Question evolution!

This is a fantastic set of questions, reminds me that the life support for atheism (evolution) makes no sense at all! I was wondering if you could add another question to the campaign "how did consciousness originate?" making it the 16 questions for evolutionists because I read in one article that the conciousness origination is a problem for evolutionists. Please let me know if you decide to add this question. Bless you all.

One question for creationists.

From where did God get his power and knowledge?

just another question to your list,, if evolution was true, then why is man the only creature wearing a dress? i mean what was the reason behind evolution choosing man to cover his nudity? Even if there is an 'evolutionary' reason why didn't it happen in the form of fur?

I have a question, if this was initiated by Creation Ministries International (whose name suggests a large group) how can "Question Evolution" be considered Grass Roots?

Please watch this video, filmed by the BBC on the subject of Darwin and Evolution. It is 1 hour long, but would be 60 minutes well spent.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xsxubk_charles-darwin-and-the-tree-of-life-david-attenborough_shortfilms

I suspect it does not answer all of your 15 questions, or even address them. But surely we don't need to have all the answers to believe in, and logically pursue a theory.

quote Gary F.:"Unfortunately, professors are not unbiased truth-seekers ..."

I'm sorry, but you're wrong. The correct statement would be "Unfortunately, most of professors are not unbiased truth-seekers ...".

Please do not include me and many other among described crowd. Thank you.

Unfortunately, professors are not unbiased truth-seekers, hence the need for your ministry. We all need to watch a lot less T.V. and use some of our time to more useful tasks such as learning science, getting involved, reading God's Word... thank you for your ministry, you have a lot of thought-provoking material that people would do well to consider.

My big question is....how can this be promoted as grass roots? Were these questions developed by an independent third party and passed onto CMI? i'm just curious what the basis of calling it Grass Roots unless it's just a term that sounds nice for your campaign.

Everyday, step by step, science explain the world. Their will always be a part of shadow, but one day, maybe, your 15 questions brochure will appear as outdated as the text about heliocentrism by Monsignor Poupar.

You are asking questions and scientists are trying to answer. It can take years but most of the time, science find an explanation and empirical evidences. In a way you are a good thing for the scientific approach, so thanks.

And yeah, Evolution is just a theory, but then so is gravity and I havn't seen anything strong enough to defie it :)

First and foremost, I must say that I agree heartily with the title of your campaign. Everybody should question evolution, just like everyone should question every scientific theory! But, if these questions were truly asked of scientists you would find that there are many satisfying theories and responses to these questions that support evolutionary theory!

I do, however, feel that creationism and religion in general deserve just as much thought and questioning as evolutionary theory. Creation, especially a 6 day creation occurring 6,000 years ago, is simply not able to be supported by any science whatsoever, and intelligent design is not a scientific theory at all, it is religious conviction that suggests if we don't currently understand something, then it must be because God did it! Under that same reasoning, we would never have scientific progress or discoveries.

While I agree that people should question evolution and examine the evidence for or against it, those same people should question religion just as much. When someone starts from a neutral standpoint and evaluates both options and examines the evidence for each, evolution is really the only scientifically supported theory. As soon as scientific evidence supports another theory more effectively, I will be one of the first to change my mind!

I realize you probably won't publish this under your list of 15 questions... I do think that this is the height of hypocrisy though because censoring once side of an argument is truly not questioning that side with any intent on getting legitimate answers or thoughts on the topic.

Having a scientific debate with you is as hard as a neutron star. Of course I mean we are all evolving a little bit, the next time we pass on our genes to the next generation will recievce a minor alteration ogf the genes we are currently carrying. Also, since our environment is so sound, we no longer see drastic evolutionary changes. How about the mud fish that walk on land and breath air, I guess you would chalk that up to a creators design and not fish evolution to their habitat. Of course I'm not going to read your responses because most of them depend on you Bible reasoning, and that is so one sided and unwavering to new ideas, that I dare not waste my time with that dogma. Just because someone wrote it in a book thousands of years ago, hardly confirms my belief in a benevolent God, which God isn't btw, or his "son" dying for my sins. Sing a new song, or evolve your ideas.

