Evolution itself is an observable fact – artificial selection, microbial mutation causing resistance to antibiotics, the ongoing development of ‘ring’ species such as the herring/lesser black-backed gull complex.

Please use all the available information/evidence to come to a conclusion. I read the bible when I was young and, because of peer pressure, believed for a short while. Then I grew up and realised that there was no evidence to support anything the bible says. I also found out that Santa was a myth too.

Time to grow up people.

Also, evolution is not just “random alterations”. You seem to have forgotten about natural selection. Or were you ignorant of it?
No, I was just being an ass.

Not JUST a theory. TRIUMPHANTLY a theory. Theories are what make science useful!
So just triumphantly a theory — so what? My point still stands scientifically.

No, you are getting it wrong again. The whole REASON science exists is that we don’t know stuff. Science is about figuring it out!

To be a good scientist, you must be able to admit that we don’t know, and be curious enough to try to figure it out instead of resorting to “God did it”.

Yet there are still flawed people who are bad scientists.

You are getting it wrong AGAIN!

When a scientist doesn’t have enough information he DOES admit that! And he keeps looking for information. THIS IS HOW SCIENCE WORKS!

Then why does science sometimes tend to not follow their own rules of positivism? Because sometimes scientists become desperate.

They tried implementing ID in my kids school district. I wouldn’t really have a problem teaching ID in public schools, except it belongs in a World Religion or Philosophy class setting and not a science class. Any “science”
that has to rely on a supernatural agent (god) to explain things is by definition NOT a science.

And this silly notion flying around that religion is the solitary source of ethics and morality. That an atheist is somehow less moral than a religious person, total nonsense.
Morality in children has been observed well before any possible understanding of religious dogma.

I think the atheist point of view that religion is hurting the human species as a whole may have merit. Kind of scary to have such a massive population of people living their lives with the total delusion that there is an invisible wizard in the sky.

Oh, BTW, it is arrogant as hell to think that “he/she is smart so they must think my way.” Obviously there is no intelligence involved in the realm of faith and religion.

# Piltdown man
# Java man
# Nebraska man

Wait a minute… You are saying that these hoaxes that WERE EXPOSED BY SCIENTISTS are somehow relevant to the discussion?

The only thing you prove by posting these is that you are desperate to smear science, and you are not realizing that IT WAS SCIENTISTS WHO EXPOSED THESE HOAXES I THE FIRST PLACE, and of course.

NO SCIENTIST TODAY CLAIM THESE TO BE EVIDENCE OF EVOLUTION, seeing as they were exposed as hoaxes and all.

# So here is proof that evolution does not exist as fact
# and only as theory

Your “proof” is a bunch of things that were exposed by scientists as hoaxes? Nice one.

As for “only a theory”, read this:

http://www.notjustatheory.com/

“In science, a theory is not a guess, not a hunch. It’s a well-substantiated, well-supported, well-documented explanation for our observations. It ties together all the facts about something, providing an explanation that fits all the observations and can be used to make predictions. In science, theory is the ultimate goal, the explanation. It’s as close to proven as anything in science can be.”

# In California in 1978 they dug a mine in the northern
# part of the state, and at UCLA they have the results.
# They dug down a good mile into the earth and came upon a
# chamber that had HUMAN remains in it. The only problem
# was that the chamber had only one way in and that was the
# way they came through seemless rock and the dating on the
# rocks showed to be over 2 million years old..so who where
# these people?

I don’t know. Do you? I have heard about similar stories from creationists before. In every single case I was able to identify, the creationist (i.e. YOU) was lying.

Scientists had indeed explained the “problem”. The creationist just left that part out.

If you can give me more info on this cave, I can try to look it up for you, in case you are honestly looking to educate yourself.

# why has no animal in recorded history evolved into
# something else.. they just go extinct, they don’t
# miraculously mutate to adapt to changing environments.

I’m afraid you are mistaken. There are many observed examples of speciation. For example, scientists observed a group of moths near a city. As pollution increased, trees became darker. The until then bright moths gradually changed to a darker color because the lighter ones were easier prey for birds.

So yes, they did indeed adapt because of mutation and natural selection (birds picking off lighter moths).

It seems that you need to educate yourself a bit!

