Another day, another argument with a creationist. It’s amazing to me how political conservatism and theological conservatism (including rejection of evolution for theological reasons) often go hand-in-hand here in the United States, even though both are mutually exclusive subjects. Can’t one believe in low taxes and evolution simultaneously?
The creation/evolution debate has always entertained me, because the position of creationists relies upon evolution not being proven, ever, while the theory of evolution is supported by each and every new piece of evidence confirming the hypothesis. Thus, it has seemed to me for a long time that creationists have been in a potentially much weaker position, because any direct evidence of evolution that ever comes to light shatters their position in seconds (though I think realistically that happened a long time ago). Evidence which was offered up by evolutionists that was somewhat equivocal – or which merely added to the general corroboration pointing to evolution – didn’t end the debate as conclusively as it should have if science were the real focus of the debate by creationists.
If the debate should not have ended decades ago with the study of fossils, it should at least have ended more recently with the study of genetics.
A few years ago, genetics became a discipline capable of increasing our understanding of our own biology tremendously. With it came the promise that we would find some kind of direct evidence for evolution in the human genome. And that is precisely what has happened. Some time ago, I was introduced to the evidence for evolution in human chromosome #2. I was pointed to a talk by Ken Miller, who expressed amazement that the evidence hadn’t been more widely reported. It is, in effect, the smoking gun, the missing link. If nothing else is ever provided as evidence for evolution (and there is plenty), this is conclusive proof of the fact of evolution. From now on, I won’t even bother to talk about the age of the universe as proven in cosmology, astronomy, physics, geology. I won’t even take the trouble to talk about the problems with reading the Genesis account literally, or biblical exegesis. I will simply present the evidence of the fusion of two ancestral chromosomes in human chromosome #2.
For those who haven’t heard and want to hear about how evolution is proven by the study of human DNA, here’s Ken Miller to explain it. Let this end the debate.
WHILE YOU'RE HERE...