Fossils Contradict Evolution
Tammy Duncan's Persuasive Speech
Question of Fact: Topical
Title: Fossils Contradict Evolution
General Purpose: To persuade
Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that the fossil
evidence commonly used to support evolution
does not support it.
Thesis: The fossil record, and discoveries of fossils of
transitional forms, that were once cosidered as
evidence for evolution, do not support the theory.
Rehersal Time: 7 Minutes, 48 seconds
I. Introduction
A. Good morning.
B. Imagine this, you are in a class asnd the instructor
is disucssing an important and controversial issue.
1. How would you feel if the instructor only presents
one side of the issue and you are not allowed to
hear the case against the issue?
a. If you were in a court of law and the same thing
happened, where only one side of the case was
allowed to be heard, would you call it a fair
trial? Of course not.
2. The issue I will discuss today, many people believe
there is only one valid and scientific side to the
issue, but most people don't know there are two sides
to this issue.
3. What is this issue? The issue is evolution and most
people are not aware that much of the debate is not
evolution verses religion, but the theory of evolution
verses scientific evidence.
1. Acording to Phillip E. Johnson, a Berkely law
professor who wrote the book Darwin On Trial,
the mose threatening adversaries to Darwin's theory
of evolution, in his day, were not members of
clergy, but fossil experts (Johnson, 45).
C. The fossil record, and discoveries of fossils of
transitional forms, that were once considered as evidence
for evolution, do not support the theory.
[Now, let's examine the fossil record]
II. Evolutionists have often referred to the fossil record
as the biggest evidence for their theory, but the record
is the biggest case against evolution.
A. The biggest problem with the fossil record is the many
gaps in the fossil record.
1. These gaps exist in the most important places in
the fossil record, where, according to the theory
of evolution, the transitional forms, or intermediate
species should be.
a. Charles Dawin asked in his own book, The Origin
of Species, "Innumberable transitional forms must
have existed, why do we not find them embedded
in countless numbers in the crust of the earth?"
(Darwin, 168)
2. Dr. Henry M. Morris, a former Virginia Tech professor,
mentions in his book, The Troubled Waters of
Evolution, that if evolution is true, the evidence
should be in the fossil record and there should be
a good sample of these transitional species in the
record (Morris, 89)
3. Dr. Morris also points out in his book that fossils
are never found with half of a characteristic of
one species and half of another, such as half of
a wing.
a. He points out that there should be plenty of them
in the fossil record if evolution is true.
(Morris, 91-92)
B. Another problem with the fossil record is the sudden
appearance of new species.
1. In the article "Evolution's Erratic Pace," in the
May 1977 issue of Natural History, Stephen J. Gould
notes that fossils in any local area show sudden
appearances of species, not slow changes.
(Gould, 14)
2. Morris also mentions this in his book by quoting
Paul Moody, who basically said the same thing and
also mentions that transitional species are rare
to find. (Morris, 90)
C. Evolutionists do admit that the fossil record is very
flawed.
1. In the textbook, Biology: Discovering Life, by Levine
and Miller, which is used at this college, they admit
that Darwin had an explanation for the imperfect
fossil record.
a. They said that Darwin suggests that organisms
needed special conditions in order to fossilize.
They had to be buried and fossilized before they
could be destroyed or decomposed. (Levine, 167)
2. This is a good explanation, but think about it.
a. Even with the millions of fossils found, there
should be more than just a few transitional
species.
b. If evolution is true, the gaps in the fossil record
should be small and randomly spread throughout
the record, not big gaps between species.
[Now that we've seen problems with the fossil record, let's
look at the transitional forms.]
III. Another problem with the fossil record is fossils of
transitional forms are being dismissed.
A. Some of the transitional forms that are being dismissed
are the links between fish and amphibians and the links
between amphibians and reptiles.
