Origins debate

The divine comedy
Creationism

Running gags

* Biblical literalism
* Young/Old Earth
* Intelligent design
* Creation scientists

Jokes aside

* Plate tectonics
* List of transitional forms
* Evidence against a recent creation
* Iron

Blooper reel

* Del Mar skull
* Michael Oard
* Answers Research Journal volume 14
* Creation Research

Evolutionism debunkers

* Carl Wieland
* Roy Spencer
* Denyse O'Leary
* Gary North

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The origins debate, which is shorthand for the evolution versus creationism debate, is the controversy that arose when discoveries in palaeontology and geology and calculations in cosmology pointed to an age of the Earth in the order of billions of years. This appeared to contradict the mere thousands of years suggested by literal readings of the Bible that dominated pre-19th century knowledge of ancient history, the most famous of which is James Ussher's chronology claiming the world began in 4004 BC.

Throughout the 20th Century and into the 21st,[1] the "debate" has raged, but hasn't really gone anywhere. The "old Earth" side, backed by science, gained new knowledge and information, while the "young Earth" side, backed by fundamentalist dogma, merely repeated what they already had, claiming and reinforcing (circularly) divine revelation. Throughout the origins debate, arguments in favor of evolution and creationism are traded back and forth in public debates, in (school) board meetings, and in the office. Most recently, the debate has become prolific online, where entire forums and newsgroups have enabled practically everyone to express an opinion on the subject.

Debaters often take care to define their terms, so one may usefully ask "origins of what?" The earth? The universe? Humankind? Life? Intelligence? Spirituality? Identifying the answer to "what does 'in the beginning' mean?", historically or metaphorically, may sometimes defuse determined debate.

## Contents

* 1 Debates
* 2 Political debate
* 3 History
* 3.1 Scopes "Monkey" trial
* 3.2 Creation science
* 3.3 Intelligent design
* 4 So what difference does it make?
* 5 See also
* 6 External links
* 7 Further reading
* 8 References

## Debates[edit]

A public debate would seem like a practical venue for determining which side of the evolution/creation controversy has the most convincing arguments. In debates, creationists often claim victory and evolution proponents often concede that this is the case. However, this is not due to a lack of defensibility for the scientific position, but rather to limitations in the debate format. "Debate" implies sides, and a winner is declared as such for providing the most widely convincing argument — often a politician is said to have "won" a debate. Science, however, takes a subtly different tack, where there's only really one "side", namely what the available evidence points to; it takes the route best suggested by reality. As a result, science tends to do poorly if presented in a debate format. That's not to say debates never happen in science, but rarely (if ever) in political debates do those on the losing side concede that they're wrong and change their views accordingly. It's important to understand that debates about evolution are political, not scientific, in nature.

The explanatory power of evolutionary theory is largely due to its broadness and complexity, and aspects of it can be counterintuitive. In order to fully appreciate all that evolution explains, it is necessary to have a reasonable level of science education as well as knowledge of how science works. Features of creationism, on the other hand, tend to appeal to emotions and are quickly grasped at any education level. While science takes this into account and seeks to better itself despite human failings, skilled debaters take advantage of this. Science, with its cold, hard facts and frightening figures, holds up poorly in the face of salient anecdotes. This problem isn't exclusive to the origins debate; many health scares (vaccines in particular) suffer the same thing: a doctor with a comprehensive meta-study showing a medicine to be statistically safe will "lose" to a parent who has an autistic child and a scare story. Similarly, science can show many things to demonstrate evolution, but that isn't worth a damn if the people judging a debate will happily fall for something like how come there are still monkeys?

For these reasons, a debate often consists of the evolution advocate spending his brief allotment of time hopelessly attempting to educate the audience about the misinformation and logical fallacies presented by the creationism advocate. It's often impossible to cover all of these points and get across the facts of evolution in a reasonable amount of time; talk.origins is an entire archive dedicated to such things, and would take days to read through. Often, this is an intentional tactic, and creationist Duane Gish's habit of deliberately overloading his opponent with false statements that there is insufficient time to debunk has led to the appellation "Gish Gallop".

