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I HAVE followed with mixed interest and dismay the on-going battle between believers and nonbelievers over the past few weeks.
To the believers: do you not know that your belief is based on faith? The source of Christian faith is the Holy Spirit and anyone who has not received this gift will always regard scripture as “foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:18) or a “myth”.
Please stop trying to convince Atheist, Lary and Warren - your very life ought to be the only proof anyone needs that you are a follower of Jesus Christ.
To the unbelievers: Charles Darwin himself called his idea a “theory”. It is still a theory.
Richard Dawkins (the No1 atheist) claims “evolution has been observed. It’s just that it hasn’t been observed while it's happening”. This flies in the face of all that is considered “science”!
To this very day, there does not exist one single scientific experiment which has proved the process of evolution, that is there can be an increase in genetic information in the successive generations of a species. Google it - you will find that despite the herculean efforts of the scientific community to find proof of evolution, all they discover is increasing proof of intelligent design.
Modern science has calculated that the odds of human life occurring on Earth through evolution (or purely by chance) is just one in 10 trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion (conservatively).
Anyone who chooses to place his or her eternal destiny on such infinitesimally small odds has more faith than any Christian.
Ken Everett, Port Elizabeth
Science Mann [06 January 2012 18:24]
Paul, when you say you have researched the debate over creation/evolution, did you stop to first understand the science of it, or just read what creationists have to say on the matter? I hate to say it but do you, Paul, know your stuff?
Many people who were brainwashed into the religious way (usually between the ages of 4 and 14 - the most vulnerable age) simply lose the ability to comprehend even such a simple concept as that 1. Not all animals in a breed are born the same 2. The ones better suited to their environment survive to breed, and pass down their more survivable traits 3. Over time, these small changes become large changes - but so gradually that you'll only see it in real time if you study something with a very short generation speed. Like the bacterium experiment which found that bacteria does indeed change over generations, usually unnoticeably, but eventually enough changes happen to make a huge difference - like metabolizing different sugars that they couldn't before. How would you explain that, given your 'no new information' notion? Then there are Italian Wall Lizards (changed since the 1970s), guppy fish (get less colourful when predators are around) and many others. Please qualify where you get your information in the future - some of it appears to be bad.
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Paul [04 January 2012 18:04]
I have taken about 10 years of my life to research the Creation Evolution debate and have made my conclusions. This letter more or less sums it up. You need more faith to believe evolution theories than in God. I wish people can start to think for themselves and stop being brain washed. If you start from a single cell, you can´t possibly get all the bio diversity with vastly differing DNA you get today. there is nothing like beneficial mutations. You loose DNA info through mutation. Intelligent design is the only explanation, but because people do not want to acknowledge God, they have to believe in a hokus pokus theory called evolution. Some Christians believe in the gap theory, because they are convinced that evolution is true since the grads say it´s so and they try to modify the Bible to somehow prove that God used evolution. BTW> Opstoker, there are no, I repeat NO facts that support evolution or proofs evolution. I have gone over all of them. they will not hold up in a court of law if it was a case.
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Science Mann [04 January 2012 10:41]
Funny, Ken, that you baulk at the charge of being lied to, that to suggest you are the recipient of bad information is ‘name-calling and derogatory’, then go on to accuse those who know their science of ‘stupidity’. Hypocritical much?
Science is built around the idea that anyone can check your results and point out your errors. Any individual in any field can make a mistake, get overenthusiastic about a pet idea, or be up to mischief. The difference with science – as opposed to those fields which require faith – is that any claim can and will be checked by others to make sure it is true. If there is an error, for whatever reason, the error is caught, usually before too long – by other scientists. The primary aim of science is the discovery of truth.
Haeckel’s study of embryology was good – even if his connection with the animal’s ancestry was not. He was correct in his observation that closely related animals resemble each other very closely in the womb, but made the error in ascribing each stage of development to some ancestral memory. This was discredited – by other scientists – in the 19th century, but his other observations are pretty good. Your man Richardson said of Haeckel ‘"on a fundamental level, Haeckel was correct”. Just not about everything, it seems.
Piltdown Man was pure hoax – possibly started by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1912. Ahhh. What larks. It actually got in the way of serious palaeontology for many years – it just didn’t fit in with everything else they were discovering! First discredited in 1923, then finally put to rest by Oakley, Clark and Weiner in 1953. Took a while, but truth eventually won out. Thanks, Oaks.
