evolved due to a series of mistakes, chemicals accidentally fell into place to form proteins, proteins accidentally formed amino acids, amino acids accidentally formed DNA and DNA -- miracle of accidental miracles, could replicate itself -- infinitely and pretty much accurately, except that fortunately it wasn't always accurate. Sometimes the replication was incomplete or allowed minor changes and slowly, inexorably, these changes led a single cell to be able to become two, and then to be able to breathe and see and milk its young and, eventually, cheat on its taxes.
I eventually rejected the notion I was taught at school and endorsed the notion my parents taught me. Of course, I couldn't know Jehovah without the Bible, I could only know the Creator. But the Bible filled in the gaps that nature left bare -- why we die, why there is suffering, where we come from and where we are going.
I also came to accept that there are nice, logical people who reject my notion and accept the one I was taught in school -- that we and everything we see or know is a cosmic accident, a mistake of sorts. And while I disagree with these people, I find many of them likable. I laugh at their jokes, I listen when they string together syllables and I even am sad when they die and, consistent with their own belief system, cease to exist eternally.
But what I don't do is respect them when they lie, and not just on their taxes. One of the most common ways evolutionists lie is when they reject an Intelligent Creator but accept in its stead an Intelligent Mindless Process. That is the core of this blog. Calling out evolutionists who anthropomorphize the very process of evolution. And just so we are on an even playing field, let's define what we're talking about. We will go to the very intelligent Mr. Webster to do that.
anthropomorphism (n): an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics : humanization
Evolutionists will no doubt claim I do this with my God. But I did not. Maybe someone else did, but I didn't. And if someone else did, it must be a product of this blind process, because before the current generation the overwhelming majority of mankind attributed our creation to an intelligence. They are the ones who believe in happy accidents, and so they should be honest in their evaluation of these accidents. They should never say that "Evolution gave the bat a radar system to allow it to fly at night." They should say "bats accidentally developed their sonar system. An infinite number of bats no doubt plunged into trees and died on night flight before one of them accidentally developed the gene for sonar so that all of his offspring could forevermore fly at night."
So this will be a place where we call out the inconsistent evolutionists and insist they keep a consistent voice. If you believe we are an accident and nature is an unintelligent force, so be it, but say it. Don't use "Nature" as a stand-in name for my God, Jehovah.
Bit of advice: You will struggle to be taken seriously by anyone except the utterly scientifically illiterate if you make such basic errors as saying proteins form amino acids. The fact that you clearly are unaware/incapable of understanding basic biology means that many readers will not bother reading past major errors like these. It also damages your own argument as it shows you clearly do not understand the basics of the process you attempt to refute. I really would like to read and engage with your entire argument, but so as long as glaring examples of ignorance of the subject are present, why should i, or any other prospective reader waste my time?
ReplyDeleteYou are correct that I misstated the facts. Amino acids form proteins. But if you would like an answer to the question, "Why should I waste my time?" I would like to give it to you. I am not a scientist and what I understand about the building blocks of life come from reading about them, not experimenting with them. Any time I see a "new atheist" interact with a believer in design, the contempt is palpable and quite off-putting. If you believe your conclusions to be truth, and you would like to encourage belief in truth, contempt is not a useful tool. I should know. I have engaged in evangelization since I could ring a doorbell. What works is getting to know a person, understanding their needs, finding out what they wonder about life and providing them with the Bible's answers. If they make a mistake, you can, if it's an important issue, point it out in kindness and love. If you don't, you'll get a door slammed in your face.
ReplyDelete