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<channel>
	<title>The Atheist Blogger &#187; evolution</title>
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	<link>http://atheistblogger.com</link>
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		<title>&#8220;On the Origin of Species&#8221; Turns 150</title>
		<link>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/11/24/on-the-origin-of-species-turns-150/</link>
		<comments>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/11/24/on-the-origin-of-species-turns-150/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:00:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adrian Hayter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[evolution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[book]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[charles darwin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[origin of species]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1525</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[



Charles Darwin via last.fm



150 years ago today, Charles Darwin published &#8220;On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life&#8220;. A monumental book, considered by biologists around the world to be the foundation of evolutionary biology.
In the 150 years since its publication, evolutionary theory [...]]]></description>
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<dl class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 136px;">
<dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Charles%2BDarwin"><img title="Charles Darwin" src="http://atheistblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/527190.jpg" alt="Charles Darwin" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Charles%2BDarwin">Charles Darwin</a> via <a href="http://www.lastfm.com">last.fm</a></dd>
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<p>150 years ago today, Charles Darwin published &#8220;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species">On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life</a>&#8220;. A monumental book, considered by biologists around the world to be the foundation of evolutionary biology.</p>
<p>In the 150 years since its publication, evolutionary theory has expanded and grown in ways that Darwin himself could not have imagined. The discovery of the multitude of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitional_fossil">transitional forms</a> that match Darwin&#8217;s original prediction, and the work of others (the prediction and subsequent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiktaalik">discovery of Tiktaalik</a> being perhaps the most notable) helped bolster the theory, and firmly establish it as scientific fact.</p>
<p>Not only that, but all discoveries of biology since Darwin proposed his idea have complemented it perfectly, with DNA confirming common ancestry, and the various evolutionary development experiments that have captured evolution in action<sup class='footnote'>[<a href='#fn-1525-1' id='fnref-1525-1'>1</a>]</sup>.</p>
<p>So, happy anniversary to Charles Darwin&#8217;s masterpiece! May it inspire many more of the generations to come!</p>
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/4ee28611-90e9-43ec-bd97-16a520370fc7/"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" style="border: medium none; float: right;" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=4ee28611-90e9-43ec-bd97-16a520370fc7" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript"></script></span></div>
<div class='footnotes'>
<div class='footnotedivider'></div>
<ol>
<li id='fn-1525-1'><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._coli_long-term_evolution_experiment">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._coli_long-term_evolution_experiment</a> <span class='footnotereverse'><a href='#fnref-1525-1'>&#8617;</a></span></li>
</ol>
</div>
<h3>Possibly Related Posts:</h3>
<ul class="related_post">
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/13/charles-darwin-200th-anniversary-2-coin/" title="Charles Darwin 200th Anniversary £2 Coin">Charles Darwin 200th Anniversary £2 Coin</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/05/26/god-darwin/" title="God &#038; Darwin">God &#038; Darwin</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/02/25/children-of-evolution/" title="Children of Evolution">Children of Evolution</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/02/12/happy-darwin-day/" title="Happy Darwin Day!">Happy Darwin Day!</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2008/04/17/darwins-first-draft-goes-online/" title="Darwin&#8217;s First Draft Goes Online ">Darwin&#8217;s First Draft Goes Online </a></li>
</ul>




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		<title>Thunderf00t vs. Ray Comfort</title>
		<link>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/24/thunderf00t-vs-ray-comfort/</link>
		<comments>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/24/thunderf00t-vs-ray-comfort/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:00:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adrian Hayter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[bible]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[christianity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creationism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[evolution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[god]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ray comfort]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[videos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[debate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thunderf00t]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[youtube]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1463</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Earlier this month, Ray Comfort agreed (well, the second time) to a discussion with Thunderf00t. The rules were simple: the two men, one room, and one camera. Any questions were on the floor for discussion, and each man would get a copy of the video to use as they wished. As it turned out, Ray [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Earlier this month, Ray Comfort agreed (well, the second time) to a <a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/04/ray-comfort-is-still-a-coward/">discussion with Thunderf00t</a>. The rules were simple: the two men, one room, and one camera. Any questions were on the floor for discussion, and each man would get a copy of the video to use as they wished. As it turned out, Ray Comfort had a separate cameraman (for higher quality video I guess) in the room, but overall the debate was as stipulated.</p>
<p>Thunderf00t has uploaded the entire discussion, uncut from start to finish, and if you have a spare 90 or so minutes, I advise you watch it all! Ray Comfort&#8217;s points are torn apart in front of him one by one, as Thunderf00t explores the deeper meaning of Ray&#8217;s arguments (evidently not done by Ray himself) such as the &#8220;how do you know it is creation?&#8221; rebuttal to any claim of the kind &#8220;creation needs a creator&#8221; in reference to the universe itself.</p>
<p>Here is the entire debate as a YouTube playlist, so sit back and watch the Bananaman get defeated by common sense and logic, as played by Thunderf00t.</p>
<p><!-- Smart Youtube --><span class="youtube"><object width="552" height="415"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/762A731FA12BCB57&amp;rel=1&amp;color1=d6d6d6&amp;color2=f0f0f0&amp;border=0&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;showsearch=0" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed wmode="transparent" src="http://www.youtube.com/p/762A731FA12BCB57&amp;rel=1&amp;color1=d6d6d6&amp;color2=f0f0f0&amp;border=0&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;showsearch=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="552" height="415" ></embed><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /></object></span></p>
<p>Enjoy!<br />
<h3>Possibly Related Posts:</h3>
<ul class="related_post">
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/04/07/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-rays-apology/" title="(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort -- Ray&#8217;s &#8220;Apology&#8221;">(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort -- Ray&#8217;s &#8220;Apology&#8221;</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/02/ray-comfort-is-a-coward/" title="Ray Comfort is a Coward">Ray Comfort is a Coward</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/06/04/youtube-thursday-thunderf00t-jesse-ventura-steven-fry/" title="YouTube Thursday -- Thunderf00t, Jesse Ventura, &#038; Steven Fry">YouTube Thursday -- Thunderf00t, Jesse Ventura, &#038; Steven Fry</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/02/25/children-of-evolution/" title="Children of Evolution">Children of Evolution</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2008/10/28/kent-hovind-wins-golden-crocoduck-award/" title="Kent Hovind Wins Golden Crocoduck Award">Kent Hovind Wins Golden Crocoduck Award</a></li>
</ul>




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		<title>Charles Darwin 200th Anniversary £2 Coin</title>
		<link>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/13/charles-darwin-200th-anniversary-2-coin/</link>
		<comments>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/13/charles-darwin-200th-anniversary-2-coin/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:00:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adrian Hayter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[evolution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[charles darwin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[royal mint]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1441</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Royal Mint commissioned a special edition £2 coin in honour of Charles Darwin&#8217;s 200th birthday. The coin is a limited edition of 25,000, and mine arrived this morning!