## Political debate[edit]

The degree of public support for creationism can give decision-makers the erroneous impression that mainstream scientists (more specifically, experienced biologists) actually doubt evolution. In fact, there is overwhelming support for evolution in the scientific community, and scientific organizations have issued position statements to this effect. The controversy over evolution exists solely in the sphere of politics. As discussed above, politics is the realm of debate where either side can "win", whereas science is the realm of, well, science, where the winning side is determined by reality and the losers change their minds to agree, or are sidelined by the community. So it's not entirely unexpected that the political field gives rise to mantras such as "Teach the Controversy" or "let the children decide for themselves", because such things are often perfectly acceptable ideas when discussing policies to vote for. They're not acceptable, however, when there is an arbiter (reality) to say what is actually true; schools don't "teach the controversy" about Holocaust denial, for instance.

In the realm of science, theories are simply supplanted by better ones based on how successfully they explain existing observations and predict future ones. On the creation side, there is no data other than endless tables of who begat who, and there are no explanatory models, only critiques of models proposed by the evolution side.

## History[edit]

The debate becomes more than merely academic when school boards are asked to decide if creationism is as sound a theory of the origin of species as evolution. Fundamentalists, in an effort to advance their version of Christianity, have attempted to get Bible-based creationism taught in public school science classes.

### Scopes "Monkey" trial[edit]

See the main article on this topic: Scopes trial

The political power of the creation side reached a high point in 1925, when a Tennessee teacher was put on trial for teaching Darwinism. The ultimate finding was for the prosecution, and the teacher was fined $100, but during the proceedings, the creation side was made to look ridiculous during a nationally covered trial which was the "OJ trial" of its day.

### Creation science[edit]

See the main article on this topic: Creation science

Fundamentalism beat a hasty retreat and did not make a serious impact again until the 1960s, when creation science was rolled out with demands to teach it side-by-side with orthodox biology in public schools. Creation "science" was taken straight from the Bible, teaching a six-day creation and grouping animals into "kinds", created by God. In the 1980s, in court decisions such as McLean v. Arkansas (1981) and Edwards v. Aguillard (1987), the creation science curriculum was thrown out of schools on the grounds that it taught the origin story of a specific religion, namely Christianity, and therefore violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

### Intelligent design[edit]

See the main article on this topic: Intelligent design

Fundamentalism continued to evolve. In the 1990s, they rolled out their new model, called "intelligent design", which made two "advances" over creation science. First, it avoided mentioning the identity of the being (or beings) who are alleged to have made the blueprints for the universe. Second, it put forward a case that certain organs (such as the eye, or a bird's wing, or the rotating flagellum of bacteria) could not have evolved in gradual stages because the incomplete version of the organ would hinder the reproductive success of the creature in question. Ongoing efforts to promote ID within society, termed the wedge strategy, are described in a 1996 Discovery Institute document. In 2005, in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District decision, intelligent design was also declared unconstitutional (i.e., religion imposing on the state), so for the angry fundamentalists, it's back to the drawing board.

## So what difference does it make?[edit]

Why does it matter who is right concerning the origin of species? It would not matter much if people merely used their religious views to make personal decisions on moral issues, but fundamentalists have made it clear that they wish to change society to reflect their worldview, and that this change includes having creationism taught in science class. The Wedge Document even laid out the specific goal of replacing materialistic explanations with religious claims, which would grind science to a halt by removing its ability to test hypotheses.

While evolution is good science, creationism is not, and teaching creationism as science does not demonstrate to students how to properly do science. Even if evolution were wrong (which it is not), it would still have value in that it teaches the scientific method. Since learning proper science develops scientific literacy, and scientific literacy is essential for creating and using the technology that benefits society, it should be everyone's concern that the origins debate be settled in favor of science.

