Evolution

WASHINGTON - In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Or not. And so the debate on origins continues. This spring, west of Cincinnati, a $27 million Creation Museum opened its doors, complete with a display showing dinosaurs entering Noah's Ark. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is pressed repeatedly on his views of evolutionary biology, rather than health care policy or Iran. According to the Pew Research Center, about 70 percent of evangelicals believe that living things have always existed in their current form.

Dear Editor, A letter writer in The Advocate-Messenger on Dec. 17 wanted students to have the ability to "opt out" of evoution. Allowing students to opt out of The Theory of Evolution in a biology class is like saying students may opt out of The Atomic Theory in a chemistry class. Biology without evolution is like chemistry without the atom. E. Shane Talbott Danville

Dear Editor: Greg Warren's letter "Creation vs. Evolution" states his case clearly and point by point, though his arguments are based on several misconceptions that need to be cleared up. 1. Evolution is based on a mountain of scientific evidence, and it is not "atheistic. " If anything evolution is "non-theistic;" that is to say, it does not address the existence or nonexistence of God because it is a scientific account of the development of life on earth. Canons of scientific method dictate that only empirical phenomena be offered in causal explanations.

Dear Editor: The Middle Ages distinguished two kinds of theology. One of them, natural theology, sought to establish knowledge of God by reasoning from nature to its creator. It became the dominant form of theology until the start of the 20th century. Exodus 14:21 says the Red Sea parted when "the Lord drove the sea away all night with a strong east wind. " Assuming that the sea did part, what was its cause? The Lord or the east wind? Natural theology said, "Both," but denied that the two causes were of the same kind (like two laborers digging a ditch)

Dear Editor: I would like to comment on a letter written by Tom Liston. First, I would like to say that Mr. Liston is right: This is a free country and we do have the right to serve God as we see fit. But if creationism is to be left out of schools, then so should evolution. I, myself, do not believe in evolution as the way the earth and humanity came about, nor do I want my kids taught that; but they are. So like my daddy used to say, "What's fair for the goose is fair for the gander.

In his recent state of the commonwealth address to the Kentucky General Assembly, Gov. Ernie Fletcher said he favors "intelligent design" - the biblical story of creation - being taught in the public schools. Fletcher did not say how or to what degree it should be taught. For example, would he favor "intelligent design" being added to public school curricula as an alternative course to the theory of evolution taught in science classes, or would he want it to be a section in science classes, or just mentioned in some way in those classes?

Dr. Grady McMurtry, who taught evolution for 20 years before he became an ordained minister, will be in Danville Thursday through Saturday for four presentations on creationism vs. evolution. He is scheduled to speak 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Gethsemane Baptist Church, 123 Quisenberry Ave. His topics are: "Intellectual Honesty" on Thursday, "Mount St. Helens" on Friday; and "Why I Believe in a Young Creation" and "No Truth to Global Warming" on Saturday.

Dear Editor: A recent letter described evolution as a "theory," saying "there are no facts of evolution. " What a profound revelation. Have you ever heard of adaptation? If things adapt to certain conditions, then the offspring of said thing will automatically do the same. It's called evolution. Delete evolution from schools? You mean remove from schools. Maybe the writer should have been paying more attention in school instead of worrying about whether or not he can pray before school starts.

Dear Editor: In regard to the letter from Ohio where he wrote about keeping religious beliefs out of our schools. If he wants that, then we need to kick out evolution and its theory. Notice I said "theory. " There are no facts of evolution; therefore it does not exist. When the school systems begin to delete evolution in the schools, then you may see a change in our school systems. The only time that change will occur is when we get back to the things that worked when our parents and grandparents went to school.

Dear Editor: A letter writer said he does not believe in evolution because it is just a "theory" and there are no facts to support this theory. Correct me if I am wrong, but facts are based on scientific evidence, which would mean there are no facts to suport creationism either. So, you believe one thing without facts, but discredit another for having no facts. Oh, and gravity is just a "theory" as well. You cannot deny gravity is real even though it is just a "theory.