The presentation pack (above) has a short but detailed biography of Charles Darwin, as well as information about Evolution, and of course the coin itself. I think [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Royal Mint commissioned a special edition £2 coin in honour of Charles Darwin&#8217;s 200th birthday. The coin is a limited edition of 25,000, and mine arrived this morning!</p>
<div id="attachment_1442" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 550px"><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/darwin.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1442   " title="darwin" src="http://atheistblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/darwin.jpg" alt="Presentation Pack" width="540" height="479" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Presentation Pack</p></div>
<p>The presentation pack (above) has a short but detailed biography of Charles Darwin, as well as information about Evolution, and of course the coin itself. I think the front of the coin is pretty awesome:</p>
<div id="attachment_1443" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 550px"><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/darwin-coin.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1443  " title="darwin-coin" src="http://atheistblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/darwin-coin.jpg" alt="Darwin vs. Monkey" width="540" height="539" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Darwin vs. Monkey</p></div>
<p>There are still coins available if you want to buy one. They cost £7.99 each (plus shipping), and well worth it if you want a nice souvenir of Darwin&#8217;s 200th year. You can buy the coin from the <a href="http://www.royalmint.com/store/BritishBase/UKCDBU.aspx">Royal Mint website</a>.<br />
<h3>Possibly Related Posts:</h3>
<ul class="related_post">
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/11/24/on-the-origin-of-species-turns-150/" title="&#8220;On the Origin of Species&#8221; Turns 150">&#8220;On the Origin of Species&#8221; Turns 150</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/05/26/god-darwin/" title="God &#038; Darwin">God &#038; Darwin</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/02/25/children-of-evolution/" title="Children of Evolution">Children of Evolution</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/02/12/happy-darwin-day/" title="Happy Darwin Day!">Happy Darwin Day!</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2008/04/17/darwins-first-draft-goes-online/" title="Darwin&#8217;s First Draft Goes Online ">Darwin&#8217;s First Draft Goes Online </a></li>
</ul>




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		<title>YouTube Thursday &#8211; Thunderf00t, Jesse Ventura, &amp; Steven Fry</title>
		<link>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/06/04/youtube-thursday-thunderf00t-jesse-ventura-steven-fry/</link>
		<comments>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/06/04/youtube-thursday-thunderf00t-jesse-ventura-steven-fry/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:00:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adrian Hayter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[creationism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[humour]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[videos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[casey luskin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[discovery institute]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[evolution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[intelligent design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jesse ventura]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[steven fry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thunderf00t]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1407</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Time again for another YouTube Thursday, and we start with 2 videos from YouTube user Thunderf00t; the first is a short but funny comparison of the old VenomFangX and the new VenomFangX (Shawn recently closed his channel due to &#8220;death threats&#8221; and gave it to another creationist). The tag-line is a kicker though: &#8220;Creationism: when [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Time again for another <strong>YouTube Thursday</strong>, and we start with 2 videos from YouTube user <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/Thunderf00t">Thunderf00t</a>; the first is a short but funny comparison of the old VenomFangX and the new VenomFangX (Shawn recently closed his channel due to &#8220;death threats&#8221; and gave it to another creationist). The tag-line is a kicker though: &#8220;Creationism: when being naturally stupid just isn&#8217;t good enough&#8221;.</p>
<p><!-- Smart Youtube --><span class="youtube"><object width="552" height="415"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rKzcesTXid8&amp;rel=1&amp;color1=d6d6d6&amp;color2=f0f0f0&amp;border=0&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;showsearch=0&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed wmode="transparent" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rKzcesTXid8&amp;rel=1&amp;color1=d6d6d6&amp;color2=f0f0f0&amp;border=0&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;showsearch=0&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="552" height="415" ></embed><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /></object></span></p>
<p>The second video of his is part of the fantastic series &#8220;Why do people laugh at creationists?&#8221;, which involves the elegant destruction of popular creationist arguments. This is part 30, and if you want to see the other 29 (highly recommended) then <a href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=AC3481305829426D">check them out here</a>. In this video, Thunderf00t points out the hypocritical nature of the Discovery Institute, and one of its prominent spokespeople, <span>Casey Luskin.</span></p>
<p><span><!-- Smart Youtube --><span class="youtube"><object width="552" height="415"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VpL1dmfVoGA&amp;rel=1&amp;color1=d6d6d6&amp;color2=f0f0f0&amp;border=0&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;showsearch=0&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed wmode="transparent" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VpL1dmfVoGA&amp;rel=1&amp;color1=d6d6d6&amp;color2=f0f0f0&amp;border=0&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;showsearch=0&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="552" height="415" ></embed><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /></object></span></span></p>
<p><span>Jesse Ventura (ex-Governor of Minnesota) has been on a campaign recently against waterboarding, and he should know all about it, given that he himself was waterboarded as part of SEREs (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) training. He says it&#8217;s torture, but Elisabeth Hasselbeck of &#8220;The View&#8221; disagreed with him. Hilarity ensued as Ventura hit back with some great points, ending with the great line<br />
&#8220;You give me a waterboard, one hour, and Dick Cheney and I&#8217;ll have him confessing to the Sharon Tate murders&#8221;. Jesse Ventura once said of religion &#8220;</span>[it]<a title="Religion" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion"></a> is <a title="Criticism of religion" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_religion">a sham</a> and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people&#8217;s business.&#8221;</p>
<p><span><!-- Smart Youtube --><span class="youtube"><object width="552" height="415"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wgarV13g6QM&amp;rel=1&amp;color1=d6d6d6&amp;color2=f0f0f0&amp;border=0&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;showsearch=0&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed wmode="transparent" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wgarV13g6QM&amp;rel=1&amp;color1=d6d6d6&amp;color2=f0f0f0&amp;border=0&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;showsearch=0&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="552" height="415" ></embed><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /></object></span></span></p>
<p><span>Finally, I end with some wise words of wisdom from the legendary Steven Fry. His advice on being happy? <strong>Stop feeling sorry for yourself</strong>.</span></p>
