I left the US to get away from this level of stupidity....

By mm | February 23, 2009 1:52 PM

Logically it is impossible to prove a theory - they can only be logically disproved. A "proven theory" is not called a theory its called a Law

By Andrew Bugden | February 23, 2009 2:28 PM

Can I take it then that christianity, judaism, islam and all the other mickey mouse thories have been proven now? I wonder how much rain forest it took to produce these ridiculous leaflets that we can expect to drop through our doors.

By Deep Throat | February 23, 2009 3:07 PM

This sort of action can only serve to fuel a healthy debate. For too long the theory of evolution has been taught to our kids simply as fact, without a proper balance. It remains just that - a theory, and there are still many issues with the theory as a whole. These usually tend to get casually ignored by proponents and teachers alike.

Personally I take a middle line, broadly evolution based but always in the hands of The Creator. As far as I am concerned, to believe that the universe as we know it appeared from absolutely nothing, purely by chance, takes quite a lot of belief too! And no-one is ever going to prove that one either, since it is fundamentally unprovable (and inconceivable) that all matter came from nothing.

By simplastic | February 23, 2009 4:11 PM

And next month I'll be sending round flyers asking whether we should scrap the politie in favour of Justice League International. With such luminary members as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter, who could possibly deny the Good Sense of such a move?

And don't try telling me superheroes don't exist - there've been books written about their exploits for decades! What, you think it was all just made up?

I wonder if there's any way the public can take a civil case against these religious groups for spreading disinformation and lies under the guise of truth. Can we sue the churches for preaching hatred, intolerance and wildly unprovable 'facts'?

By Stephen | February 23, 2009 4:36 PM

Mail it back to them. Use it to clean the litter pan, or something, then drop it in an an envelope and mail it back to them.

By EX-PAT | February 23, 2009 4:48 PM

Stephen,

Bring it on! I would personally love it if someone took churches to court for what they preach. I utterly and completely believe that the Bible is more than robust enough to withstand a civil court case. Anything that literally proved to be false would, as far as I am concerned, be extraneous stuff pedalled by the church itself.

I am always tickled by the fact that as soon as religion is mentioned on this site then everyone wants to have a go! Long live the debate...

By simplastic | February 23, 2009 5:08 PM

Heh, I left Northern Ireland to get away from this level of stupidity.

Hands up who would step from the 14th floor into an elevator built with bronze age technology and equiped with brakes powered only by divine intervention? What about taking a vaccine that hadn't been put through rigorous scientific trials, but was certified by a self proclaimed prophet? No takers on that one? Oh, I know, what about an air crash investigator who blames accidents on the unfortunate passengers who he thinks are "sinners"? Once you go down the road of applying religious stories to real life, where does the madness end?

By Franchesca | February 23, 2009 5:09 PM

I'm with Simplastic. I felt utterly betrayed when I found out that the dogma presented as Law was actually an unproven theory pushed for political reasons. And no, evolution skepticism does not automatically mean belief in creationism. What ever happened to good old scientific thinking on the left side of the political spectrum? Relativized away?

By Cassandra Troy | February 23, 2009 5:19 PM

"This sort of action can only serve to fuel a healthy debate. For too long the theory of evolution has been taught to our kids simply as fact, without a proper balance."

What, so you want more talking snakes and less fossils? There are no "issues" with the theory of evolution by natural selection. The last "issue" was the question of how variation could occur, and that was solved once we understood how DNA worked. There is no kind way for me to put this, these people who are telling you that there are "issues" are lying to you. But don't take my word for it, read up on it and find out for yourself.

By Franchesca | February 23, 2009 5:23 PM

forgive them for they know not what they do. They believe in gods, hee,hee.

By Deep Throat | February 23, 2009 5:29 PM

@simplastic: a healthy debate between who? Scientists and religious fanatics who refuse to accept scientific evidence? You're free to present any "issues with the theory as a whole" based on scientific evidence, unless you want us to "casually ignore" anything that you or your belief system has to say about evolution.