This is so exciting! And there's a 15 question flyer in Afrikaans too. Thank you so much. Creation Ministries are really making a difference in the world! I will do my part by making a difference in my community.

In response to Don Batten:

1) "why evolution is statistically impossible," I say you have painted an incorrect picture. Yes life is a statistical anomaly on a small scale but when cast on the backdrop of a vast, potentially infinite, universe the probability rises drastically. As for evolution being a statistical anomaly, again we see examples evolution from within the past millennium, so what you mean to say is human evolution is a statistical anomaly. To that I say poppycock, humans are no more special than the rest of existing life, so of course we have undergone evolution.

And how dare you call my ideas dogmatic without even subtly calling yourself a hypocrite. Baptized and confirmed catholic I am no stranger to dogma, but the difference between scientific "dogma" and regular religious dogma is that scientists are not afraid of going back and admitting their mistakes; for their goal is that of truth through experiment and not pre-ordained knowledge. Sure, we all can't be the smartest people in the world and we have to relinquish power to those who can fathom certain experiments, but the ability is there to obtain the knowledge and study the result for one's own self; unlike regular dogma which always falls back onto one piece of human history and does not allow for modification even if new "truths" are brought to light. So please, dogmatic... that seems a bit silly coming from Don Batten.

I have read through the 15 questions, and some are just silly:

1) How did life with specifications for hundreds of proteins originate just by chemistry without intelligent design?

You pose intelligent design in your question as if this is a designated answer. That is a charged question. You should know they have created the amino acids that form the building blocks of life in a lab while trying to mimic conditions on the early earth. So it looks like life happens where conditions are "ripe," and again that happens on a regular basis in our incredibly vast universe.

2) How did the DNA code originate?

Perhaps scientists are unaware of the formulation of DNA as of yet, but instead of throwing their hands up to God almighty and saying it was your work and could never be understood, they are out there, right now, trying to imagine the procedure that might have led to DNA. Also, it turns out that certain organisms on the planet do not require the usual elements, i.e. carbon, to compose their DNA, so it seems as if life as we know it, even on Earth, is not unique and therefore has multiple ways of forming.

Personally, Don, I am not an atheist. I was raised Catholic in fact but alas I am no Christian either. I believe in the human inability to attain the knowledge of either the existence or non-existence of a God. I strive to know more about this universe through scientific study and relentless probing of my own mind. My problem with your religious dogma is that it is literally stunting minds across the globe. Instead of wonder and a sense of unknowing you fill a child's mind with an answer that cannot be argued with, not even subtly, so of course he/she is going to believe it without a doubt and shy away from anything questioning that "truth". Science has been at the back hand of religion for the entirety of written history, but those days are dwindling. People are waking up and deciding to think for themselves and not let God do it for them. A new day is dawning for man, the day of freedom from pre-ordained knowledge. And you may say, well, hum hum hum, science assumes pre-ordained knowledge, and I say only for explanation. If you were to inspect it for yourself, and do so in an unbiased, rigorous and accurate fashion as scientists do you would come to the same conclusions as the rest of the scientific community. Evolution is universal, everything evolves. That is it. If you are living you are evolving, slowly but surely.

I am a mathematician and to me it is still appalling that people refute the obvious evidence that evolution not only happens currently, but has happened since the beginning of life itself during the formation of our solar system, and surely in other solar systems as well.

Using one's preordained beliefs to interpret scientific data can only lead to misinterpretations. Truth be told, in the scientific community there is no longer a debate of whether evolution is actually a real phenomena, we know it is. Instead the argument has devolved, pun intended, into the idea that the human and all life on Earth has been somehow immune to this clearly universal law by the intervention of a higher being. To that I say, what happened to the science? Using a religiously charged argument in the field of science has little contribution since their is no empirical data for its consideration.

To the Christians reading this, and I'm guessing you are all mostly Christian if you spend your time on sites like these, I say if you are going to question everything, question your own beliefs in your religion; for they are based much more loosely on empirical data than the LAW OF EVOLUTION.