<p><span><!-- Smart Youtube --><span class="youtube"><object width="552" height="415"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hkL8qgG_VPo&amp;rel=1&amp;color1=d6d6d6&amp;color2=f0f0f0&amp;border=0&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;showsearch=0&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed wmode="transparent" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hkL8qgG_VPo&amp;rel=1&amp;color1=d6d6d6&amp;color2=f0f0f0&amp;border=0&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;showsearch=0&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="552" height="415" ></embed><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /></object></span><br />
</span><br />
<h3>Possibly Related Posts:</h3>
<ul class="related_post">
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2008/06/21/discovery-institute-vs-dawkins/" title="Discovery Institute Vs. Dawkins">Discovery Institute Vs. Dawkins</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/24/thunderf00t-vs-ray-comfort/" title="Thunderf00t vs. Ray Comfort">Thunderf00t vs. Ray Comfort</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/04/07/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-rays-apology/" title="(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort -- Ray&#8217;s &#8220;Apology&#8221;">(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort -- Ray&#8217;s &#8220;Apology&#8221;</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2008/04/25/answering-the-ignorant-evolution/" title="Answering The Ignorant -- Evolution">Answering The Ignorant -- Evolution</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/05/26/god-darwin/" title="God &#038; Darwin">God &#038; Darwin</a></li>
</ul>




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		<title>(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort &#8211; Hilter &amp; Evolution</title>
		<link>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/05/30/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-hilter-evolution/</link>
		<comments>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/05/30/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-hilter-evolution/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 30 May 2009 17:38:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adrian Hayter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[creationism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[evolution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ray comfort]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[darwin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hitler]]></category>

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Ray Comfort&#8217;s latest stroll into the land of irrational thought has produced yet another blog post that attempts to link the theory of evolution with Adolf Hitler. It&#8217;s common knowledge that Hitler was a creationist, at most believing in some form of &#8220;micro-evolution&#8221;. Hitler never mentioned Darwin in any of his books, and [...]]]></description>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Atomic_cloud_over_Hiroshima.jpg"><img title="The mushroom cloud over Hiroshima after the dr..." src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Atomic_cloud_over_Hiroshima.jpg/300px-Atomic_cloud_over_Hiroshima.jpg" alt="The mushroom cloud over Hiroshima after the dr..." width="300" height="374" /></a></dt>
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<p>Ray Comfort&#8217;s latest stroll into the land of irrational thought has produced yet another blog post that attempts to <a href="http://raycomfortfood.blogspot.com/2009/05/more-examples-of-hitler-and-evolution.html">link the theory of evolution with Adolf Hitler</a>. It&#8217;s common knowledge that Hitler was a creationist, at most believing in some form of &#8220;micro-evolution&#8221;. Hitler never mentioned Darwin in any of his books, and the mentions of &#8220;evolution&#8221; that Ray gives us are almost all references to <strong>social evolution</strong>. Hitler can be accurately described as a social Darwinist, a political theory that has no relation to Darwin or to the biological theory of evolution that is studied today <sup class='footnote'>[<a href='#fn-1395-1' id='fnref-1395-1'>1</a>]</sup><sup class='footnote'>[<a href='#fn-1395-2' id='fnref-1395-2'>2</a>]</sup>. With this in mind, after reading through the 5 or so quotes in the post, the rational thinker is left with the resounding question &#8220;Ok, so what?&#8221;.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s leave the fact that Hitler was a creationist, that his politics were not based on science but on racism and white supremacy. Instead, I want to examine the &#8220;so what?&#8221; that often gets ignored, yet is actually very important in analyzing Comfort&#8217;s argument. We shall begin by assuming that Ray Comfort is completely correct; that Hitler was a believer in the theory of evolution. We shall also assume that Hitler was so devoted to the theory, he decided to use it through social Darwinism in order to justify genocide. What does this tell us about the theory of evolution? <strong>Nothing</strong>. A theory is not defined by how people use it, but by what it tells us. The theory of evolution says nothing of &#8220;higher species&#8221; or that organisms must systematically wipe out all those who are &#8220;inferior&#8221;. In fact, the theory of evolution gives us no help in pinpointing which species are &#8220;more evolved&#8221; than others, or even what that would entail.</p>
<p>For instance, human beings are considered to be more evolved because of our consciousness, yet some bacteria have genomes hundreds of times larger than our own. So how do we calculate inferiority when we have two opposing lines of measurement, one based on evolved attributes, the other based on number of mutations. I don&#8217;t think one could make a good argument for either, especially given the further problem of how to compare attributes (is consciousness a better attribute than metabolizing citrate for example?). This all points to the conclusion that most would agree on; that science tells us about the universe in which we live by describing and explaining it, but it <strong>does not</strong> tell us what to do with this knowledge.</p>
<p>Science told us how to make the nuclear bomb, but science did not tell us to drop these bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. If science was responsible for these actions, then you could easily justify Newton as responsible for the deaths of everyone killed by projectiles. The reason creationists like Comfort do not extend their argument to include men like Newton is that they accept the theory of gravity (and yes, it is <em>just</em> a theory Ray). By holding Darwin and his theory as responsible for the actions of men he never knew, yet not doing the same for other scientists like Newton, Nobel, Einstein, etc reveals Ray&#8217;s dishonesty and unwillingness to discuss evolution on an intellectual level. Instead, he prefers to launch a thinkly veiled ad-hominem attack in the hopes that people will focus on the supposed &#8220;link&#8221; and not the attack itself. This may have worked well for him in the past, but not today, and not on this blog.</p>
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<div class='footnotes'>
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<li id='fn-1395-1'><a href="http://skepticwiki.org/index.php/Hitler_and_evolution">http://skepticwiki.org/index.php/Hitler_and_evolution</a> <span class='footnotereverse'><a href='#fnref-1395-1'>&#8617;</a></span></li>
<li id='fn-1395-2'><a href="http://rationalwiki.com/wiki/Hitler_and_evolution">http://rationalwiki.com/wiki/Hitler_and_evolution</a> <span class='footnotereverse'><a href='#fnref-1395-2'>&#8617;</a></span></li>
</ol>
</div>
<h3>Possibly Related Posts:</h3>
<ul class="related_post">
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/24/thunderf00t-vs-ray-comfort/" title="Thunderf00t vs. Ray Comfort">Thunderf00t vs. Ray Comfort</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/05/28/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-the-birdlike-reptile/" title="(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort &#8211; The Birdlike Reptile">(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort &#8211; The Birdlike Reptile</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/04/07/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-rays-apology/" title="(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort &#8211; Ray&#8217;s &#8220;Apology&#8221;">(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort &#8211; Ray&#8217;s &#8220;Apology&#8221;</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/02/25/children-of-evolution/" title="Children of Evolution">Children of Evolution</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/01/29/the-endless-loop-of-ray-comforts-mind/" title="The Endless Loop of Ray Comfort&#8217;s Mind">The Endless Loop of Ray Comfort&#8217;s Mind</a></li>
