Science and creationism

[Mark Walker]

Doug wrote:

> 
> All living things are evolving right now, and we can observe 
> this evolution
> in action. Observing speciation, on the other hand, is 
> something which -
> for the most part - is like watching the San Andreas Fault to 
> see it move.
> Just because you can't stand there and see any change from 
> hour to hour
> doesn't mean it isn't moving. You would be just as foolish to 
> deny that the
> fault moves (because you can't personally see it happen) as 
> you would be to
> deny that speciation is taking place, as part of the ongoing 
> evolutionary
> process. Genetic change is inevitable and incessant, and 
> sooner or later,
> such changes will lead to incompatibility between two 
> populations that USED
> to be compatible if there is insufficent gene flow between 
> them to prevent
> it. Are you willing to accept that Chihuahuas and Samoyeds 
> and Beagles and
> Bulldogs and Great Danes all have a common ancestor, even though you
> weren't around to see it happen? Do you think all those breeds
> spontaneously popped up, in the forms we know them today, in 
> one gigantic
> mutation each, or that it took hundreds and thousands of 
> generations to
> develop them, gradually? Do you not think that 200 years from 
> now, that
> there will NOT be new and different breeds of dogs - AND new 
> species of
> wild plants and animals - just because you can't detect any changes
> occurring in your lifetime? You ARE witnessing speciation in 
> action, and
> unless you plan to live for a few hundred years, you're just 
> not equipped
> to appreciate the significance of what you're witnessing, and 
> that's too
> bad.

Oh, hogwash.  You can't possibly know for sure that what you say above is
true.  You THINK that it is true, based on your interpretations of the
observations that you've made in your evolutionary insignificant lifetime.
But to state that they are indeed happening, and that someone else's
interpretations are shallow or otherwise sadly misinformed is more an act of
faith than any creationist statement made to date.

If dog breeds prove anything with regards to transforming a fish into a
beaver, I guess I AM missing something.

Shalom Aleichem

Mark Walker.