Even if it is 'possible' that evolution can happen it is so statistically unlikely and would take so much time for people to come from nothing. Eventually the evolutionists are going to push the dates back further and further until the point where even carbon dating wouldn't agree with them. Even if evolution in the sense that living things can produce new traits is true, this does not at all disprove christianity. Nor does it prove that microbe to man can happen because the millions of years are purely made up fairy-tales. I think it is more important than to disprove evolution but rather to disprove the dates, based on evidence. Then microbe to man will be dealt with accordingly.

You know, what you are doing it is good and useful, but I bet that even after evolution gets officially rejected by the whole scientific community (because it is already rejected unofficially by any real scientist), atheists will say that darwinian-evolved aliens made humans. So don't even try to persuade atheists. Do whatever you do for the people who like the concept of the Christian God - because that's what's all about...

As a christian I know that in the final days of creation people will make up stories to make them feel better. So, if atheists care more for what they feel and less for the truth, I'm not gonna spoil it for them. I just want the evolution theory to be treated for what it is, together with all other kind of magic/vudu/garbage that now is served to people through mass media and education as established knowledge.

As a long term follower of the Question Evolution Campaign it has only occurred to me recently why very few scientists, qualified or otherwise, are prepared to take anything you have to say seriously:

Your agenda is mindlessly obvious.

As your name is Creation Ministries International I can only assume that, from an early age you have been indoctrinated so as to live your life revolving around biblical teachings, creation theory included.

I am of no doubt that this has coloured your view of evolution, it being totally perpendicular to your belief system, it's not your fault. However you must surely be able to see that this is responsible for the utter corruption of the purpose of your campaign.

I would consider that you would receive a far better reaction from the scientific community if you were to distance yourself from the God rigmarole, this would after-all simply turn you into another peer review system.

If the minds behind the Question Evolution Campaign want to play in the same league as the scientific establishment then, unfortunately for you, you have to play by the rules of science. To that end I have a challenge for you: I require you to submit the answers to your 15 questions, and in doing so prove that your hypothesis is more valid than the currently held theory of evolution. This is important as the implication of the "unanswerable" questions is that your theory is superior as it can answer them.

If you yourselves are unable to answer these questions then surely you must concede there irrelevance in deciding which is the better of the two options.

We are waiting.

I appreciate your answers; thanks.

From the link you provided about the creation stories; and the conclusion of said article:

"All remaining worldviews also collapse eventually under close inspection due to inconsistency scientifically, historically and/or morally. Only Christianity provides a person with the knowledge of the past, present and future, makes sense of the design and beauty in the world and answers life’s dilemma’s like the problem of evil.

Most importantly it offers the only solution to the grim reality each of us must face; the problem of our sin and guilt before our Creator. The creation account (including the fall of man) in Genesis explains every person’s greatest need, the need for the only saviour of mankind, Jesus Christ."

And that is the thing, many cultures deal with the problem of evil differently; for some of them God(s) is not necessarily omnibenevolent; so evil exist; as simple as that.

The problem of our sin, a guilt and the necessity of a savior is part of the Jewish creation story (Genesis) so using those problems as the basic premise for your conclusion is a logical fallacy called “petitio principii” or circular reasoning.

The “Creation Stories” article touches some good points about the common background in many of the creation stories but the problem of our sin, guilt and necessity of a savior is almost unique if not absolutely unique to the Jewish creation story; latter adopted by the Christians.

My answer to my question, even if it´s the same as yours; comes more easily; for me the creation story that stands out is Genesis. Why? Because I believe so.

Many believers feel the need to justify why they believe in what they do; in they efforts to do so they tend to mix things as earthly as science with what should be solely spiritual.

I think that is the basic definition of Faith; to believe in something without proof or even more, without the need of proof.

Actually that was neither my question nor my intended message; I´m asking which creation theory is the correct one and why does that creation theory has more merit than the others

I have just a question of my own...

which creation "theory" or "myth" of whatever is better to call it is the right one?

Every culture has one so which one is the correct and why?

Mayans? Aztects? Vikings? Greeks? Sumerians? Jews (include Christians in these since it´s the same one)?