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		<title>(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort &#8211; The Birdlike Reptile</title>
		<link>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/05/28/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-the-birdlike-reptile/</link>
		<comments>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/05/28/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-the-birdlike-reptile/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2009 19:13:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adrian Hayter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[creationism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[evolution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ray comfort]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[darwinius masillae]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fossil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ida]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1387</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[







With the recent discovery of Ida, also known as Darwinius masillae, it was only a matter of time before Ray Comfort got on the case and started spouting his usual rubbish. The cartoon provided with the post is rather amusing, and also quite ironic. There are no doubts that Ida is &#8220;definitely ape&#8221;, but then [...]]]></description>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Darwinius_masillae2.jpg/391px-Darwinius_masillae2.jpg"><img title=" Darwinius Masillae" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Darwinius_masillae2.jpg/391px-Darwinius_masillae2.jpg" alt=" Darwinius Masillae" width="235" height="359" /></a></dt>
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<p>With the recent discovery of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwinius">Ida</a>, also known as <em>Darwinius masillae</em>, it was only a matter of time before Ray Comfort got on the case and started <a href="http://raycomfortfood.blogspot.com/2009/05/birdlike-reptile.html">spouting his usual rubbish</a>. The cartoon provided with the post is rather amusing, and also quite ironic. There are no doubts that Ida is &#8220;definitely ape&#8221;, but then there are also no doubts that homo sapiens are &#8220;definitely ape&#8221; either! You only make this kind of statement if you believe (as Ray does) that apes and humans are completely different &#8220;kinds&#8221; and not related to one another.</p>
<p>Ray responds to a commenter&#8217;s challenge to come up with characteristics that one would &#8220;expect to see in a transitional reptile/avian fossil?&#8221; by dismissing the question outright, claiming that such thinking is mere &#8220;speculation&#8221;. Well of course it is speculation in Ray&#8217;s eyes! We know he doesn&#8217;t accept the theory, so any hypothetical question about the theory is going to be speculation for him. The point was for Ray to imagine a world where evolution were true, and then imagine what characteristics he would expect to see in a transitional fossil. It&#8217;s a very easy question, and it&#8217;s actually how science works. We come up with a hypothesis: &#8220;I think twins can communicate telepathically with one another&#8221;, and then make some <strong>predictions</strong> which are speculations based on the idea that the hypothesis is true: &#8220;If my hypothesis is true, then twins under controlled conditions should be able to communicate&#8221;. We then do experiments, and if the prediction remains true throughout the experiments, we are able to confirm the hypothesis. Ray&#8217;s rejection of the question is just evidence that he rejects science, yet he claims in his post: &#8220;I believe in true science, not in the pseudo-science of evolution.&#8221;. No Ray, you do not believe in true science. One cannot believe in true science and yet reject outright the scientific method.</p>
<p>I think another tell-tale sign of Ray&#8217;s rejection is this statement:</p>
<blockquote><p>I have said that there is no scientific evidence of any species &#8220;evolving&#8221; into another species. That’s the evidence that is still missing.</p></blockquote>
<p>Of course, the evidence is not missing, and every time we show it to Ray, he simply rejects it. He has said on his own blog that there is no evidence that would convince him of evolution, since evolution contradicts the Holy Bible. This kind of closed-mindedness reveals Ray as the hypocrite he is; always asking for evidence but never accepting any of it because of his presuppositions.</p>
<blockquote><p>You have your own definition of evolution, but ask the average person on the street what they believe it is, and they will say that Darwin said that man evolved from primates&#8211;that our great, great, great grandfather was an ape.</p></blockquote>
<p>The definition of something is based off the people who know the most about it, not the &#8220;average&#8221; person on the street. The average person on the street in countries like Sweden thinks that Christianity is ridiculous; does that define Christianity as ridiculous for you Ray? Darwin never stated that our great, great, great, grandfathers were apes; only creationists did that. It is not surprising that people disbelieve in the theory when most people are taught complete lies about it.</p>
<blockquote><p>You believe in a common ancestor (like a branch on a tree of common descent), they don’t. They believe we are <em>direct</em> ancestors. That we are apes.</p></blockquote>
<p>The common ancestor of modern apes and humans was (not surprisingly) an ape. We are direct descendants of these ancient apes, just as modern apes are. We are not direct descendants of modern apes. Just in the way both myself and my cousins are direct descendants of my grandmother, but not of each other. The only difference is that with evolution, it takes much longer than 2 generations.</p>
<blockquote><p>It is very clear that there is no empirical evidence for Darwinian evolution.</p></blockquote>
<p>Fossils aren&#8217;t the only empirical evidence. Now that we know how DNA functions, we can see evolution in action. We have told you this, but you never listen. My only hopes are that some of your followers will read this and explore science for themselves, and hopefully rid themselves of your lies and misinformation.</p>
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		<title>God &amp; Darwin</title>
		<link>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/05/26/god-darwin/</link>
		<comments>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/05/26/god-darwin/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2009 16:13:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adrian Hayter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[christianity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creationism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[evolution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[god]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[charles darwin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[charles foster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[presentation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[talk]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1385</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[



Charles Darwin via last.fm



Well, after almost a month of inactivity on the blog, I&#8217;m back! I firstly want to apologise for not making even small posts during my absence, but I honestly had so much to do I either forgot or couldn&#8217;t get the time to write anything. I have been reading and following my [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="zemanta-img" style="margin: 1em; display: block;">
<div>
<dl class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 136px;">
<dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Charles%2BDarwin"><img title="Charles Darwin" src="http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/126/527190.jpg" alt="Charles Darwin" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Charles%2BDarwin">Charles Darwin</a> via <a href="http://www.lasftm.com">last.fm</a></dd>
</dl>
</div>
</div>
