Creationists love to call evolutionary theory a "fairy tale" almost as much as they love demonizing it as an atheist plot dreamed up by Darwin to deny God. Encapsulated in that little insult is all the scorn and derision that they can muster; evolution is false, evolution is a quaint little "just-so" story that doesn't make any sense at all and certainly doesn't have any support except that thought up by, in the creationist worldview, a host of conspiratorial pseudo-scientists who are misinterpreting what is in fact clear evidence of creationism. They use the "fairy-tale" insult to attack real science while defending their own fairy-tale, the literal reading of the first few chapters of Genesis. Ray Comfort has a book along this line, and I had a creationist recently tell me that science and reason were on the side of creationism while evolution is a "fairy-tale."
But evolution is no fairy tale, and creationists of all stripes need to learn to deal with this fact about the world. Evolution is real, evolution accounts for the diversity of life in a way the creationist explanations fail to do, and evolution is still happening all around us. It doesn't take faith to accept this; there is no "belief" in evolution. All one has to do is look around at the world, at the fossils, at the DNA of living organisms and at the animals and plants that now exist. What use has the whale for its hip bones and vestigial leg bones? Why should we see this if the whale was created in its present form just six thousand or so years ago? Why doesn't the panda have a proper thumb rather than an extension of its wrist-bone if evolution is false? If creationism is true, rather than a fairy tale, then what is its explanation for these facts about the world around us?
When creationists assert that evolution is a fairy tale, they truly must believe that evolution predicts that, as one creationist said, "a grain of wheat plus a starfish does not equal a dog", or that apes should be giving birth to fully human children. Both of those are clearly nonsense, and no one who accepts evolutionary theory thinks that is what should happen. They are silly caricatures of the complex and nuanced story of the evolution of new species. Over time, and generally very small changes in each generation, what was once one organism evolves into another. We can see this so clearly now in the fossil record where smaller dinosaurs gradually developed wings and feathers, finally taking flight. The transition from theropod dinosaurs to birds is just one of these transitions--one especially well-documented one in the fossil record is the transition from semi-aquatic mammals into whales. During the length of geologic time, the small changes from generation to generation add up to major changes. This is no fairy tale; this is based on evidence.
What about creationism? When creationists call evolution a "fairy tale", they must surely be looking in the mirror. To argue with a straight face that, while evolution is not only wrong but impossible, a literal reading of Genesis is perfectly logical is absurd. Their assertions are not based on evidence and are thus not science. There is no evidence that humans descended from just two people, and in fact there is good evidence that the initial population from which all humans are descended was much larger. There is no evidence that people ever lived to be several centuries old, much less that one such man of six hundred years built a boat for all the kinds of animals in the world. There is no evidence for a global Flood, and in fact good evidence that such an occurrence is an utter impossibility given that two animals (or seven, depending upon which verse you read) of a species is not enough to carry on. In fact, species with less than fifty individuals in a population are only a few generations away from extinction. Creationists by definition accept that at least one snake could talk and that a certain kind of fruit (identity unknown) can grant knowledge. That said, I ask you, who believes in a fairy tale?
This is meant in no way as a slap against believers; it is, however, a slap against the idea that Genesis should be read literally, against the idea that the Bible has something to say in regards to modern science. It shouldn't, and it doesn't. As the late Pope John Paul II said, echoing Galileo, the Bible tells you how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go. If believers should be insulted about anything, they should be insulted by the fact that people like Ken Ham and Ray Comfort claim to speak for them using such baseless and petty talking-points to attack and demean those who accept evolution as true.
In light of what we've uncovered about the world, in hundreds of years of exploration, experimentation and excavation, the idea that evolution is a "fairy tale" is utter rubbish, and it is an insult that no intelligent person should stoop to.
But evolution is no fairy tale, and creationists of all stripes need to learn to deal with this fact about the world. Evolution is real, evolution accounts for the diversity of life in a way the creationist explanations fail to do, and evolution is still happening all around us. It doesn't take faith to accept this; there is no "belief" in evolution. All one has to do is look around at the world, at the fossils, at the DNA of living organisms and at the animals and plants that now exist. What use has the whale for its hip bones and vestigial leg bones? Why should we see this if the whale was created in its present form just six thousand or so years ago? Why doesn't the panda have a proper thumb rather than an extension of its wrist-bone if evolution is false? If creationism is true, rather than a fairy tale, then what is its explanation for these facts about the world around us?
When creationists assert that evolution is a fairy tale, they truly must believe that evolution predicts that, as one creationist said, "a grain of wheat plus a starfish does not equal a dog", or that apes should be giving birth to fully human children. Both of those are clearly nonsense, and no one who accepts evolutionary theory thinks that is what should happen. They are silly caricatures of the complex and nuanced story of the evolution of new species. Over time, and generally very small changes in each generation, what was once one organism evolves into another. We can see this so clearly now in the fossil record where smaller dinosaurs gradually developed wings and feathers, finally taking flight. The transition from theropod dinosaurs to birds is just one of these transitions--one especially well-documented one in the fossil record is the transition from semi-aquatic mammals into whales. During the length of geologic time, the small changes from generation to generation add up to major changes. This is no fairy tale; this is based on evidence.
What about creationism? When creationists call evolution a "fairy tale", they must surely be looking in the mirror. To argue with a straight face that, while evolution is not only wrong but impossible, a literal reading of Genesis is perfectly logical is absurd. Their assertions are not based on evidence and are thus not science. There is no evidence that humans descended from just two people, and in fact there is good evidence that the initial population from which all humans are descended was much larger. There is no evidence that people ever lived to be several centuries old, much less that one such man of six hundred years built a boat for all the kinds of animals in the world. There is no evidence for a global Flood, and in fact good evidence that such an occurrence is an utter impossibility given that two animals (or seven, depending upon which verse you read) of a species is not enough to carry on. In fact, species with less than fifty individuals in a population are only a few generations away from extinction. Creationists by definition accept that at least one snake could talk and that a certain kind of fruit (identity unknown) can grant knowledge. That said, I ask you, who believes in a fairy tale?
This is meant in no way as a slap against believers; it is, however, a slap against the idea that Genesis should be read literally, against the idea that the Bible has something to say in regards to modern science. It shouldn't, and it doesn't. As the late Pope John Paul II said, echoing Galileo, the Bible tells you how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go. If believers should be insulted about anything, they should be insulted by the fact that people like Ken Ham and Ray Comfort claim to speak for them using such baseless and petty talking-points to attack and demean those who accept evolution as true.
In light of what we've uncovered about the world, in hundreds of years of exploration, experimentation and excavation, the idea that evolution is a "fairy tale" is utter rubbish, and it is an insult that no intelligent person should stoop to.
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