I love the idea of questioning everything. For what its worth, I find many of the questions disingenuous. Example, Q1 asks about the origination of life, that's not an evolutionary question. Same with 2, evolution explains the diversity and volume of life, not its origination.

I like the point, question everything but your questions are leading at best and just dishonest at worse

Some great questions put forward there. Personally I haven't got enough faith to be an atheist. There are way too many imponderables in evolutionary theory that so many changes are required and to happen simultaneously to a male and a female.

The cruncher for me though is question 11. Emotions and feelings, what makes me me. There are a whole pile of emotions and feelings that I experience. Where did they come from? Are we not sentient beings? Where did this come from?

Incidentally I find it really funny when people call the Bible a book of fairy stories but it's the evolutionary text books that begin with 'Millions of years ago....'

Keepup the good work.

All right, you make some extremely valid points against the existence of Evolution, at least on the proposed large scale. But even if we overthrow that model of explaiing life, there isn't any compelling evidence to suggest that history happened exactly as the bible has written it. For instance, there are several logical and ancestral flaws, but I'd assume you've already heard of these thousands of times. My point, however, is that just because evolution is untrue, doesn't mean you're right.

We need to question gravity, too. It's only a theory! Things look like they fall because the earth's tiny invisible arms grab them and pull them in to cuddle. How do physicists know that the earth doesn't have tiny arms?

Why do creationists/IDers insist on debating with laymen? They make all these claims about the ToE being unscientific and Creationism being scientific, etc... And yet they stay well clear of actual academic circles. If they had any confidence in the "science" of their claims, they wouldn't spend their time trying to convince scientific illiterates.

Perhaps the best way to get your message across is to actual put it through the scientific method (without sneaking it through peer review!) Disprove evolution via experimentation. Then maybe we'll take you seriously.

Why on earth would you devote such time and effort to promoting theories that have long been disproved, and to anyone with any kind of logical thought process simply don't make sense?

i am an atheist i believe in evolution but i do wish i could believe in christ but i dont but for people out there who do maybe you could consider that god started evolution and the 7 days is in gods eyes that could mean billions of years im only 14 but this seems to me like it would fit both sides of the debate and it seems completely plausible to me

I believe in evolution and the Christian faith.

There is no conflict between the two.

Why the insistance that they do conflict?

Life evolved from primordial elements formed on the early Earth billions of years ago by chance (or rather, by divine providence).

Genesis affirms the truth that God is behind this, and tells us in a non-literal way (though still more than true) how mankind has chosen the disobey God and walk his own path.

Why is there the need to put the two truths at odds?

There are a couple of points I would like to make:

1) It seems to me that judging by the picture of Darwin crossed out in a 'no circle', you want people to dismiss it entirely, not examine it. I can evidence this by the use of a no circle instead of a question mark. Have you people forgotten your own teachings, that your god burns deceivers? At least be honest and tell people your true intentions.

2) Most of those 15 questions have already been answered and you know it. If some of them haven't, at least scientists are now converging upon truthful answers. However, I do agree, that people should question evolution, that is why the scientific method demands that theories remain open to scrutiny. Scientists have been questioning the scientific theory of evolution for 150 years, but they only seem to arrive at the same conclusion, that life has been and still is evolving.

3) It seems to me very interesting indeed, that creationists like yourselves whilst sporting a smirk, continually associate evolution with atheism.

*Evolution- descent with modification

*Atheism- lack of belief in god or gods.

The two do NOT go hand in hand. There are many persons whom embrace beliefs in a particular God, but also believe evolution is a valid scientific theory.

4) Most creationists asking people whom believe evolution to be true, will not know or understand the answers to the questions themselves. Besides, even if something is unanswerable

at the time of asking, the vacuum should not be filled with the unscientific nonsense that is creationism. (refer to Kitzmiller v Dover trial ruling creationism or Intelligent design 'not science').

I am not going to continue too much. I understand that attempting to break the barriers of deliberate ignorance and dishonesty is near impossible. I just want to let you know

that reason will triumph, your cause is a joke and will ultimately fail.