<p>Well, after almost a month of inactivity on the blog, I&#8217;m back! I firstly want to apologise for not making even small posts during my absence, but I honestly had so much to do I either forgot or couldn&#8217;t get the time to write anything. I have been reading and following my favourite blogs though, so I haven&#8217;t missed any of the things that have happened recently. The reason for my absence was a large number of exams that I always try to prepare for, but tend to ignore right up until they are actually upon me. Thus for the last 3 weeks I was studying like crazy, only stopping to send the occasional message on <a href="http://twitter.com/ah8r">Twitter</a>. I think that during that period, Twitter replaced my blog almost completely, and I know that large number of my readers follow me on Twitter as well (and if you don&#8217;t yet, please follow!).</p>
<p>So, now that exams were over, I went to stay with my mother for the weekend, and was cut off from the internet (apart from my mobile phone&#8217;s internet) for 3 days. To top it off, when I arrived back from a 3 hour train journey yesterday, I was whisked away by my friends to a Godfather film marathon. It was the first time I&#8217;d seen any of the movies (please forgive me), and I thoroughly enjoyed them all. With the help of two bloggers and Skype friends of mine, <a href="http://splendidelles.wordpress.com">Splendid Elles</a> (<a href="http://twitter.com/elles">@elles</a>) and <a href="http://footbullet.net/">Andrew Milne</a> (<a href="http://twitter.com/footbullet">@footbullet</a>), we successfully created a new religion using Twitter, based on a truly awesome British snack: <a href="http://churchofthesmashingorangeybit.com">JaffaCakeology</a>. If you want to join, simply hashtag all your tweets with #JAFFACAKES, and pledge devotion to our prophet, <a href="http://twitter.com/cmkempe">@cmkempe</a>.</p>
<p>Back to business then, and I have 4 months off doing practically nothing other than some programming and various projects. This leaves plenty of time for writing blog posts, both short and long. Today I&#8217;m going to write about a presentation I saw over the weekend. It was the start of Salisbury Festival, which is an event spanning several months in which numerous activities are run in the city where I grew up. One of the events this weekend was a talk given by Charles Foster, a lawyer who has written a book called &#8220;The Selfless Gene&#8221;. His talk was entitled &#8220;<a href="http://www.salisburyfestival.co.uk/event.aspx?id=229">Living with God and Darwin</a>&#8221; and promised to</p>
<blockquote><p>[demonstrate] that orthodox Christianity is not incompatible with what evolutionary biology says about our world.</p></blockquote>
<p>The real problem, he said,</p>
<blockquote><p>centres around the ethical implications of natural selection, and what such a system &#8211; based on selfishness, waste and death &#8211; might say about the loving creator God of the Christian faith.</p></blockquote>
<p>I thought such claims were interesting, so I went along to hear his argument. However the talk was not what was promised. Instead of showing how Christianity wasn&#8217;t incompatible, he simply spent his time laughing at creationist claims (along with the rest of the non-creationist audience). He talked at length about how Young Earth Creationists were foolish, how the evidence contradicts their claims, how nobody can possibly claim such things without being ignorant. This was all very well, but he didn&#8217;t cover how this was wrong in a Biblical sense, which would have actually supported his argument. I highly doubt there were any Young Earth Creationists in the audience; this is England we&#8217;re talking about! I highly doubt there were any Old Earth Creationists there either! He spent a good 20 minutes talking about creationism in it&#8217;s various forms, spending a few extra on Intelligent Design, and ending his case against creationism with a passionate argument against a &#8220;god of the gaps&#8221;.</p>
<p>The rest of the talk was a haphazard presentation on the evidence for evolution, and I wasn&#8217;t impressed. He didn&#8217;t go into any detail, and his slides were all extremely bad quality, as if they had been photographed from some other talk. He never mentioned the mechanisms that make evolution tick, and he kept on blaming the &#8220;neo-darwinists&#8221; and &#8220;disciples of Dawkins&#8221; on most of the confusion over evolution. Overall though, there was nothing there that could convince anyone of either position. At the beginning he told people he would make creationists in the audience &#8220;very angry&#8221;, and atheists (well, &#8220;disciples of Dawkins&#8221;) very angry too. Neither of his prophecies held true.</p>
<p>At the end of the talk, an atheist at the back stood up and asked him to give the evidence for God, since his talk was about showing how God was compatible with Darwin. Mr Foster explained that the way he saw it, the lack of explanation for civilisation and morality is an indicator that a God exists. In other words, because science cannot explain everything about us, God must still have some hold. What a strange conclusion for the man to make, given his argument against a &#8220;god of the gaps&#8221; that he made clear earlier on. I started to raise my hand, but another atheist across the room from me got there first, pointing out his contradiction.</p>
<p>So poor Mr Foster lost out to the regular thorn in the side of theists: self contradiction. Such a pity. His book was on sale in the lobby afterwards, but there was no way I was paying £11.99 for it. I suspect it will include all the same repeated arguments against creationism, which in this country aren&#8217;t really needed. Nobody apart from the fringe churches accept creationism as a legitimate claim anymore. I further suspect that the arguments for evolution will be equally bad, thus misleading the people who read it into thinking that science knows very little about the subject.</p>
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<h3>Possibly Related Posts:</h3>
<ul class="related_post">
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/03/15/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-bone-of-contention/" title="(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort &#8211; Bone of Contention">(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort &#8211; Bone of Contention</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2008/10/25/religion-destroys-cognitive-ability/" title="Religion Destroys Cognitive Ability">Religion Destroys Cognitive Ability</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2008/06/21/discovery-institute-vs-dawkins/" title="Discovery Institute Vs. Dawkins">Discovery Institute Vs. Dawkins</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2008/06/15/conversations-with-the-deluded/" title="Conversations With The Deluded">Conversations With The Deluded</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2008/05/27/evolution-vs-creationism/" title="Evolution Vs Creationism">Evolution Vs Creationism</a></li>
</ul>




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		<title>(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort &#8211; Ray&#8217;s &#8220;Apology&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/04/07/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-rays-apology/</link>
		<comments>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/04/07/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-rays-apology/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2009 23:00:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adrian Hayter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[atheism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[belief]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[god]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ray comfort]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[videos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creationism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[evolution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[expelled]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[intelligent design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[richard dawkins]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1222</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ray Comfort has issued an apology for his banana video in which he described how the banana had certain features that made it appear designed, insinuating the “designer” was the Judeo-Christian God. As you will see when watching the “apology” below, it doesn’t cover Ray coming up with a bad argument; it is more of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ray Comfort has issued an <a href="http://raycomfortfood.blogspot.com/2009/04/apology-for-banana-illustration.html">apology</a> for his banana video in which he described how the banana had certain features that made it appear designed, insinuating the “designer” was the Judeo-Christian God. As you will see when watching the “apology” below, it doesn’t cover Ray coming up with a bad argument; it is more of an excuse, blaming atheists for editing the original video to appear out of context.</p>