# science answers questions about how things work and what
# things are through the assumption-centered hypothesis
# which teaches that an unobservable principle is
# responsible for speciation and order through random
# alterations

This is incorrect. A hypothesis is merely the first step towards becoming a theory (the ultimate goal of science). Evolution is a full-fledged scientific theory based on actual observations:

http://www.notjustatheory.com/

“In everyday use, theory means a guess or a hunch, something that maybe needs proof. In science, a theory is not a guess, not a hunch. It’s a well-substantiated, well-supported, well-documented explanation for our observations. It ties together all the facts about something, providing an explanation that fits all the observations and can be used to make predictions. In science, theory is the ultimate goal, the explanation. It’s as close to proven as anything in science can be.”

Also, evolution is not just “random alterations”. You seem to have forgotten about natural selection. Or were you ignorant of it?

# but in the end, it’ll be just a theory.

Not JUST a theory. TRIUMPHANTLY a theory. Theories are what make science useful!

# We often fail to acknowledge that there are forces at
# work beyond our understanding so to be a good scientist,
# we must have a respectful awe for the laws of nature.

No, you are getting it wrong again. The whole REASON science exists is that we don’t know stuff. Science is about figuring it out!

If we knew everything, science would not exist.

To be a good scientist, you must be able to admit that we don’t know, and be curious enough to try to figure it out instead of resorting to “God did it”.

# Science, like government, has to learn what it’s good at
# and what it’s bad at. When it doesn’t have a good enough
# edge — say, when a scientist doesn’t have nearly enough
# information — it should just admit that it doesn’t have
# a solution and move on.

You are getting it wrong AGAIN!

When a scientist doesn’t have enough information he DOES admit that! And he keeps looking for information. THIS IS HOW SCIENCE WORKS!

# Unless YOU are doing ALL the research, historical data
# points, carbon dating, dig sites, etc. (a truly
# impossible task for any one person), your opinion is
# based on nothing more than faith.

This is not correct.

Science has proven to consistently work. That means that it is entirely rational to accept scientific consensus.

Accepting scientific consensus is not “faith”. Accepting scientific consensus is a good thing to do because so far, scientific consensus has been shown to be very useful indeed.

# wow, such hatred for God, if u are an atheist let it be..
# but if u hate God then u are something else.. admit it.

Someone who doesn’t believe in God can’t hate God.

However, a lot of people hate dishonest propaganda pieces like Expelled, which try to force their religion on other people through lies and deception.

# he is Jewish.. why are you bringing up Jesus when the
# guy obviously doesn’t believe in Jesus..

Many jews believe in Jesus. They aren’t part of Judaism, but “JEW” is the description of a people as well as a religion. Ben Stein is obviously a christian.

# and Intelligent Design has just as much scientific
# evidence to back it up as evolution.

It does not. In fact, well known ID representative Paul Nelson actually admitted this:

“Easily the biggest challenge facing the ID community is to develop a full-fledged theory of biological design. We don’t have such a theory right now, and that’s a problem. Without a theory, it’s very hard to know where to direct your research focus.”

# Both evolution and the big bang theory are theories
# which means they have yet to be proven.

Your knowledge is lacking. First of all, science deals with evidence, not proof. Secondly, “just a theory” is a huge misunderstanding:

http://www.notjustatheory.com/

“In science, a theory is not a guess, not a hunch. It’s a well-substantiated, well-supported, well-documented explanation for our observations. It ties together all the facts about something, providing an explanation that fits all the observations and can be used to make predictions. In science, theory is the ultimate goal, the explanation. It’s as close to proven as anything in science can be.”

# Darwin himself said that his theories came straight out
# of a science fiction dream he had

He did not.

# and they are finding major flaws in all of his research.

Darwin was wrong about some things yes. But that was 150 years ago. Darwin is just about irrelevant these days. Science has progressed a lot since then.

# You could say we all evolved from micro organisms, but
# the real truth of the matter is that something created
# those micro organisms that were in tern created by the
# big bang.

Microorganisms were not created by the big bang. The first form of life arose long after the big bang. If you want to educate yourself, pick up a book on the subject, or check out sites like these:

http://www.exploringorigins.org/

# And by the way, since matter can not be created nor
# destroyed, then how did the matter that created the big
# bang come into existance?

Why are you assuming that it did?

We don’t know what happened before the Big Bang.

But how is this relevant to evolution?