Desert wrote:
My take on evolution is basically this:
1. The basic concept makes little to no common sense. Mutations are overwhelmingly negative, not positive, and the series of positive mutations required to produce even small improvements in a life form are extremely unlikely.
Quantum theory makes no common sense. The theory of gravity makes no common sense. The theory of relativity makes no common sense. Unless a theory makes common sense, it cannot be true!
Desert wrote:2. Evolution depends on the existence of reproducing life in the first place. It's not sensible to believe that the level of complexity contained in a single-cell, reproducing organism somehow just happened from some sort of soup.
Evolution does not explain the origin of life, or the big bang. It is a separate theory. Again, you argument is that it is not sensible. I think it is a better theory than, "God did it -- and don't ask any further questions!"
Desert wrote:3. Evolution depends on long time frames to do the heavy lifting. The more preposterous the claim, the more zeroes behind the number of years it forces. But time by itself does not produce complex designs. In fact, entropy increases over time, and order decreases over time.
The second law of thermodynamics states that, in a closed system, entropy increases over time. The Earth is not a closed system because it has an external power source, the Sun.
Desert wrote:4. Evolution was birthed by man's need to explain the wonder of ourselves and our surroundings in the absence of a designer. It's the foundation of humanistic, materialistic thought. There is a lot riding on it, and the huge secular "science" industry will do anything to support it and defend it, even in the face of huge problems or holes in the evidence. But they must support it, because if it dies, there isn't much to take its place: we're then down to aliens or God.
I think there is more riding on religion than there is riding on science. If a scientific theory is proved incorrect, it gets modified or forgotten. I think we have a way to go before it comes down to aliens or God. By the way, you made me laugh about the "huge secular science industry." Federal science funding in the US is $70 billion. The net spending of the Catholic Church (for example) in the US is estimated at $170 billion annually.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_po ... ted_States
http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook ... ch-america