<p><!-- Smart Youtube --><span class="youtube"><object width="552" height="415"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XHaSZtf5I1k&amp;rel=1&amp;color1=d6d6d6&amp;color2=f0f0f0&amp;border=0&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;showsearch=0&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D22" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed wmode="transparent" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XHaSZtf5I1k&amp;rel=1&amp;color1=d6d6d6&amp;color2=f0f0f0&amp;border=0&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;showsearch=0&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D22" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="552" height="415" ></embed><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /></object></span></p>
<p>The video presents some very bad logic in the first 30 seconds, when it tries to explain the “bananaman” reference:</p>
<blockquote><p>“Bananaman” is a reference to an illustration presented by Comfort, in which he compared the complex design elements of a coke can to the complex design elements of a banana, in order to demonstrate that thoughtful design by an a designer is required for both examples. (0:20 -- 0:35)</p></blockquote>
<p>Ray wants us to believe that God made the banana, but even knowing this is untrue (at least in regards to the modern banana) all it does is prove what we know already; that certain things in the world are the result of human intervention. Whilst it is true that the banana is a product of design, the same cannot be said if you replaced the banana with a wild blackberry, which is perfectly edible, very sweet, and not the product of human intervention. Replace the blackberry with something like the pineapple or the coconut, and you immediately have to start questioning the sanity of the “designer” Ray implies on such things. Pineapples and coconuts have to be some of the hardest fruits to get into, not to mention the amount of preparation needed before eating.</p>
<p>When you do not know the process in which certain things are created, you cannot compare them to things of which the creation process is known. It is a logical fallacy. In fact, the creation process of the wild banana is partially known, and we refer to it as the theory of Evolution. This doesn’t explain the entire process of the banana creation, but it certainly gives a mechanism for understanding how it could have possibly come about. This is a far greater explanation than the idea that “God did it” which has no evidence and holds no grounds in proper scientific debate.</p>
<p>Ray presents to us his often-repeated lie that atheists somehow misrepresented his point in the banana video:</p>
<blockquote><p>However, atheists removed the coke can from the video version, and sent it across the internet, saying that Comfort believed the banana was conclusive proof of God’s existence, missing the point of the illustration completely. (0:42 -- 0:55)</p></blockquote>
<p>You see this simply contradicts the last point, as Ray admits that the comparison was to show that a designer is needed for both coke can and banana. In the original video (even in the edited version which only shows the banana) Ray mentions God as the creator of the banana, and he also mentions the coke can in comparison. His exact words were:</p>
<blockquote><p>Now if you go to the top of the banana, you’ll find as with the <strong>soda can makers</strong>, they placed a tab at the top, so <strong>God</strong> has placed a tab at the top.</p></blockquote>
<p>Implying that there must be a designer, and then stating that the designer is God, therefore proving God’s existence seems to be exactly what Comfort had in mind. If Ray had not mentioned God as the designer, then he may actually have a point about not trying to prove God’s existence, but as soon as he said “so <strong>God</strong> has placed a tab at the top” he left the realm of speculation and entered the realm of certainty.</p>
<blockquote><p>They also said that the banana had been modified over time by man to fit in the palm of the hand, and not by God (0:55 -- 1:02)</p></blockquote>
<p>Well yeah, that’s because it has been. This intervention is very well documented.</p>
<blockquote><p>But in their effort to make him look foolish, atheists gave Ray Comfort and international platform for his message. (1:03 -- 1:09)</p></blockquote>
<p>Effort? I think you’ll find Ray does enough to make himself look foolish without us there to help. Anyone with a (to quote Ray) “brain that works” can tell his arguments are weak, and his views on science are stuck in the middle ages. The number of times simple scientific concepts have to be explained to him reveals his as the willingly ignorant fool that he is. Now for his “apology”:</p>
<blockquote><p>Comfort apologized for his mistake about the banana saying “My apologies for not explaining myself more clearly. I was not aware that the common banana had been so modified by hybridization, however, the truth remains that God gave man the knowledge and ability to modify it, so that it perfectly fit into his hand.” (1:31 -- 1:50)</p></blockquote>
<p>So once your original premise is destroyed, you simply move the goalposts back a bit? Nice work Ray, but while this “truth” might be logical to your warped mind, you don’t give any evidence that God exists to give us this knowledge. In fact, since your original reason for using the banana argument was to show that certain things must have a designer, and that the designer of the banana is God, I fail to see how you can simply assert God exists when your argument for him via the banana was so utterly destroyed. I can do the same thing see: My car was designed, and the designer was God, therefore God exists. What’s that? My car was designed by Ford? Well…God gave Ford the knowledge and the materials to design the car in the first place! It isn’t a proof if you have to assume God exists for the proof to work.</p>
<p>Ray also leaps on the chance to misquote Richard Dawkins in the film “Expelled”, claiming he thinks aliens seeded life on this planet.</p>
<blockquote><p>In “Expelled No Intelligence Allowed”, when Ben Stein asked Richard Dawkins, ‘What do think is the possibility that intelligent design might turn out to be the answer to some issues in genetics or in evolution?’ he answered,</p>
<p>‘at some earlier time somewhere in the universe a civilization evolved by probably by some kind of Darwinian means to a very very high level of technology and designed a form of life that they seeded onto perhaps this planet … and that designer could well be a higher intelligence from elsewhere in the universe.’ (2:17 -- 3:22)</p></blockquote>
<p>The beginning of this quote is left out, and the full thing reveals some vital clues to Dawkins’ explanation, specifically the words “<strong>It could come about in the following way: it could be that</strong> at some earlier time somewhere…”. This clearly shows that Dawkins is speaking hypothetically, in response to the question by Stein. Dawkins is a scientist, and as such he isn’t going to close his mind to the possibility of intelligent design. However, if he is going to explain it, he is going to do it rationally and scientifically, not by mentioning some sort of supernatural deity.</p>
<p>Dawkins again says in the middle that such ideas are a “possibility”, that they are “intriguing”, and that you might find evidence if you looked at the details of biochemistry and molecular biology. However he never stated that he believes such things, nor that any evidence has been found to suggest it. He goes on to say that such intelligence would have had to come about by some kind of natural (and possibly Darwinian) means. Things don’t just magically appear out of nowhere, at least not in the realms of science.</p>
<blockquote><p>So Professor Dawkins believes that highly intelligent aliens from somewhere else in the universe may have created us. (3:46 -- 3:54)</p></blockquote>
