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Know what you disagree with

Bristol Herald Courier June 4, 2003

To the editor:

In response to the letter printed May 20, 2003: The theory of evolution is not as threatening as some may think. In my opinion, it's not hard to believe that species change in order to flourish in the environment in which they live.

In fact, the theory of evolution makes sense as the world in which we live has not always been as mild as it is today. During the 4.6 billion years that this planet has been in existence, the earth's atmosphere and composition have gone through dramatic changes. To make a long story short, scientists have found proof that there have been many species that have very similar features, but differ slightly. These slight variations exist because species changed and adapted by means of natural selection, allowing them to continue to exist. Some changes occurred over millions of years allowing many "new species" to branch off from a common ancestor.

According to Darwin, monkeys and humans share a common ancestor. Darwin discovered proof that a mammal once existed before monkeys and humans did and this mammal's skeleton bore a striking resemblance to both monkeys and humans.

Darwin's theory does not state that humans evolved from monkeys, it states that both humans and monkeys evolved from the same ancestor and branched off into two separate directions. That's science for you. My spiritual beliefs lead me to believe differently than Darwin, but I think that one should know exactly what it is that they disagree with before they go and disagree with it.

Sara B. Bishop
Abingdon, VA.

Letters to The Editor - 10/04/2003

Look at the data

Confused science? Evolution is a great example. The Times-News' editorial Oct. 2 that "...no matter what one's faith, no one can argue that a scientifically unacceptable belief like Creationism should be taught...'' begs the question. How about turning it around? What about teaching a scientifically unacceptable belief like evolution?

Neither evolution nor Creationism can be scientifically tested in the laboratory. None of us have a time machine. So the proper solution is to use forensic science to reconstruct what happened. Scrutinize the data and what do you find?

Less than an inch of dust accumulation on the moon. A steady, rapid decline in the earth's magnetic field with a half-life of 1,400 years. Hydrocarbons still trapped in permeable rock. The spin rate of the earth declining at the rate of almost one second per year. Trees extending through rock strata that supposedly were laid down over millions of years. No meteorites found in or beneath supposedly ancient sedimentary material. This is just a small sampling of items which indicate that the earth and its surroundings are not billions of years old, and evolution requires billions of years.

Good science examines all the data and a lot of the data supports the creationist position. Any and all DNA encodes more data in each string than a CD holds, and it all has to be right for any and every biological program to run. Now imagine that data being programmed and Windows XP running by random chance. Interestingly, the Bible's opening phrase in John 1:1 states, "In the beginning was the Word..."

Blountville paraphrase: "In the beginning was coherent data, information, knowledge and wisdom communicated..." That is what is encoded throughout us, and throughout all of life, or we wouldn't be here. Evolution has no mechanism to provide or encode that data, and without it, life in any form is a non starter.

Perhaps politics will preclude the teaching of good (unbiased) science; nevertheless the data does not support evolution being a superior theory to Creationism.

Richard Pike
Blountville

Intelligent design

There are other theories about our beginnings besides the Big Bang. One is called Intelligent Design or I.D. You won't find it in a science textbook because of the bias of some scientists. I.D. is based on scientific evidence and scientific facts and does not use the Bible to support it. Many scientists support this theory, and it is just as valid as the Big Bang theory. There is plenty of information about the I.D. theory if schools are willing to take the time to gather it. They could teach it without any worry of being "religious."

Jerry E. Kilgore
Gate City, VA.

Science and religion

Whenever a situation similar to the one at Colonial Heights Middle School comes around, people come out of the woodwork. As usually happens, Christians are making sure their point of view is the dominant one.

The debate over Creationism versus evolution (science) is one that has raged for many years. This question is not about to go away anytime soon. The reason that many Christians are upset is because they feel that their way of life is being discriminated against.

This point of view always amuses me in many ways. How can the minority discriminate against the majority? It is a simple fact of life that you cannot travel more than a mile in this area without running into a church. It is impossible for a person to grow up in the South and not know the Christian point of view.

The source of the problem is the Biblical Christians' insistence that the Bible must be literal and absolute truth. Maybe it is time for us to look at the meaning behind the writing and not at the writing itself. The Bible was written by people who did the best they could with the information they had. Science is also doing the best it can with the information available. The choices are simple and to the point. We can either walk forward into scientific progress or we can walk backward into the Dark Ages.

Religion is supposed to point to ethical and moral behavior and not to physical reality. Religion gives us the guidelines for living an ethical life. Science gives us guidelines to understanding the universe around us. Both science and religion have a purpose, and it is not necessary for them to have the same one.

A school is a place for knowledge and not the place for religious training. I don't want the school to teach my children what their religion should be. That is a job for my wife and me. There are many different religions expressed by the citizens of our great country. The great part of the situation is that others are not forced to listen to mine, and I am not forced to listen to theirs. Let's keep it that way.

David Neely
Gray

Evolution controversy in Sullivan County:

On top of disrupting school over religion, we have a Rev. Poff that wants to ban Halloween as Satanic.

See Evolution Debate

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