Apes wearing pants

Christians who declare their belief in Biblical creationism leave all sorts of unanswered questions in their wake.  Here are a few.

Question 1:  Why are there so many near-human animals?

Let’s say Darwinian evolution is “just a theory” and that one of the Bible’s two creation stories (yes, there are two in Genesis) correctly explains the origin of life on earth.  Why, then, do apes and monkeys exist?  Why did God create animals — especially chimps and bonobos — that are almost genetically identical to humans?  If God created us in his image, wouldn’t it have made a lot more sense for no other animal on earth to be even remotely similar to us?  Why would God create so many other primates — ANIMALS — that share over 95% of our DNA?  Moreover, why would God give them social behaviors nearly the same as ours; language skills nearly the same as ours; emotions, the ability to use tools, even bipedalism, compassion and self-awareness all nearly the same as ours?  Indeed, if we look at virtually any metric of mental ability, the average rhesus monkey behaves more human-like than did the brain damaged Terri Schiavo, whom President Bush and many Republican Members of Congress rushed to “save” because they believed she displayed human consciousness.  Assuming that no species on our planet arose from evolution, but from instantaneous creation by God, why are there so many near-human animals?  Why would God do this?

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Don’t let gay-bashers cherry pick the Bible.

63% of Americans say that the Bible is literally true.   Those who rely on the Bible to condemn and harass gays often point to the book of Leviticus.  If that is a worthy strategy, let's follow everything the Bible teaches us, including everything from Leviticus, right?  The following excerpts are…

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Babies Here, There and Everywhere

As reported by the St. Louis Post Dispatch, conservatives got together for a large rally in St. Louis this week.  One of the speakers, Catholic Archbishop Raymond Burke, argued that it was “the legalized destruction of human life.”  A radio executive chimed in: “Have you ever noticed that when the devil tries to sell you an evil idea, he usually wraps it in a lie?”

To what were they referring?  The killing of “babies,” they argued.  The speakers were arguing that a research procedure called “somatic cell nuclear transfer” (SCNT) was literally killing babies.

Never mind that the 5-day old babies they were talking about are microscopic clumps of cells (containing valuable stem cells).  Never mind that they can’t really be considered individuals; they could still split into more than one baby (until 12 days of age) or they might not grow into any baby at all (“God” himself spontaneously aborts hundreds of thousands of these babies every year).

Donn Rubin, the chairman of the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, the group promoting a ballot proposal promoting stem cell research in Missouri, condemned the conservative rally.  The Coalition’s website describes the Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative in detail.  For another description, see also here.  Rubin reminded the crowd that the ballot proposal has the support of more than 100 groups, including research centers, health care groups and patient groups. 

What is SCNT?  Is it really killing babies? According to the International Society for Stem …

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What we can learn from the geographic clumping of dialects and religions.

Check out the map below.  It is a map of the Linguistic Geography of the Mainland United States (a higher resolution version is available here):   Imagine that there is some loony person who would argue that the dialect he speaks is the one true, objectively superior dialect and that all other dialects are inferior…

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“Faith-based” homeless shelter gets into debt collection.

Providing jobs for homeless people.  We’d pretty much all agree that it is a fine thing to do. It hadn’t occurred to me before to complain about the jobs that might be offered, although I have complained that pay and benefits for many jobs are inadequate.  A recent “news story” made me take notice.  The story is here but you have to register to look at it.  I’ve reprinted it below so you won’t need to: 

Homeless Shelter Residents get Jobs at Collection Agency

August 28, 2006 – by Mike Bevel, CollectionIndustry.com

A Washington state-based collection agency owner is pairing up with a faith-based homeless shelter to provide jobs for homeless people in the area.

Wayne Garlington is the owner of Accounts Receivable Inc., and sits on the board of Open House Ministries – both based in Vancouver, WA. He is currently employing five women to work as collection agents.

Garlington said he has been pleased with their performance. “They’re not being handed something,” he told the the Columbian News. “They really want to work.”

The jobs not only give the women benefits, they also allow for them to increase their income through bonuses. The company collects on overdue accounts for the city of Vancouver and Clark Public Utilities, among others.

Garlington decided to try out the idea after hearing about a similar plan being carried out by a collection agency on the East Coast.

A ‘faith-based’ homeless shelter, why isn’t that an oxymoron?  If you really had faith, would …

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