Tasaday Indians? Some Philippine makes a hoax to grab world cash and you pin that on scientists? The scientists were the ones who were banned by President Marcos for trying to expose the truth! Archaeopteryx is a transitional fossil, whether or not its descendents still survive, but then, so is virtually every fossil. Ancon sheep? – selective breeding. Proves that mutations can happen, and breed to carry the short-leg gene. What’s your point? Please tell me you have more than a short-legged sheep. Wait… all these half-truths and exaggerations sound familiar… Ah! I have him! I have found your liar:
Johnathan Wells. A complete fraudster whose books mislead and exaggerate to push forward his pet project – Intelligent Design, and almost all your arguments here reflect his, so I assume this is your source. ID is a complete fabrication – a hoax, a myth, a lie of pseudoscience. It has been thoroughly routed by everyone except Wells himself, yet he still bangs on. There is no merit to his work, yet some cling to his notions like a lifebuoy.
Some call this faith. But faith in what? Some man named Wells. And who is he?
I reiterate – there are thousands of examples of transitional animals to support evolution, from whale legs to teacup dogs, and anatomy, genetics, breeding and so on, but absolutely nothing for any form of creation, including Intelligent Design.
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KenE [03 January 2012 18:29]
It never fails to amuse me how everyone who refutes faith and intelligent design will resort to name-calling and derogatory labels.
SO - if we are to look for liars, lets look among the evolutionists.
Michael Richardson stated that L" Haeckel was ‘An embryonic liar’. ‘This is one of the worst cases of scientific fraud. It’s shocking to find that somebody one thought was a great scientist was deliberately misleading. What he [Haeckel] did was to take a human embryo and copy it, pretending that the salamander and the pig and all the others looked the same at the same stage of development. They don’t … These are fakes.’ Worst of all, these fraudulent
pictures are STILL in school science books today! Why? To deceive and coerce young minds to believe that maybe evolution is a fact.
The Piltdown hoax is one of the most famous cases of
fraud in science. Many Darwinists, though, claim that this
case is an anomaly, and that fraud is no longer a problem
today. However, the cases of fraud or deception in the field
of evolution include not only the Piltdown Man, but Archaeoraptor, the peppered moth, the Midwife Toad, Haeckel’s embryos, Ancon sheep, the Tasaday Indians, Bathybius haeckelii and Hesperopithecus (Nebraska Man)—the missing link that turned out to be a pig.Actually, fraud as a whole is now ‘a serious, deeply rooted problem’ that affects no small number of contemporary scientific research studies, especially in the field of evolution. Scientists have recently been forced by several events to recognize this problem and try to deal with it.
Why all these frauds if evolution is such an accepted fact?
Evolutionists have also lost the 'vestigial organs' and 'junk DNA' debates. Badly.
To have faith in a Divine Designer ( or God as we like to call Him ) is one easy step, based on the enormous amount of information to support intelligent design and the moral values that this inculcates in a society which accepts it.
Faith in evolution, however, (yes - it takes faith to believe in something that has never been seen) requires a giant, blind leap of stupidity.
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Science Mann [03 January 2012 12:30]
Science class revisted
Perhaps a few people dozed off during science class, so I’m bringing it back around.
Non-science people tend to use the word ‘theory’ to describe anything which pops into their heads, which really should rather be called notion, hunch or opinion. If we’re going to test them, we call them hypotheses, and get to the testing ground.
Testing and observation will reveal facts, with which we can check our hypothesis. Facts are commonplace. ‘Cheetahs are fast’, ‘Giraffes are tall’. Facts are like bricks. Common, strong, but by themselves useless. Laws are similar, just more broad. They can describe what things do, but not why it happens. For that you need a Theory.
A Scientific Theory is top currency in all knowledge. It must be consistent with all known facts and laws, and have been available to the public so they can test for themselves the validity of the Theory. If the notion be the plan, facts the bricks and laws the beams, then Theory is the whole house.
To disprove a Theory, just find one loose brick. Just one. Conduct a test to find a disharmonious fact, or a law that was broken. Can’t do it? Then the Theory proves true, and just found another good brick.
After 150 years of thousands of very clever people trying to find holes in it, the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection not only stands strong, with nothing to disprove it, but has mountains of evidence to support it, from how the same medicines don’t work twice if you stop halfway, why rabbits are faster in areas where there are predators, and why you can still see leg bones on whale skeletons. All thoroughly experimented, observed and confirmed by thousands. It is as strong a piece of information as you can get.
So if anyone says ‘It’s just a theory’ to the Theory of Evolution, they are either showing their ignorance, or selling snake oil.