Kind Regards

Ok for one, evolution is not concerned with the origin of life, but the diversity of it. Typical creationist know-nothing propaganda and lies...

This is a very impressive campaign, I have looked on your campaign blog and it looks as though it is going places. Should the next step be linking this campaign with all church organisations like Affinity or the Free Presbytarian church and set up a missionary group to go around delivering these leaflets? Keep up the great work and they will convert to Jesus and to God.

Hey, you can put a QR code on a t shirt that links to the 15 questions, or whatever you want. People snap the QR code with the reader on their phone and it takes them straight to the site. QR codes are just starting to get popular now so people are trying them out just for fun.

Debate is healthy. However I confess that sometimes I just feel like saying to those who refuse the Creator, go your own way then because you WILL believe on that day when you stand before your maker. But then I see the picture of that, so arrogant before, now a wretched damned soul in fear and trembling before Almighty God and I feel real pity. I know I must keep giving the gospel message of salvation through Christ. We must keep on keeping on.

Bless you for your efforts. Some will come to Christ, be sure of that.

Edmund

Hello CMI. I thank you for launching this campaign. Because of you, I have been able to render Evolutionists absolutely silent. I have, however, recieved one answer to question 7 that I'm rather struggling with, and I can't find any relevant answers in the search box (at least not with the keywords or terms I use).

I was sent this article [about 'evolution' of multicellularity in yeast]. Basically they put single celled yeast in a flask and shook it every now and again. After 60 days, it "evolved" into a multi-cellular organism. Would you like to work your usual magic and help me out?

I am a lecturer in the Physics department of … University. Last year I put a few copies of the Creation magazine in our tearoom. The next day I found it lying in the rubbish bin! I removed it, dusted it off and put it on the table again. The next day it was in the rubbish bin again!

I dusted it off, and put it on the table, etc …

This happened three days in a row!

Then I got a better idea. Every week I paste copies of the articles in Creation mag on my door, and since my office is next to the tea room, everyone who goes there has to walk past the office door! Now everyone will get to see the articles whether they want to or not! Since it is on my door, no one (so far) has dared to remove it! Thanks so much for this list of 15 questions. It will be on my door very soon! God bless!

I would like to see a coordinated “Question Evolution Day”. People would have their T-shirts, leaflets and whatever else. Using the high-resolution artwork available on the site, we can go to Vista Print, Wal-Mart or other places to get really creative and be even more visible.

But people would definitely need to read up on the expected arguments and learn some tactics on how to present/defend the gospel before that day.

You guys are great!!! What a wonderful idea. Keep up the good work!

One of your supporters, Andrew …, referred me to this site.

Dr Don Batten [DB] responds: Actually, you have been to this site (http://creation.com) before. You commented on the atheism article, which you were not impressed with.

While I wait for the T-shirt he has promised me, I looked at the 15 questions. Most are good questions. But will your readers be prepared to listen to the answers?

[DB]: We can’t answer for our readers, but I guess this is a rhetorical question.

There is a big difference between firstly a genuine question from a person who will honestly consider the answer, however long it turns out to be and whereever it takes them AND secondly a rhetorical distraction thrown into a debate or interview which cannot be answered in the time.

[DB]: Actually, questions are a good way of exposing a matter to scrutiny, as you, as a barrister, would appreciate. I’m sure when you ask questions of witnesses that you are using those questions to open up the subject to the judge or jury in a way that shows the fallaciousness or truth of the matter, depending on the case in question and whose side you are on. The issue of whether your questions are ‘genuine’ or not (that you are personally interested in the answers) is actually not that relevant.

The questions regarding evolution deal with major things that evolution is supposed to explain, if it is the all-encompassing explanation of everything that it is so ubiquitously proclaimed to be. Asking those questions provides an opportunity to see if evolution really does provide answers to these big questions, or whether we have had the ‘smoke and mirrors’ treatment.

It will be very good for CMI supporters to ask these questions with an honest heart and mind. I see nothing new in these questions.

