Posted by Liberal Elder [TheLiberalElder] on November 28, 1999 at 10:51:44 {hcnmikA.Fk3RTTYCED4sw1IXqCKa5s}:
In Reply to: Examples of Speciation posted by J.H. on November 28, 1999 at 09:34:45:
Please bear with me while I play the devil's advocate for a minute.
In your analogy of continental drift is there not an assumption that whatever force is presently
responsible for 1cm of annual continental drift
has been present for each year of the last one
billion years so as to produce a shift of 10,000
kilometers?
From my perspective these analogy does not seem
particulary useful for the following reasons:
1. It would first be necessary to demonstrate that
the conditions that are cuurently exerting these
forces were present over each of the last one billion years.
2. It would be important to know that counter forces in fact have not exerted themselves in the past.
It may well be that geology has already sufficiently answered these issues, I really don't know.
When it comes to applying this kind of analogy to
living organisms, I can see some other problems as well. There is nothing particulary stable or
one directional about conditions on the earth. They appear to be in a perpetual state of change.
The kinds of environmental change that may have prompted a species to adapt at one point in time
seldom remain constant as in your analogy of continental drift over the course of one billion years.
If your hope it to persuade open minded liberal
Christians to seriously consider your position,
I think that you will have to come up with something better than this.
Best regards,
LE
P.S. Your examples of speciation are very interesting and thought provoking. I would think
that any open minded individual would have to
concede that biological organisms have demonstrated the ability to change, perhaps even into new species or sub-species if your examples are in fact true and can be substantiated. This does not, however, prove that living things come
from non-living material. That is a much greater
leap and one that I would require very conclusive
evidence to accept.