<p>No Ray! No. Commenting on an idea, or even trying to explain some form of natural intelligent design does not automatically mean you believe it. As I said before, Dawkins is well aware that there is no evidence for such views, and he didn’t attempt to present evidence in the film. He was commenting on a hypothetical basis for intelligent design in the universe. Stein may have had ulterior motives for asking the question, but Dawkins answer was accurate. Aliens seeding life on Earth is at least one <strong>possibility</strong> of intelligent design that doesn’t invoke the supernatural.</p>
<p>Will there be a debate between Comfort and Dawkins? I doubt it, but one can dream. I’d personally love to see both Dawkins and Hitchens take on Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron for a double smackdown of logic.<br />
<h3>Possibly Related Posts:</h3>
<ul class="related_post">
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/24/thunderf00t-vs-ray-comfort/" title="Thunderf00t vs. Ray Comfort">Thunderf00t vs. Ray Comfort</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2008/06/21/discovery-institute-vs-dawkins/" title="Discovery Institute Vs. Dawkins">Discovery Institute Vs. Dawkins</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/06/04/youtube-thursday-thunderf00t-jesse-ventura-steven-fry/" title="YouTube Thursday -- Thunderf00t, Jesse Ventura, &#038; Steven Fry">YouTube Thursday -- Thunderf00t, Jesse Ventura, &#038; Steven Fry</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/02/25/children-of-evolution/" title="Children of Evolution">Children of Evolution</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/02/21/conservapedia-article-of-the-month-and-year/" title="Conservapedia Article of the Month (and Year)">Conservapedia Article of the Month (and Year)</a></li>
</ul>




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		<title>(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort &#8211; Who is the Painter?</title>
		<link>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/04/02/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-who-is-the-painter/</link>
		<comments>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/04/02/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-who-is-the-painter/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:00:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adrian Hayter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[bible]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creationism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[evolution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[god]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ray comfort]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[arguments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[big bang]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1207</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ray Comfort is back from his “debate” which I’m sure he lost on actual content. There is only so far you can go denying reality and actually having a credible argument. Ray simply argues from ignorance, and eventually someone will educate him on the truth. Of course, it doesn’t help that Ray has repeatedly asserted [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ray Comfort is back from his “debate” which I’m sure he lost on actual content. There is only so far you can go denying reality and actually having a credible argument. Ray simply argues from ignorance, and eventually someone will educate him on the truth. Of course, it doesn’t help that Ray has repeatedly asserted that he would never consider any evidence for Evolution, because that would directly contradict his scripture. This makes Ray not just ignorant, but willingly ignorant.</p>
<p>Ray was quizzed on his “painting implies painter therefore creation implies creator therefore God exists” argument by a reader of his blog:</p>
<blockquote><p>Ray, when you see a painting, it is reasonable to assume that a painter painted it. Is it reasonable to assume that his name is Alan Jeffrey Pinkerton? How would you go about validating your claim? Would it be enough for you if someone just told you his name was Alan Jeffrey Pinkerton? What if somebody else told you that Alan Jeffrey Pinkerton never existed and it was really painted by Cecil P. Fitzwilliam? Imagine that it is your job to find out who really painted it. How would you begin your investigation? You see, creation = creator is all well and good… but how do I establish who that creator was?</p></blockquote>
<p>In other words, if we assume Ray’s argument stands, how do we know which creator created creation? Ray takes a stab at this question, and fails miserably.</p>
<blockquote><p>The One who created the universe must be supernatural. With all our “genius,” humanity can’t create one grain of sand, a leaf, a flower or a bird, from nothing. The Creator must have powers that are infinitely greater than the greatest human being.</p></blockquote>
<p>It’s true, humanity with all our genius cannot create sand, a leaf, a flower, or a bird from nothing. That would defy the laws of physics. However Ray makes his first mistake here, because he is setting the goalposts too far away. Nobody is arguing that nothing created everything, this has been established many many times to him, but Ray never seems to get it (willingly ignorant anyone?). The Big Bang was a rapid expansion of space-time, and to be an expansion, something must already be there. The initial condition of our universe is often considered “nothing” because it is considered to be extremely small, sometimes thought to be a singularity. However none of these are “nothing”.</p>
<p>Given that his premise is completely flawed, the rest of his argument falls down in style. He claims that the creator must have infinitely more power than the “greatest” human. Since the universe did not just spring out of nothing according to latest theories, any “creator” has to be more complex than the universe itself. There is no need to have some “infinite” attribute unless the creation is also infinitely complex. If there is anything we have learned through the last 500 years of science, it is that the universe is finite and it can be understood by a bunch of ape-like beings that have evolved on one of the planets that forms part of that universe.</p>
<p>So, if the “creator” does not need to be infinite, it doesn’t need to be supernatural, thus nulling is original statement. Ray then continues to answer the question:</p>
<blockquote><p>The claim of the gospel is that this Creator will reveal Himself to all who repent and trust Jesus Christ.</p></blockquote>
<p>Of course this answer does not cover the full question, as the reader specifically asked Ray to explain how you would validate that claim. To Ray this task is impossible; you just have to have “faith”, but this has problems when you come across people like me who have believed and realized that Christianity has no answers. Evidently Ray’s method of knowing the creator does not work, as there are many atheists who have been even more fundamentalist than Ray Comfort with their previous Christian beliefs. Ray’s only answer to these people is that they were never “true” Christians, but this really begs the question: how Christian do you have to be to be “true”?</p>
<p>The whole problem with the “painter” argument is that Ray is taking something for which we know the process of creation (i.e. the painting, the book, the car) and comparing it to something for which we either do not know the creation, or do not know if there even was a “creation”. Before the argument can work, Ray must prove that what he cites as “creation” was in fact created. To do this, he must disprove the Big Bang theory, and although he has attempted to do this many times, he has always failed because the simple truth is this:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Ray Comfort is a willingly ignorant fool.</strong></p>
<h3>Possibly Related Posts:</h3>
<ul class="related_post">
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/01/29/the-endless-loop-of-ray-comforts-mind/" title="The Endless Loop of Ray Comfort&#8217;s Mind">The Endless Loop of Ray Comfort&#8217;s Mind</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/05/30/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-hilter-evolution/" title="(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort &#8211; Hilter &#038; Evolution">(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort &#8211; Hilter &#038; Evolution</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/05/26/god-darwin/" title="God &#038; Darwin">God &#038; Darwin</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/03/15/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-bone-of-contention/" title="(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort &#8211; Bone of Contention">(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort &#8211; Bone of Contention</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/03/05/the-noahs-ark-paradox/" title="The Noah&#8217;s Ark Paradox">The Noah&#8217;s Ark Paradox</a></li>