## See also[edit]

* Acceptance of evolution
* Balance fallacy
* Clergy Letter Project
* Creationism in public education
* Evidence against a recent creation
* Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
* Intelligent design and academic freedom
* List of scientists who support creationism
* Moving the goalposts
* National Center for Science Education
* Politicization of science
* Science and religion
* Teach the controversy

## External links[edit]

* Dawkins, Richard. "Why I Won't Debate Creationists." The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. Added Sunday, 14 May, 2006.
* Scott, Eugenie (1994-1997). "Debates and the Globetrotters." The Talk.origins Archive.
* Amazon.com book review by S. D. Weitzenhoffer on "Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction"
* Asimov, Isaac. "The 'Threat' of Creationism." Critical Thought and Religious Liberty. Published in "Science and Creationism" (1984).

## Further reading[edit]

* Scott, Eugenie C. (2004). "Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction." Greenwood.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ http://xkcd.com/354/

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Articles about creationism

Types of creationism: |  Gap creationism • Day-age creationism • Old Earth creationism • Progressive creation • Hare Krishna creationism • Young Earth creationism • Intelligent design •
Evidence against a recent creation: |  Creationism and social history • Geomagnetism • Petrified forest • Radiometric dating • Carbon dating • Dendrochronology • Y-chromosomal Adam • Mitochondrial Eve • Starlight problem • Plate tectonics • Rotation of the Earth • Atmosphere of the Moon • Biogeography • K-Pg extinction event • Geologic timeline • Fossil • Transitional fossil • Fossil record • Lake Agassiz • List of transitional forms • Punctuated equilibrium • Bird evolution • Geology • Grand Canyon • Fossil fuel • Paleontology • History of the Earth • Evidence against a recent creation • Yellowstone • Diamond • Iron • Age of the Earth • Evolution •
| Creationist claims: |  Geomagnetism • Do you want to be descended from a monkey? • Evolution and religion • Evolution and morality • C-decay • Peanut butter argument • Intelligent design and academic freedom • Science was wrong before • Science doesn't know everything • Catastrophic plate tectonics • Hydroplate theory • Lunar bukkake hypothesis • Creationist mathematics • Biblical literalism • Bumblebee argument • Orchidaceae • Irreducible complexity • Leap second • Wedge Strategy • Noah's Ark • 101 evidences for a young age of the Earth and the universe • Noah's Ark sightings • Evolution conspiracy • Recession of the Moon • Rotation of the Earth • Atmosphere of the Moon • Lunar dust • Lunar radioactivity • White hole cosmology • Firmament • Evolutionism • Haji Yearam • Galactocentricity • Hanzi of Genesis • Historical and operational science • Proof of the inconsistency of arithmetic • List of creationist claims • Global flood • De-evolution • Microevolution and macroevolution • In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood • Borel's Law • Dinosaur denialism • Baraminology •
| Global flood: |  Flood geology • Noah's Ark • Noah • Lunar bukkake hypothesis • Fossil sorting by the global flood • Hydroplate theory • Global flood • Grand Canyon • Noah (film) • Epic of Gilgamesh • Didit fallacy • God's Love • Noah's Ark sightings • Haji Yearam • Lake Agassiz • Parasites during the global flood • Life and the global flood • Global flood chronology • Yellowstone • Petrified forest • Baraminology •