[DB]: I agree that there is nothing new in the questions, but I think it is of value to have such questions placed together, which helps provide an overview of the problem of the materialistic origin of everything (that Evolution provides reasonable answers to very little that matters).

If put genuinely, even I could answer them, and I am not a scientist.

[DB]: You might be interested to see, then, some of the genuine attempts to answer them that we have published, along with our responses, which show that the answers so far are grossly inadequate (and we selected the best; there is no point in dealing with straw-man arguments, which would only set our supporters up for a fall). You might like to compare these published answers with what you think the answers should have been from your perspective. See the links to the three articles that have been added to Question evolution! under Related articles below.

Perhaps you can think of better answers?

Meawnhile I have my own genuine question: We can see that your criticisms of evolution are made because the Bible account is different. We are told how that came from Moses. When he gave his version, why should people have believed him?

[DB]: This is a good question, which gets to the heart of the matter, which is at the core of epistemology. These articles cover the issue of the Bible’s authority in general, complementing one another:

Using the Bible to prove the Bible? (Using the Bible to prove the Bible? Are biblical creationists guilty of circular reasoning?) The authority of Scripture.

Regarding Moses in particular, there were times when people did not believe him, as the record shows, but it also indicates that God then vindicated Moses before the people, establishing his authority as one who spoke with God. This is the essence of revelation, which of course no materialist would accept. As the last-cited article also indicates, the authority of what Moses recorded is underlined by Jesus’ authentication of it.

PS you may publish my whole name and add ‘Barrister, Sydney’ if you wish.

Congratulations to CMI for promoting such an excellent initiative. All Christians should get involved in some way as the reliability of Genesis is foundational to our common faith

We have received a lot of unpublishable comments from very angry atheists, which only goes to underline the truth of the last question! We are compiling articles with some of the efforts to answer the questions, with our responses. These will be posted on the front page of CREATION.com in due course.

I am truly enjoying the read I do here weekly, I love the articles and more so this one on the Evolution question. I have printed off the 15 questions about evolution and will be using them soon. I will continue to pass on the good words.

This is a great idea! I have had two car door magnets produced at Vistaprint and placed on each of my two front doors with your logo “Question Evolution” and website. needless to say we have been getting some strange looks!

Having read over the questions and their subtitles, I have to say that this entire campaign is a big step up from prior ones in its goals and executions. You chose very good questions to ask, and many of them don’t have definite explanations yet.

In my view, asking questions is almost always a good thing, universally, and I think that by asking the questions you have, that it will spur more people to gain an interest in interesting scientific topics. I mean, when I saw the question on sexual reproduction, I immediately began reading up on the topic. It’s interesting what some of the current hypothesis are, but unfortunate that the issue cannot be tested definitively. Even if the evolution of a sexually reproducing eukaryote occurred in a laboratory, there is no guarantee that method of natural selection for sexual reproduction is the method that occurred in the past, all it would prove is that the concept is possible.

Still, this is a very interesting campaign that appears to be a well executed critique of modern understanding of certain evolutionary concepts. I’d like the campaign a lot better though if you avoided terms like pseudoscience when referring to evolution. I’m not going to ask you to call it science, as I understand that you do not agree with that, but it is just a bit rude to say something so dismissive of your opposition. It’s similarly rude to say that you are empowering people to visit your particular website and find out the "truth", followed by "rejecting the lie that everything made itself without god". Frankly, the movement would be a lot better balanced if you avoided purporting a specific explanation (ie. creationism) as the truth opposite to evolution, and instead kept it as a pure critique of evolutionary theory that did not have an agenda to promote the explanation you prefer. Rather you should encourage people to find an explanation, any explanation, that adequately fits the evidence presented, rather than your specific explanation, otherwise you risk appearing biased, and alienating people that might otherwise find your cause worthwhile.

Also, please be careful with the comments you censor. I think you are right to silence people who are being disruptive and acting in anger, because behavior like that isn’t really acceptable, but the fact that you are censoring people at all leads me to expect that you are throwing out all people of an opposing viewpoint. I apologize if this is not the case, it’s just a general trend in internet forum censorship that I have noticed.

