Arafax said:
I am back with my topic as I promised in another thread. No 'running away with my tail between my legs' as someone so eloquently put.
Okay, I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt for now. But keep in mind that you have posted so much that it is hard for there to be debate. It's better to pick a single point and discuss that.
Arafax said:
I made my decision that evolution is a joke, independant of others views. I recognized serious flaws in the evolution theory. Circular reasoning is very prominent it seems! I plan on becoming an Anthropologist. The course looks like a blast! I have been in a good share of debates. No big ones for awhile though (I have been swamped with work and making music, check out my profile for more info).
What course are you planning on taking and where? If you are planning on taking it at a main stream university you're probably in for a rude awakening.
Arafax said:
Let me start out with this little bit that outlines the definitions of evolution. In this debate I hope you guys use your terms wisely. It makes a world of difference.
MACRO Evolution - the change of one kind of animal to another in a great amount of time. i.e. reptile to bird
COSMIC Evolution - the origin of time space and matter i.e. The Big Bang
CHEMICAL Evolution - the origin of higher elements from hydrogen.
STELLAR and PLANETARY Evolution - Origin of Stars and Planets. No one has ever seen a star form.
ORGANIC Evolution - origin of life i.e. Abiogenesis
MICRO Evolution - Variations within a kind
The only one scientific is MICRO Evo. It is proven. Scientifically varifiable.
Eek! Alarm Bells!
POINT ONE
If you're looking to debate evolution then put aside COSMIC, STELLAR, PLANETARY, CHEMICAL and ORGANIC. These are all loaded terms that basically have nothing to do with evolution. Young Earth Creationism maybe but not the Theory of Evolution. They also look very similar to definitions by Kent Hovind who is a VERY bad source of information.
Sure you can define those types of evolution but anyone can define anything.
I could define Christianity as a religion that worships Flying Purple Pumpkins. But wouldn't it make far more sense to listen to Christians than to me?
and wouldn't it make more sense to listen to the accepted scientific definition of the Theory of Evolution, which is different to all of the above you listed.
POINT TWO
Please define Kind. Give a clear definition. Give a definition which allows us to clearly distinguish one kind from another.
POINT THREE
Macro and Micro are also Creationist terms. I have seen them defined as Species, Kind and an assortment of others. The terms assume some barrier that limits how many changes can accumulate. It's like saying I can count to ten, one at a time, but you will never reach a billion ecause that's Macro Addition. Evolution is just evolution.
Arafax said:
Okay, I'm going to welch out on these

I'm not a physicist or chemist.
I'll leave this to others.
But I'll make one point. The groups linked to above openly admit that ANY evidence contrary to their Biblical interpretation must be wrong. It is a totally unscientific way of looking at things.
Arafax said:
Now, to start off, I am not 'full of my self' or 'arrogant'. Nothing of the sort. I debate to have fun. I do these debates to have a blast. Good times are had, in my opinion. I won't be retreating with my 'tail between my legs'. How ridiculous. If you looked at your own statements it would depict that the only arrogance here is on your part.
Okay. I hope you're right. And until youstart acting badly I'll play nice.
Arafax said:
It is like this. Look at Mount Rushmore. Observe it and tell me what created it. Was it the wind? Water? Or Man? You can obviously tell that it was created by Man. The same can be done with the physical universe. There is SO much in relation to this it is unfathomable.
Okay. A couple of points here. Ever seen a mountain side that looked like something? A cloud? I've seen a lot of clouds that look like faces but I don't think they were designed. The supposed Face on Mars is another good example of this.
Secondly, you're suggesting that EVERYTHING is designed. If everything is designed then how are we supposed to tell what is not?
Arafax said:
They make the predictions mostly like this, "What would *topic in question* be like if it was created by God?". They then proceed to make scientifically based predictions on what they think would be the result. Studies are than conducted to support their predictions. That is science. They have various methods of making predictions and conducting studies using the Creationism model. The Biblical Creationism model is getting the most results.
Almost. But there is a big problem. It's not so much a matter of IF God created but HOW. For it to be scientific you cannot invoke the supernatural.
Arafax said:
See, you miss the beautiful thing about Creationism and the Bible. God did not have to state directly the age of the Earth. The Bible is well chronicled. The people in the Bible are well documented and chronicled. Including their ages. There is MANY things in the Bible that can explain things we see today. Here is link to a graphical representation to describe what I mean.
http://anchorstone.com/chronology2.html
So using this, Creationists came up with the 6000 years old Earth premise. But it is not without merit. Science is providing MUCH evidence to support the Young Earth Creation model.
So do you see? The age of the earth can be determined Biblically, than based on that, many things begin to make sense. Many things in which we observe in the physical universe.
Here are some examples, and I repeat, only some. There is tons.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/4005.asp
Actually go here, it has a ton of articles that may be of interest. I recommend you actually read them.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/young.asp
Unfortunately the mission statments of these groups paints a different story.
Any evidence contradictiory to the view of a 6000 year old earth MUST be wrong. Surely you see what is wrong with that.
Arafax said:
Here is what the Big Bang theory teaches:
......
The Big Bang has NOTHING going for it. Nothing. There is plenty more against it. Real science.
As I said, I'm no physicist or astromonor but from a basic reading you seem to have a VERY different concept of the Big Bang to anything I have ever read. Others on the board are better to answer this than me.
Arafax said:
To say '
Creationists rely on the supernatural when they have gaps in their knowledge. Scientists can not do that.' is again, with all do respect, ignorant. So tell me, where did you come up with that? Did you come up with it yourself or did an evolutionist tell you that? Most evolutionists have no business defining what Creationists believe in, considering most only see the GOD part in Creationism.
They may comment if they truly understand what Creationism is about. Sadly most have no clue. They may also comment if they understand what THEY believe in. For YOUR beliefs are grounded in metaphysical principles to 'fill in the gaps'.
Creationists don't 'rely' on the supernatural to find the answers. Do you see us saying, 'Oh God did that! Oh, and that too! But cuz God did it means we can't say how, but God did it and that is our answer!'.
Heck no! If you see a Creationist saying that you have my permission to smack them upside the proverbial head. Creationism uses science to explain the physical universe. Science. Got it? Ok.
Yah! I've been waiting for slapping permission!

Sadly I have very, very rarely seen a Creationist who did not eventually resort to "Well God can do anything" It's especially common when discussing the flood.
Like I said before, I debate to have fun, I recommend you do too. So keep it civil. Oh, yeah, please don't forget to use the PREFIXES of evolution I gave in the beginning of the post. They are VITAL to debating properly.
Hope to see your reply but I'm sorry, I can't stick by those definitions. They're just too broad to cover in a single thread. If you want an age of the universe/ age of the earth / abiogenesis debate that's fine but it's diferent from an evolution debate.
Hope to read your reply