</ul>




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		<title>(Almost) Daily Dose of Comfort &#8211; Bone of Contention</title>
		<link>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/03/15/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-bone-of-contention/</link>
		<comments>http://atheistblogger.com/2009/03/15/almost-daily-dose-of-comfort-bone-of-contention/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:29:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adrian Hayter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[christianity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creationism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[evolution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ray comfort]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[debate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[god]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[religion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1197</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So Ray Comfort is off to his home country of New Zealand in order to participate in a debate about Evolution. I don’t see how a person who has repeatedly shown to not understand the theory can even think about participating in a debate about it, but Ray has drawn up a great debate plan:
1. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So Ray Comfort is off to his home country of New Zealand in order to participate in a <a href="http://raycomfortfood.blogspot.com/2009/03/bone-of-contention.html">debate about Evolution</a>. I don’t see how a person who has repeatedly shown to not understand the theory can even think about participating in a debate about it, but Ray has drawn up a great debate plan:</p>
<blockquote><p>1. An atheist is someone who believes nothing created everything. If he denies that and believes that “something” created everything, he’s not an atheist.</p></blockquote>
<p>Ok, so the subject is Evolution, the scientific theory. It’s a debate concerning one of the fundamentals of biology, but why not throw in philosophy as well? Given that evolutionary biologists are often religious, I do not see how Evolution can been seen as a purely “atheistic” idea. On the subject of the whole “atheists believe nothing created everything”, the so-called “Ray Comfort Fallacy”, please read my <a href="../2009/01/29/the-endless-loop-of-ray-comforts-mind/">previous blog post</a>.</p>
<blockquote><p>2. Man can’t create a grain of sand from nothing. How intellectually dishonest is it then to say that there was no Intelligent Designer?</p></blockquote>
<p>Still not even close to the area of evolutionary biology. True, man cannot create a grain of sand from nothing, but why does this mean that some unknown “Intelligent Designer” has this ability? Humans are very intelligent designers, and yet we have limits as to what we can do in this universe. How do our failures imply that there exist beings that can do these things? It’s not intellectually dishonest to say that there is no evidence for an Intelligent Designer, simply because there isn’t any evidence, and we never will. A natural explanation will be found for everything, because to imply some kind of supernatural being is no explanation at all. Even if we can’t explain things naturally, there is no saying we won’t be able to at some point, and it certainly doesn’t make the supernatural any more viable.</p>
<blockquote><p>3. Where did females come from (in every species)?</p></blockquote>
<p>Finally, 3 stops down on the debate train and we get to biology. We also see Ray Comfort’s dishonesty out in the open, because he knows the answer to this question already. It has been <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/03/elephantine_errors_from_ray_co.php">explained to him</a> <strong>at great length</strong> by P.Z. Myers after a few blogs post went back and forth between Ray’s blog and Pharyngula. After Ray challenged P.Z. to explain the origins of sex, P.Z. did so, and did so with gusto. I don’t think you could ask for a better summation of the evolution of species and sex, so I won’t even try to write one.</p>
<blockquote><p>4. Which came first? The blood, the heart or the blood vessels?</p></blockquote>
<p>Ray needs to learn how to use Google, because the <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=evolution+of+the+heart">results for a simple search</a> will reveal far more than you could ever want. Panda’s Thumb has a <a href="http://pandasthumb.org/archives/2008/03/evolution-of-th-5.html">great article</a> about it.</p>
<blockquote><p>5. There are variations within species, but no species to species transitional forms in the fossil record.</p></blockquote>
<p>Nope, there are no transitional forms in the fossil record. I repeat, there are <a href="http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html">no transitional forms in the fossil record</a>. Every time this argument comes up I still find it hard to believe it’s <strong>still</strong> being used.</p>
<blockquote><p>6. God made Archaeopteryx with teeth and a tail. It’s a bird, not a dinosaur. He made many weird animals. There’s a huge mouse with a pocket in its front that hops all over Australia, horses with stripes, weird desert animals with humps on their backs . . . and He made some birds with teeth.</p></blockquote>
<p>Calling Archaeopteryx a “bird with teeth” is a gross understatement. The fact that the creature has more in common with small dinosaurs than birds isn’t just confined to teeth, but the claws, tail, toes, and other skeletal features. Archaeopteryx is a bird, but it is also a dinosaur, and it is clearly a transitional form that shares elements of both, showing how dinosaurs first started evolving into birds.</p>
<blockquote><p>7. Paleontologists have a huge incentive to twist the truth, just a little. If they can find a bone with a lump on it, theorize that it was a limb or a feather, give it an impressive name, say it is 73 million years old, and suddenly he has his picture on the cover of National Geographic magazine, has a book deal and lectures for life. The human propensity to gullibility is evidenced by evolution’s many believers. Malcolm Muggeridge: “I myself am convinced that the theory of evolution . . . will be one of the great jokes in the history books in the future.” Evolutionists have done to science, what hypocrites have done to religion. We have men who call themselves scientists, when they should have instead got a job with Disney as imagineers.</p></blockquote>
<p>Ray presents this view but doesn’t go into detail with specific examples of paleontologists doing this. Double blind dating is done on fossils to ensure the result isn’t skewed, so I don’t know where Ray gets the idea that numbers are simply placed on fossils at random. The theory predicts we should find these fossils, and when we do find them, they should rightly be presented to scientific enquiry. Evolutionary biologists have advanced science beyond the realms thought possible, and we now know so much more about our origins. In return, we have used this knowledge to forge a better future for our race. Where religion kills and feeds a misleading doctrine, science shows us the true light, and we are much better for it.<br />
<h3>Possibly Related Posts:</h3>
<ul class="related_post">
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/05/26/god-darwin/" title="God &#038; Darwin">God &#038; Darwin</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/03/05/the-noahs-ark-paradox/" title="The Noah&#8217;s Ark Paradox">The Noah&#8217;s Ark Paradox</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/02/02/jesus-week/" title="Jesus Week">Jesus Week</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2008/10/25/religion-destroys-cognitive-ability/" title="Religion Destroys Cognitive Ability">Religion Destroys Cognitive Ability</a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheistblogger.com/2009/11/23/the-children-of-the-new-bha-billboards-are-not-christian/" title="The Children of the New BHA Billboards Are Not &#8216;Christian&#8217;">The Children of the New BHA Billboards Are Not &#8216;Christian&#8217;</a></li>
</ul>




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