All in all, I really love the aim and content of this movement, but I’m kind of put off by the occasional mudslinging. If you kept this to a minimum, then maybe you would garner more favorable response from the people you are trying to convince.

Thank you very much for providing me with these interesting thought provoking questions, please have a nice day.

I agree that pejorative terms, even if they are not intended to be pejorative, are more of a hindrance to these thoughtful questions than they are a help. The questions themselves ought to be enough of a challenge to evolutionary science without needing to taunt.

I am not sure I agree that it ought to be kept purely as a critique of evolution without any offer of an alternative explanation. I can agree that it may be rude to say that we have the truth and our opponents the lie, however, I do not believe it is arrogant to present evidence to support a theory that we believe to be true and that we believe answers these 15 questions. Similarly, I am confident that the fine scientists in the creationist camp would be happy to accept a challenge of 15 questions that evolutionists believe unanswerable by our theory.

Very Good

I will join this campaign

This is a grand movement and I’m glad it has begun. Our youth are indoctrinated very early to believe every word spoken about evolution without questioning. Creation Science has so much to offer and new discoveries are being made almost every day in this exciting new field of science.

God bless you in this campaign.

Dinosaurs became Chickens? Wolves turn into Whales? Lemurs became monkeys?

They cannot be talking seriously …

Love the questions—game changers

I am 74 years old and have been a creationist Christian for a many years having read many of the late Dr. Henry Morris’ materials. Now connected with CMI, I have your ‘Question Evolution’ bumper sticker on the back of my power wheel-chair. Surprisingly, I haven’t had many comments in the year or so its been there but I don’t get out very much because I have Multiple Sclerosis, that may be the reason.

Great program—keep up the good work—terrific website! Christ is being magnified.

I am a part time Student at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. Although I am not studying biology (or any other science topic) I am interested in the evo/creationism debate as a Christian.

I wondered what would happen if i placed these questions on the pin-board outside the biology rooms. On the first few days it went up it had gone again by the time I had finished my morning lectures (only about 1 hour after posting) then, on I think the fifth day, someone had scrawled “Creationsism is … (insert cuss word) …”.

Are people really this afraid of the truth? Keep up the good work!

I live in South London and was shown these 15 questions by a friend who makes a lot of youtube creation videos. After watching some of his videos I thought I would use the material to witness for Christ on the streets (which I often do). I am usually ignored by the rank and file although I occasionally get kind words from other blessed travelers who have found Christ. In particular is a kind gentleman whom I see most mornings and will often stop and chat with me.

I copy and pasted the 15 questions onto a document and fashioned it into a pamphlet myself and went to witness as I usually do. Feeling empowered by these questions I proclaimed Gods love to all and sundry but those who took my pamphlet (usually politely throwing in the bin around the corner)—can’t save everyone!) were far more hostile to the fact I was promoting evolution as a falsehood!

I had one woman who decided to make it her duty to tell me off in the street. She was quite rude and I felt very threatened as she knocked my pamphlets on to the ground (I am only 16 years old!). When I was stooped to pick them up the kindly gentlemen I spoke off earlier came past and was helping me until he noticed the subject. He suggested that it was MY fault! He said that evolution is a known fact and no one wants to hear different.

I was gobsmacked! It has only strengthened my resolve and I will not stop.

Thank you CMI!

Thanks for sharing your experience with us and encouraging us. Much appreciated!

I believe in only one thing. Evoltion. Nothing else was possible.

Resubmited as my spellchecker made some serious damage to the earlier one.

Hello, I am a little sceptical that you will print this, but we shall see.

I wonder when you go out with your 15 questions, will you stop once you have met anyone who can give you a reasonable answer? Obviously not everyone is going to have the knowledge to answer the specifics, but if you meet a Biologist for instance who can clearly explain the current state of scientific knowledge will you stop? If you don’t stop will you at least inform the next person without knowledge of the evidence you have been presented with?

