Biblical Creation vs. Evolution

[nChrist]

The Creator (Ecclesiastes 12) - Page 3 of 3
From Voice In The Wilderness

Equally simple:
If you do righteousness, God will bless. If you do evil, God will judge.

And it doesn't matter whether or not you believe in the Creator, He  still, nevertheless exists, and is watching. For instance... Even if you  didn't believe in 'gravity', if you jump off a high place, you -will-  land 'below', and if it was high enough, you -will- be injured or  killed. That is the cause-and-effect of the truth of gravity's  existence. In similar fashion, you can claim to be an atheist and  believe in evolution; but nevertheless the Creator -will- provide you  with the 'effect' of your deeds... judgment.

Just a side note here: With all those who claim to be "atheists", why is  it when some calamity occurs, or something of great shock and surprise,  that the first thing out of their mouths is, often, "Oh God!!!" or even  "Oh my God!!!" ?? If the Creator doesn't exist, in their minds, why do  they call out to Him like that? The continual -saying- of something  indicates the implied truth of the understanding by the sayer of that  entity's existence. Yes?

God also reviewed the same thing with Israel, which is also for us...

"...Jehovah will...rejoice over you for good, as He has rejoiced over  your fathers, if you obey the voice of Jehovah your God, to keep His  commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law,  and if you turn to Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all  your soul. For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not  too difficult for you to understand, nor is it far off. It is not in the  heavens, for you to think: Who shall ascend into the heavens for us and  bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? Nor is it beyond the sea,  for you to think: Who shall go over the sea for us and bring it to us,  that we may hear it and do it? But the Word is very near you, in your  mouth and in your heart, that you may do it...

"I call Heaven and earth to bear witness against you today, that I have  set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore  choose life, that both you and your seed may live" (De30:9-14,19)

Amen!

"..knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep;
for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. Let us
 walk decently, as in the day...putting on the Lord Jesus Christ..
...redeeming the time, because the days are evil."
Romans 13:11-14~ Ephesians 5:16

____________________

From A Voice In The Wilderness
Free E-Mail Subscriptions: http://www.a-voice.org/mail

[Soldier4Christ]

CREATIONISM IN DOG HOUSE as "St Bernard study casts doubt on Creationism”,
claims an article in Manchester University News and Medical News Net 24 Oct
2007. Kris Klingerberg of the Faculty of Life Sciences, Manchester University,
has studied the skulls of 47 St Bernard dogs and looked at how they have changed
over the 120 years since the breed was first defined. He found that modern dogs
have broader skulls, a more pronounced ridge over the eyes and a steeper angle
between the nose and forehead than the original breed. Klingerberg commented:
“These changes are exactly in those features described as desirable in the breed
standards. They are clearly not due to other factors such as general growth and
they provide the animal with no physical advantage, so we can be confident that
they have evolved purely through the selective considerations of breeders.
Creationism is the belief that all living organisms were created according to
Genesis in six days by 'intelligent design' and rejects the scientific theories
of natural selection and evolution. But this research once again demonstrates
how selection - whether natural or, in this case, artificially influenced by man
- is the fundamental driving force behind the evolution of life on the planet.”

ED. COM. This may be an example of selection, but it is not evolution. Selection
is a real process and is an integral part of the creationist understanding of
biology. To select something means to choose it from a number of already
existing alternatives. Selection does not create new living things, or even new
characteristics. Therefore, intelligent dog breeders can deliberately select the
head shape they most desire and ensure that those dogs with it continue to
breed. We do need to note that what has been proved is that after 120 years St
Bernard dogs have been bred into St Bernard dogs. Perhaps we should give the
evolutionist a little longer and come back in a million or five years. We
predict that eventually dog breeders will reach the limit to how wide and how
acute the nose angle can get in St Bernards, and when that happens all they will
have achieved is to narrow the gene pool for head shape genes within the breed.
We also predict they will never be able to use selection to turn St Bernard dogs
into a non Dog, i.e. another kind of animal. That is not evolution – it is
reproducing after their kind, just as Genesis says.