Intelligent design creationism: |  Falsifiability of creationism • Irreducible complexity • Cdesign proponentsists • Intelligent design and academic freedom • Argument from design • The Wonders of Creation Reveal God's Glory • Biological Information: New Perspectives • Seeking God in Science: An Atheist Defends Intelligent Design • John A. Davison • Evolution Under the Microscope: A Scientific Critique of the Theory of Evolution • Rethinking Darwin: A Vedic Study of Darwinism and Intelligent Design • Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False • Providence Lost: A Critique of Darwinism • The Darwin Myth: The Life and Lies of Charles Darwin • The Mystery of Life's Origin: Reassessing Current Theories • The Origin of Human Nature: A Zen Buddhist Looks at Evolution • Thomas Nagel • Darwinism Under The Microscope: How Recent Scientific Evidence Points To Divine Design • The End of Darwinism • Ask Darwinists • Polonium halos • Explanatory Filter • Flowers of asexually-reproducing plants • Eye • Argument from fine tuning • Argument from beauty • Argument from first cause • Flagellum • Moody Institute of Science • Intelligent design • Laryngeal nerve • Suboptimal design • Adam and Evolution: A Scientific Critique of Neo-Darwinism • Expelled: Leader's Guide • Banana argument • Vault-Co •
| "Intelligent" alternatives: |  Intelligent falling • Scientific storkism • Pastafarianism • Scientific Geoterrapinism • Wedgie strategy •
| Teach the controversy: |  Santorum Amendment • Missouri House Bill 1227 • Indiana Senate Bill 89 • Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District • Academic Freedom Act • Louisiana Academic Freedom Act • Tennessee monkey bill • Edwards v. Aguillard • Thomas More Law Center • School vouchers • Eugenie Scott • Teach the controversy • Truth in Science • McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education •
Creationists: |  Ben Stein • Barry Setterfield • Jonathan Sarfati • Ray Comfort • B.H. Shadduck • Kirk Cameron • Harun Yahya • Wendy Wright • Carl Wieland • John Ankerberg • Jack Cuozzo • William Jennings Bryan • Russ Miller • Lee Strobel • Brother Stair • Paul Nelson • James Nienhuis • Art Robinson • Alan O'Reilly • PPSIMMONS • Hank Hanegraaff • Charlie Wagner • Rush Limbaugh • Roy Spencer • Grover Norquist • Ann Coulter • Christopher Booker • Andrea Minichiello Williams • Tom Bethell • Chuck Baldwin • Rick Perry • Bradley Monton • Christopher Langan • Aimee Semple McPherson • Richard Kent • Ljiljana Čolić • Abuz Zubair • Scott Huse • Barry Arrington • Grant Jeffrey • Janet Porter • Alan Clifford • Kurt Wise • Kenneth McKilliam • Bradlee Dean • Hugh Ross • Geoffrey Simmons • James Le Fanu • Norman Nevin • Shaun Johnston • John C. Sanford • Fazale Rana • Benjamin Wiker • Hugh Dower • Lee Spetner • Mark Ludwig • Alan Hayward • Werner Gitt • William Fix • Maciej Giertych • John C. Landon • Barbara Cargill • Ken Jopp • Frank Tipler • Richard William Nelson • Todd Friel • Bob Sorensen • Eugene Windchy • Berit Kjos • Glenn Beck • Robert McLuhan • George C. Deutsch • Ross McKitrick • Daniel Neiman • Ron Wyatt • Desmond Paul Allen • Jay Wile • Jack Chick • Ian Juby • Anthony Peake • Tim Ball • Sheik Feiz Muhammad • J. P. Holding • Michael Cremo • Chuck Norris • Steve Milloy • Rick Santorum • Christine O'Donnell • Larry Craig • Mike Bara • John Hawkins • Alan Keyes • Chris Carter • Ted Cruz • Bobby Jindal • James Ussher • Larry Pratt • Bob Dutko • Steve Fuller • Denyse O'Leary • Mike Huckabee • Babu G. Ranganathan • Ben Hobrink • Carl Baugh • Humans Are Free • Mary Lou Bruner • Educate-yourself.org • Andrew Schlafly • Ian Paisley • VenomFangX • Todd Akin • Paul Broun • James Manning • Shockofgod • Sye Ten Bruggencate • Brad Stine • Charlton Heston • Pat Toomey • Josh Axe • Ben Carson • William Dembski • Presents Of God Ministry • Jim Allister • Whale.to • Jonathan Otto • Becky Fischer • Roy Moore • David Wilcock • Jerry Falwell Sr. • Mark Dice • Ron Paul • Sam Brownback • Pat Buchanan • Don McLeroy • Marco Rubio • Michele Bachmann • Pat Robertson • John Hagee • Mary Fallin • The Vigilant Christian • Betsy DeVos • WND • Joseph Farah • Media Research Center • Theodore Beale • Encyclopedia of American Loons • Got Questions • R. L. Wysong • ProphecyFilm.com • Kent Hovind • Steven Anderson • Dennis Prager • Bernard d'Abrera • Mohammad Tawhidi • CJ Pearson • Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry • Eric Hovind • Cornelius Van Til • Frank Turek • Sarah Palin • William Lane Craig • Alex Jones (slovensky) • Charlie Kirk • Owen