Personaly as an Atheist I would rather you did not go around bothering me on the street or in my home, (I am only here because of a link in a debate about removing Religiousus indoctrination from schools) I think it would be far better if you realised that your thoughts are private ones and should not be forced on others. You believe in god, I don’t believe in your god or anyon else’s and I have no interest in "learning" about them beyond an interest in cultural varietyty.

You may quite rightly wonder why I am taking time to post this, It is simply that at the moment we are embroiled in a debate on removing the prayer indoctrination from our child’s school, if just a few of you could recognise the rights of others to a reasonable secular environmentent, we could all move on and end these sometimes bitter quarrels. You have your views, apply them to your own work and lives and leave others alone

Thank you

P.s I would rather not have my name published as it is very rare in my country and i don’t want any more christians at my door!

A couple of comments from Don Batten:

We have already published the best answers so far provided to the questions. See the three-part “Responses to our 15 questions” under Related articles below.

Part of the price of living in a free society is that you can be bothered by other people sharing their views, just as atheists and others can ‘bother’ me with their views (which they do). I don’t mind, as that is a wonderful thing to live in such a free society where that is possible; something I celebrate. Perhaps you would rather live in a country where the state mandates atheism (such states killed 170 million people last century).

As time seems the main thing that ‘creates’ evolution. Got time to question it?

How can random mistakes create such beauty and order with all its astounding perfect complexity? I gave up on evolution a long time ago—it has no answers and creates big questions that need better, more logical answers, instead of faith based claims. Atheists love it because it offers them “The way, the truth and the light.” Sound familiar?

Don Batten comments: It certainly takes a lot of ‘faith’ to be an atheist, to believe that everything came from nothing with no cause (see Who created God? and Evolution preposterous). However, everyone has ‘faith based claims’; it is really a question of which ones are most reasonable. Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem effectively shows that ‘faith’ (unprovable assumptions) are unavoidable (see: Does logic need faith?)

I find it very sad that the admins on this site deem it necessary to censor the comments. As this comment will likely never see the light of day, I hope that whomever is editing this website feels ashamed of themselves. This entire movement is intellectually dishonest and strives to corrupt the minds of those who do not necessarily have a good understanding of science and scientific theory. Creationism is an archaic idea (and I’m sure you shall tag that comment as blasphemy-a victimless crime, by the way-and thus elect not to post this)and has been discarded by science on the basis of several principles. Don’t like evolution? Fine. Cosmology and radiocarbon dating dispense with the baffling notion that the Earth is 6000 years old on their own.

Nylonase. I win.

Thank you for taking the time to put together those “15 questions”. Even if you’re not giving the pamphlet to someone, they highlight many important questions and enable me to see topics that I should read up on, and learn more about.

As for some of the other users commenting, I am disappointed that there has been little, or no "rebuttal". All there has been thusfar is what I hear on a daily basis when I voice my disbelief: “Evolution is a closed case as proven as gravity” (insert either an ad hominine or straw man argument here).

Although I don’t believe in creationism or intelligent design I found this article very interesting. I would definitely agree that evolution should be questioned just like all scientific theories and should certainly shouldn’t be taught as dogma in any educational institution anywhere. However, I can’t help but think that you (and anyone who refuses to question evolution) has missed the point of the theory. It is exactly that: a theory. Whilst it cannot completely explain every facet of how we arrived at what we are today, it is an important step to a closer and detailed understanding of how our varied and beautiful world came to be. It is by no means perfect but, until we find out more, it is the best thing we have. Personally I have never seen a massive discrepancy between the story of creation and evolution in that the world is formed over a period of time (6 days); with each element being built on top of the other. The world doesn’t just instantly come into being fully formed. Then again, as someone who doesn’t believe in God, I’ve always read the bible as ancient man’s allegorical explanation of the world around him and not as ‘the word of god’. It shows how we have always been keenly intelligent and observant of the world around us; and how we have always had the compulsion to ask ‘why?’. This is what makes us human.
I hope this comment gets posted somewhere where people can read it. More to show that not all atheists (a label I wear reluctantly) are not religion bashing, close-minded fools. I’d welcome anyone’s response to my opinions because debate and discussion are important. Its when we start blindly believing in anything that we are truly lost.