Evolutionary Thoughts, Part I

Do you remember when the media used to report events without slant or bias? Yeah, I don't remember it either. I'm not even sure that was ever the case. It certainly wasn't the case this week when it was announced that scientists had discovered fossilized remains of a creature dubbed Tiktaalik roseae that resembles a cross between a fish and a crocodile. News outlets around the globe declared in triumph that the "missing link" between fish and land animals had been found. Most of the news articles also suggested that this was a serious blow to opponents of Darwin's theory of evolution.

Of course, it should come as no surprise that the media, by and large, has jumped on this as a triumph for evolution. Bashing creationism is, quite frankly, so hot right now. Columnists sneer at those who question evolution. They mock and generally disparage the intelligence of anyone who doesn't buy into the idea that we evolved from lower life forms. The notion that schools should teach both evolution and intelligent design is treated with outrage. Even mentioning in schools that evolution is a theory, and not a scientific fact, brings cries of separation of church and state.

Even though many millions of people in North America believe in creationism, and many more have serious doubts about Darwinism, the general attitude of the media and scientific establishment toward creationism is outright hostility. The subject is not open for debate so far as they are concerned. Evolution is correct, and that is final.

Only it's not. When you live in a free and open society, almost everything is open for debate. No matter how certain you are that your position is correct, you aren't allowed to stifle opposing viewpoints. But that is exactly what is happening with creationism, and I'm not entirely sure why. The way debate is suppressed on this topic you'd think we were living under the Taliban. Good education is supposed to teach you how to think, not what to think. This is how you learn to make critical judgments about your own life, and why it's generally a bad idea to drop out of school after grade nine. But if you question the authenticity of evolution, watch out. A school board in Pennsylvania learned this the hard way. Not only did they all lose their jobs on the board, they also received national attention and scorn for putting creationism in the science curriculum.

I know this debate rages a lot louder in the USA than it does in Canada (of course, in Canada, we don't really rage all that loudly, often not at all unless gas goes above $1/litre) where the argument is that by not teaching 100% unquestioned evolutionary theory America will continue to lose ground to the rest of the world in science and engineering. It's a perposterous argument, really. One would think that teaching kids to think critically and to compare both options would produce better scientists and engineers, but apparently the rules for reality don't apply to evolution, at least not on this continent.

The proponents of evolution argue logic over faith, but they seem to have abandoned their own logic for blind faith in Darwin. I can't think of any other explanation of why debate is squelched, critical thinking discouraged, and the second law of thermodynamics ignored when to comes to evolution. There are many holes in the theory of evolution, not the least of which is the lack of more than a handful of possible "missing links" such as theTiktaalik roseae. Why we don't see thousands of missing link fossils is a question evolutionists really don't want to answer. There is no good answer that supports their position.

Editor's Note: Look for Part II of this article coming soon. We know that this is a topic that stirs up a lot of emotions in a lot of people, so if you'd like to comment on this article, feel free to email us with your thoughts.