Evolution by Natural Selection, by the way, merely explains that animals which are born slightly different –and we all are, a little - but better suited to a given environment, breed more successfully than those which are not, that with all these little tiny changes, a species can change over time (a loooong time), and can eventually become a species different from and unbreedable with its long-lost cousin.
That’s it. Nothing about big bangs. Moving on.
Intelligent Design is not a Theory. It has been disproven and discredited, and is never brought up in serious scientific circles, because it is untrue. Anyone who still pushes it forward is a liar or has been lied to.
Creationism is a myth. Enjoy it, but don’t pretend it to be true. To be able to believe something to be true which just plain isn’t - well, you need faith.
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I AM disgusted at the racism displayed by the writer of the letter, “Crowd shows no respect”, January 5). I was at the event he is referring to and will agree with him on the issue of the acting mayor not being given the respect she deserved while giving her speech.
Bonuses for matric resultsI WONDER how many millions of rands’ performance bonuses will be awarded for the massive 2.4% increase in the matric pass rate (“Well done, class of 2011, January 5). Judging from the smile on the minister’s face, it is going to be huge.
Influenced by SA lack of disciplineTHE reason why our young people are so vulnerable when it comes to being caught up in the drug trade is they are so used to our indisciplined country, where criminals who have even committed horrific crimes get off with light sentences.
Death of leading figure in tourism worldCYNTHIA van der Mescht was a leading figure for 55 years in promoting the growth of tourism in Port Elizabeth and the Eastern Cape region.
Readers' views via SMST’KEI boy missing: we live in an evil world and cannot leave children alone. Let us hope and pray he is still alive, though I doubt it.
ANC legacy shared by all SA's peopleTHE ANC will be celebrating 100 years of selfless struggle on Sunday in Mangaung. This is a historic achievement for our movement, our people, our continent and the progressive forces of the world.
Follow Mandela’s example in 2012AS far as political life is concerned, last year was not a particularly inspiring one for South Africa. In our body politic there appears to be a profound lack of dynamic and cogent leadership.
Readers' views via SMSA VERY big please to Spoornet to put trains on the line to Cape Town. Buses are forever late. If not then they are stuck on the road for some repair.
No first aid help at ice rinkI WOULD like to bring the following to the attention of prospective visitors to the temporary ice rink at the Boardwalk.
Good, bad and ugly faces of liberationFOR someone with a strong Black Consciousness background and ideological orientation, it would be very stupid and short-sighted for me not to congratulate the ANC on attaining its 100th anniversary and for being one of the oldest liberation movements in the continent of Africa.
Those who deny God, deny they have soulsADDING to the interesting debate on belief, it is true - and all taking a deeper interest in life should know - that religion is a decision. The decision is often based on the inner voice, either developed or not, which all men have.
Bible quite clearly points to evolutionTHERE are always interesting views on the creation/evolution debate, but what is very obvious is that those in favour of evolution have not read their Bibles, but are dependant on hearsay. We will never know the reason for the first chapter of the Bible (although I can give you an educated guess), except to guess that earliest man understood days as a measure of time.
Higher shark numbers nothing to do with fishingTHE increase in shark (especially great white) activity has nothing to do with recreational angling (“Fishing ban ‘hindering a major sport’”, December 23). It is the simple unchecked expansion of an apex feeder population.
Disgraceful behaviour from illegal campersI SPENT New Year’s Day, like every other year, with my family in Jeffreys Bay to escape the crowded Port Elizabeth beaches. We spend the day at Kabeljous, but drove to Spar to stock up on a few things.
Crowd shows no respectI STOOD amazed and dumbfounded at the response of the Port Elizabeth crowd gathered in front of the pier at Hobie Beach when the acting mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay was not afforded a chance to speak on be half of the sponsors of the event, who happened to be the NMB Municipality. Gosh, how can the first citizen of the city be treated like a pauper, in her own backyard in a public space to usher in a new year in a supposedly jovial atmosphere and ambiance?
Readers' views via SMSTHE ANC has been infiltrated by former opponents. Now they are adopting a Trojan horse system within the ANC.
Porn channel brings unhappinessWITH the recent debate around the TV porn channel expected to be launched this month, I was once again reminded of how gullible human beings can be. It does not take much intelligence to understand a porn channel will cause much pain and problems for many.
Afrikaans players did well with poor facilitiesI COULD not believe my eyes when I saw the front page article of The Herald on December 30 regarding “Sports talent battle”. What a load of hogwash!
Not a merry ChristmasTEN years ago my oldest brother took his family to settle in Australia as they had fears about their future in this country. The rest of our family are spread out in Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth, so it was with great excitement that we planned our first complete family Christmas together in 10 years.