1. For example, the coelacanth is considered to be a
close relative to a group of fish that are the link
between fish and amphibians.
a. Phillip E. Johnson, in his book Darwin on Trial
mentions the fish was considered to be extinct
for 70 million years until one was caught alive
in the ocean.
b. When the fish was dissected, it organs did not
give any clues on how a fish could evolve into
an amphibian. (Johnson, 74-75)
c. Johnson suggests that if its close relative could
be alive and examined today, it could probably
disappoint evolutionists also. (Johnson, 75)
2. And speaking of amphibians, there is no adequate
link between amphibians and reptiles.
a. Johnson notes that there are a group of amphibians
called Seymouria, that were considered links
between amphibians and reptiles, but they appear
too late in the fossil record and evidence now
suggests that Seymouria amphibians are really
amphibians. (Johnson, 75)
i. Geologist might arbue that it's no concern
that fossils are in the wrong order because
events like earthquakes can cause older
layers to move on top of younger layers.
ii. Since this is the case, why are they using
the fossil record anyway?
B. The last group of transitional species that I would
like to mention are the hominids, or what people refer
to as the links between ape and man.
1. Doug LaPointe, in his article called "Top Evidences
Against the Theory of Evolution," on the Creation
Science Internet site, mentions that many of these
hominid finds were based on small pieces of evidence,
such as one bone and some discoveries have turned
out to be from other animals, such as a pig, or from
a hoax. (LaPointe, Evidence #4)
a. One example of a hoaz is the Piltdown Man, where
someone placed an ape's jaw with a human skull
and fooled paleontologist for 45 years. (LaPointe,
Evidence #4)
2. LaPointe also notes that skulls of humans can vary
and casn be affected by diseases.
a. One example he gives is the Neanderthal Man, who
was considered a link between humans and apes
until medical experts found out he was a modern
person with a skull deformed by arthritis.
(LaPointe, Evidence #6)
b. Another example is the Homo Erectus, who was
considered a link between humans and apes because
the skull seemed too small for a person, but is
almost the same size as a European's. (LaPointe,
Evidence #6)
[Now that I have mentioned these evidences against evolution,
I will give you this handout at the end of this speech, the
article "Top Evidences Against the Theory of Evolution."]
VI. Conclusion
A. In closing, remember the fossil problems with evolution:
1. Remember the problems with the fossil record.
2. Remember that fossils that were considered
transitional forms are now being dismissed with more
information.
B. As one can see, the fossil record, and discoveries of
fossils of transitiona forms, that were once considered
as evidence for evolution, do not support the theory.
C. In the words of an article called "Darwin Was Wrong"
on the Interactive Bible internet site, "If a fair maiden
kisses a frog which instantly changes into a handsome
prince, we would call it a fairy tale. But if the frog
takes 40 million years to turn into a prince, we call
it evolution. Time is the evolutionist's magic wand."
D. Thank you!
SOURCES CONSULTED
"Darwin Was Wrong" The Interactive Bible. http:www.bible.ca/C-
Darwin-Wrong.html (18 Oct. 1996)
Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species. First Collier Books
ed. New York: Crowell-Collier Publishing Co., 1962. 168.
Gould, Stephen J. "Evolution's Erratic Pace," Natural History.
May 1977, pp. 12-16.
Johnson, Phillip E. Darwin on Trial. Washington, DC: Regnery
Gateway, 1991.
LaPointe, Doug. "Top Evidences Against the Theory of Evolution,"
Creation Science. http://emporium.turnpike.net/C/cs/top.html
Levine, Joseph S. and Kenneth R. Miller. Biology: Discovering
Life. 2nd ed. Lexington, MA: Heath, 1994.
Morris, Henry M., Ph.D. The Troubled Waters of Evolution. San
Diego, CA: Creation-Life Publishers, 1974.
NOTE:
This speech was orginially written with the titles of the sources
underlined. Because this speech is saved and available to you
as only a text file, all underlining is omited.
This page was created on 4/7/2004. It replaced the text file created 3/21/99.
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