Benjamin • Steven Crowder • Rick Warren • Jerry Falwell Jr. • Ted Holden • Alex Jones • E. Calvin Beisner • Kate Tieje • Michael Denton • New Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Movement • Mark Cahill • Jim Inhofe • Gary Birdsong • R. J. Rushdoony • Pat Boone • The Washington Times • Canada Free Press • NewsBusters • Jimmy Swaggart • Miroljub Petrović • Marjorie Taylor Greene • Chuck Colson • Stephen E. Jones • Lew Rockwell • Tom Tancredo • John Kasich • Gary North • E. W. Jackson • Kevin Stitt • Zachary K. Hubbard • Conservapedia • Mike Johnson • National Rifle Association • Butch Hartman • Joshua Feuerstein • Christopher Rufo • Peter Sweden • Alvin Plantinga • Tucker Carlson • Mission: America • American Thinker • Brandon Tatum • Nick Fuentes • Mike Pence • Zakir Naik • Glenn Morton •
| Fundie schools: |  Brigham Young University • Cedarville University • Patrick Henry College • Regent University • Patriot Bible University • Fundie school • The Master's University • San Diego Christian College • Columbia Pacific University • Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools • Pensacola Christian College • Bob Jones University • Hyles-Anderson College • University of South Los Angeles • Cambridge Theological Seminary • Haven University • Liberty University • Louisiana Baptist University and Seminary • New Eden School of Natural Health • Andersonville Theological Seminary • Ambassador Baptist College • Hillsdale College • Illegal schools in the United Kingdom •
| Discovery Institute: |  Teach the controversy • Of Pandas and People • Wedge Strategy • Text of The Wedge Strategy • Explore Evolution • David Berlinski • Biologic Institute • Jonathan Wells • Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed • Michael Egnor • Douglas Axe • Academic Freedom Day • Casey Luskin • What is intelligent design? • Behe: The Edge of Evolution, Interview • Science and Human Origins • Wedgie strategy • Project Steve • BIO-Complexity • Texas Board of Education • Richard Weikart • Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District • Human exceptionalism • Darwin's Predictions • Stephen Meyer • Howard Ahmanson • Melvin Mulder • Lists of creationist scientists • Discovery Institute • Complex Specified Information • Michael Behe • Phillip Johnson • Joel Brind • Non-materialist neuroscience • Academic Freedom Act •
| Answers in Genesis: |  Answers in Genesis Dawkins interview controversy • Bodie Hodge • Andrew Snelling • Affirmations and Denials Essential to a Consistent Christian (Biblical) Worldview • Answers in Genesis/Creation Ministries International's Statement of Faith • Hanzi of Genesis • Atheists Outline Their Global Religious Agenda • 12 Arguments Evolutionists Should Avoid • Creation Ministries International • Lists of creationist scientists • Answers Research Journal • Ark Encounter • Jason Lisle • Answers in Genesis • Ken Ham • Creation Museum • Buddy Davis • Bill Nye debates Ken Ham • Ham Hightail • Cedarville University •
|  | Answers Research Journal: |  Answers Research Journal volume 2 • Answers Research Journal volume 3 • Answers Research Journal volume 5 • Answers Research Journal volume 1 • Answers Research Journal volume 6 • Answers Research Journal volume 4 • Answers Research Journal • Answers Research Journal volume 7 • Answers Research Journal volume 8 • Answers Research Journal volume 9 • Answers Research Journal volume 10 • Answers Research Journal volume 11 • Answers Research Journal volume 12 • Answers Research Journal volume 13 • Answers Research Journal volume 14 • Answers Research Journal Volume 15 •
| Institute for Creation Research: |  Nathaniel Jeanson • Jeffrey Tomkins • Lawrence Ford • Henry Morris • Brian Thomas • Duane Gish • RATE • Your Origins Matter • John Morris • Jerry Bergman • San Diego Christian College • Timothy LaHaye • Russell Humphreys • Lists of creationist scientists • Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools • Andrew Snelling • Alpha Omega Institute • Jason Lisle • Institute for Creation Research • Danny Faulkner • David DeWitt •