This month marks the 60th anniversary of Corning Inc.'s precision glass plant in Harrodsburg. It's a special occasion not only for the people who work at this storied facility, but for all of us at the company. The plant embodies several Corning hallmarks: a commitment to breakthrough innovation; manufacturing excellence and continuous process improvement; and a history of evolution to meet the needs of a changing market.  When it opened in 1952, the plant produced state-of-the-art optical glass for binoculars and periscope lenses, aerial photography, photochromic lenses and ophthalmic applications.  When demand waned in the mid-1980s, Corning evolved the plant into the center of its new LCD glass business.  In fact, the engineers were responsible for a key breakthrough in fusion-draw manufacturing that led to Corning's market and technology leadership in the display industry.

According to a National Geographic news article from August 2006 (back to that date in a moment), of 34 “western” nations, Turkey was the only country with a smaller percentage of adults who believed in evolution theory than the United States. In the U.S., only 14 percent of adults thought evolution was “definitely true,” and the investigation also showed the percentage of U.S. adults uncertain about evolution had risen from 7 percent to 21 percent in the previous 20 years.

Regarding who started the Vietnam War, I have a newspaper clipping from the 1960s that I saved because I knew the question would come up at some point in the future. The newspaper headline is: “JFK says 'Why I started the Vietnam War.'” I can't imagine he would lie about that, although he was a serial cheater and liar to his wife. He had no morals. Regarding unions, I was a long-time union member at Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. in Louisville, and the main thing the union did was keep lazy, worthless workers from getting fired.

Dear Editor, As hard as I tried, it appears my efforts flew over the head of Milton Scarborough in his well-reasoned rebuttal to my satirical article on May 7, titled “Schools should teach controversial theory.” His article would have sufficed if my article hinted even the faintest possibility of seriousness; however, it did not. Though it was unwarranted, he raised some solid points reinforcing my targeted satirical assault to begin with. With the conjoining and agreeing sides of our articles together, the lack of knowledge still beats triumphantly on the chests of the opposition.

Doubts about evolution To the Sun: With all the buzz about Charles Darwin's birthday and his contribution to evolutionary ideas, I found the following quotes quite insightful. "To postulate that the development and survival of the fittest is entirely a consequence of chance mutations seems to me a hypothesis based on no evidence and irreconcilable with the facts. These classical evolutionary theories are a gross oversimplification of an immensely complex and intricate mass of facts; and it amazes me that they are swallowed so uncritically and readily, and for such a long time, by so many scientists without a murmur of protest.

Actor, commentator and comedian Ben Stein promises he hasn't lost his mind. Well, he says with his famous dry monotone humor, at least not in this instance. On the contrary, Stein - whose documentary film "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" opens in two weeks, April 18 - believes he's involved in one of the leading cultural and political battles of his life: the fight for academic freedom against an establishment that teaches Darwinian evolution as fact. Intelligent Design (ID)

WASHINGTON - In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Or not. And so the debate on origins continues. This spring, west of Cincinnati, a $27 million Creation Museum opened its doors, complete with a display showing dinosaurs entering Noah's Ark. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is pressed repeatedly on his views of evolutionary biology, rather than health care policy or Iran. According to the Pew Research Center, about 70 percent of evangelicals believe that living things have always existed in their current form.

Dear Editor, In a Dec. 20 letter to The Advocate-Messenger, the writer stated that biology without evolution is like chemistry without the atom. When I went to school and graduated in 1979, evolution was not taught in the school systems. At least not in Mercer County. What I said was "if a person has the opportunity to opt out of prayer in school then students who do not believe in evolution should have the privilege of opting out of the portion of the class that teaches evolution.

Dear Editor, I would like to respond to a portion of Mr. Mount's letter in Sunday, Dec. 16 edition of the online paper of The Advocate-Messenger. He writes that if people want to pray, the schools should not impose this on others. I would also like to say that although I believe in prayer and the works of it, and if others who do not pray have the option to not participate. However this should also go with the teachings in our science classes and biology classes that are being taught.