Discipline needs to start at head of ANC, with ZumaTHE statements made by Gift Siphiwo Ngqondi (head, research unit in Office of the Chief Whip, NMBM) in In My View (“ANC must fight factionalism”, December 28) are utter rubbish.
Family news soughtI AM searching for any information on two of my aunts, who were born in the vicinity of Durban. They were Lilias Maud Jones (born 1893) and Florence Jones (born 1895), daughters of Henry John Jones and Henrietta Maria Jones.
Thanks to police, emergency response staffTHERE are few things that I do as a state representative that I enjoy more than recognising and praising those citizens and personnel who distinguish themselves in serving their country and fellow citizens.
Heavy environmental price to pay for power stations Donations helped give animals second chanceTO the many people who responded after our letter of appeal was kindly printed in The Herald on December 29 (“Food needed for neglected pets”), thank you so much for donating towards those who cannot speak for themselves.
Readers' views via SMSR10-million is needed to restore electricity to schools, R100 million is to be spent on the ANC celebrations? The mind boggles.
More effective policing needed on roadsIT is pellucid that our driving habits in South Africa leave us mourning our countrymen every chance we have at a vacation, such as at the present Christmas season, Easter period or coinciding with school holidays.
New kind of ‘going Dutch’I THOUGHT “going Dutch” meant we each paid our own way. Our municipality has invented a new meaning (“Dutch bailout for Bay”, December 28).
Officers should fine errant taxi driversTRAFFIC officials can use their time more effectively.
Don’t picture illegal drinkingIN the past there has been criticism about some of The Herald reporting and I have not always agreed with the writers, but I think the picture on the front page on Thursday, along with the report (“Cheeky cheers to breaking law on beaches”), can have a very negative impact on beach activities.
Commuters must take responsibility for taxi ridesTHE taxi carnage problem must be broken down into long distance and short distance. Each one of these must again be looked at in terms of laws that are broken before the taxi starts a journey and those transgressed once the vehicle is in motion with paying passengers.
Bible brings moralityI WOULD like to respond to the evolutionists and those who do not believe in the God of the Bible. Nature itself proclaims that there is a creator. Everything and everyone has a perfect design. Design speaks of a creator.
Drop under-performers from sideSRI Lanka probably had the best New Year’s present ever, beating the Proteas on home soil after being written off as no-hopers. Gary Kirsten and his team know there is much work to do.
I agree with Muis. The best batsmen in the world often had nothing. Bradman practiced by himself using a stump and a golf ball, Brian Lara played for hours in his mum's driveway, Viv Richards played o...
Science Mann 6 January 2012 6:24 pmPaul, when you say you have researched the debate over creation/evolution, did you stop to first understand the science of it, or just read what creationists have to say on the matter? I hate to say i...
Science Mann 6 January 2012 6:10 pmMary, To support your interpretation that 'days' was a measure of time, the original Hebrew word was 'yod'. Yod can either mean 'day' or 'long period of time'. If you want to jam science into seven y...
Science Mann 6 January 2012 5:46 pmThat's right Patrys, there is no such thing as a soul. The mind and soul are products of our brain, and that is affected by how we are born, how we choose to live, and our experiences along the way. I...
Matthem 6 January 2012 12:44 pm@ jagster. Why is everything about race, all Muis was trying to say was that all races of people are poor, not just black people. Its people like you who have a chip on their shoulder and bring our be...
mcluhanist 6 January 2012 12:27 pmIf the Moses and the Israelites didn't know murder, stealing and rape were morally wrong during their 40 year meander through the desert they would have never reached Mount Sinai in the first place......
mcluhanist 6 January 2012 12:00 pmMary, there may be a God, however, probably not Yahweh. The God of the Bible is a sadistic, manipulative, jealous mass murderer. You can cherry pick throughout the old and new testaments, there's no...
mcluhanist 6 January 2012 11:46 amYou're right. We should relinquish all control to the state or some other guiding body. Decisions made for ourselves, sacrilege! And, "a society fast becoming dysfunctional". It's 2012 and the vas...
Jagster 6 January 2012 8:58 amOnce again some white spoiled brat going off and does not understand what others go through. Go spend a day and see how these kids spend their day and look at their facilities.At least you had field a...
thirsty 6 January 2012 7:25 amAs Dokhotelo says a pass at 30% is stupid. Just think you can get the vast majority of "basic" education wrong and still pass. I think the Dept of Education should give us the statistics of the previo...