By huh | February 23, 2009 6:58 PM

Darwin's theory of evolution is an adult fairy tale but there is too much "riding on it" to pull out its feeble legs as most would rather worship the god they choose (self), rather than the God who is.

By bet | February 23, 2009 7:23 PM

That's like saying "cats are feline, dogs are not vegetables so they must also be feline" it's just bad logic. But what do you expect from people who believe in a virgin giving birth?

Evolution is unproven, and there are a number of things that the theory does not explain. That doesn't automatically make it the same as creationism.

Frankly creationism is for Sundays and should stay out of schools - and my letterbox.

By Louise | February 23, 2009 10:09 PM

Didnt darwin himself recant this theory on his death bed?

By Jonas | February 24, 2009 12:12 AM

"...A "proven theory" is not called a theory its called a Law."

Right. Like, the Theory of Gravity.

"...As far as I am concerned, to believe that the universe as we know it appeared from absolutely nothing, purely by chance, takes quite a lot of belief too!"

This may shock you, but cosmology has nothing to do with Darwinian-evolution-by-natural-selection.

In the future, you might want to study these subjects prior to publishing your ill-informed non sequiturs.

By Matt Fitt | February 24, 2009 5:07 AM

I guess next step will be to try to convince us that the earth is flat and the universe is 6,000 years old, as theologists used to believe.

By K.B. | February 24, 2009 6:49 AM

I hate to point this out, Matt, but gravity does actually abide by a Law. It's known as the Law of Gravity. Strange, that.

By Manjaro | February 24, 2009 9:48 AM

Remember folks! A nee/nee sticker stops the madness from entering your home!

By osita | February 24, 2009 10:27 AM

What kind of "debate" is encouraged by slipping a flyer in a mailbox? Beyond how many trees were destroyed...

Believe what you want, religious types...I'll believe what I want. Just leave me alone and stop trying to "save" me.

By CW | February 24, 2009 11:18 AM

YES! Let's sue the churches(all of them)! They should remove everything from the "Bible" that they can't prove! : )

By Alayan | February 24, 2009 12:04 PM

If this sick world can survive, Long live Evolution! Embrace your inner fish!:-)

By AW | February 24, 2009 12:57 PM

That would just make it a Phrophets pamphlet then Alayan. Works for me!

By Deep Throat | February 24, 2009 3:18 PM

"I hate to point this out, Matt, but gravity does actually abide by a Law. It's known as the Law of Gravity. Strange, that."

Sorry Manjaro, gravity is just a theory with no more evidence for it than evolution. We don't know how the force of gravity originally came into being, what exactly causes it, or why it is so weak compared to the other forces (such as electromagnetism or nuclear forces). The only reason why we do not have the religious insisting that gravity isn't real (using the same "reasoning" as they use to pretend that evolution doesn't happen) is because anyone that stupid wouldn't survive long enough to pass their genes onto the next generation. This blindingly obvious and easily proveable fact is called Natural Selection (Evolution is the theory that describes how this fact can change species over time).

By Franchesca | February 24, 2009 4:51 PM

"YES! Let's sue the churches(all of them)! They should remove everything from the "Bible" that they can't prove! : )"

Not at all. You can put whatever you want in a work of fiction.

By Louise | February 24, 2009 9:04 PM

Mapping genomes has proven evolution beyond a shadow of a doubt, just ask J. Craig Venter and his peeps, so we can stop with this 'unproven' rubbish. This is a recent development, within the last decade, which is why most people (including myself) were not taught the real hard facts in school. They were unknown at the time. That's what happens with science - it changes as we learn more about it. As human knowledge expands at an exponential rate people have to get used to the idea that we are developing the proofs for things we previously only half-understood, but we're doing it right now, in real time. The problem a lot of religious types have is that they haven’t heard of or haven’t looked into the new research and therefore claim it doesn’t exist.

Oh, and Darwin did not recant, in fact his really juicy stuff was only published after his death. He didn't want to offend his religious wife. (A trap many people have fallen into over the years...)

And gravity? God 'elp us! 300 years of unravelling it and we're still not convinced it's a universal law?

By Stephen | February 25, 2009 2:28 PM