[Soldier4Christ]

GIANT BUG CLUE ON CLIMATE CHANGE as scientists stumble across a 'fossilized
claw, part of an ancient sea scorpion, that is of such large proportion it would
make the entire creature the biggest bug ever' at 2.5m or 8 feet long. The
discovery in Carboniferous rocks suggests that spiders, insects, crabs and
similar creatures were far larger in the past than previously thought, said
Simon Braddy, a University of Bristol paleontologist and one of the study's
three authors.

"We have known for some time that the fossil record yields monster millipedes,
super-sized scorpions, colossal cockroaches, and jumbo dragonflies. But we never
realized until now just how big some of these ancient creepy-crawlies were," he
said. The research found that the sea scorpion was almost .5 m or half a yard
longer than the previous estimates of the largest one. Braddy's partner,
paleontologist Markus Poschmann, found the claw fossil several years ago in a
quarry near Prum, Germany, reported CNN.

The BBC report included the comment that the species existed during a period in
Earth history when oxygen levels in the atmosphere were much higher than today.
And it was those elevated levels, some palaeo-scientists believe, that may have
helped drive the super-sized bodies of many of the invertebrates that existed at
that time - monster millipedes, huge cockroaches, and jumbo dragonflies.

ED.COM. Not surprising really is it? We are sure such a better atmosphere was
one reason for the lengthy lifespans recorded in Genesis. This new find only
adds to the increasingly abundant evidence we have been sharing in our Giants
program for years, that this world has done the opposite of evolve from a cosmic
blob of hydrogen gas. Even the CO2 was higher and the plants loved it.

[Soldier4Christ]

"CREATIONIST WELCOMED, EVOLUTIONIST SHUNNED" at Edinburgh Uni, writes student
organiser Phil Holden about the October Creation Research lecture by John Mackay
who “was free to speak for over an hour presenting a creationist view of origins
in Edinburgh University's largest lecture theatre, while a talk by Evolutionist
co-discoverer of DNA, James Watson, was cancelled.” The UK's oldest student
newspaper reporting on Watson's banning stated (26 October 2007): "The
University of Edinburgh was forced to cancel a lecture last week after a
controversial scientist due to speak on campus implied that black people were
genetically less intelligent than whites.

Dr James Watson was scheduled to appear at the university as part of a series of
Enlightenment lectures which are intended to give the public the chance to
listen to 'global leaders in politics, philosophy, science and economics discuss
their views and outlook.' However, the University of Edinburgh withdrew their
invitation to the scientist after racist comments he made in a national
newspaper received widespread criticism and international outrage.

Dr Watson reportedly told the Sunday Times he was "inherently gloomy about the
prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that
their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not
really". These comments have led to public condemnation of the scientist, who
shared the Nobel prize for discovering the structure of DNA in 1962 and was in
the UK to promote his new book 'Avoid Boring People: Lessons From a Life in
Science.'
http://studentnewspaper.org/2007/10/26/visiting-speaker-cancelled-amid-racism-ro
w/

EDINBURGH UNI CREATION lecture now ONLINE and reveals that members of the
university Humanist Society dominated the Question Time, but interested students
took the opportunity to hear more next day at another public meeting. See
lecture at: http://edinburghcreationgroup.org/johnmackay.php

ED. COM.  This is an inherent teaching of evolution, that mankind was not created equal and that we evolved separately. It has been this sort of teaching that has led to race discrimination.

[Soldier4Christ]

"HOW CAN 4 BLOOD TYPES (AB, A, B, and O) come from only 2 people, Adam and
Eve?" asks sceptical Edinburgh Uni student.

The answer below is supplied by Dr Eager and UK blood pathologist Dr Ellis.

 DIANE EAGER WRITES:

The A, B and O blood groups refer to short carbohydrate chains on the surface of
red blood cells. The A and B genes actually code for two different enzymes that
attach differing sugar molecules on the end of the chain. O does not have these.
The A enzyme attaches an N-acetyl-galactosamine molecule to the chain. The B
enzyme attaches a galactose molecule. The gene for O is a deletion/frameshift
mutation of A, and produces a non-functional protein. Because the O mutation is
present in all races, I suspect the O mutation occurred fairly early post-Flood
and pre-Babel. It is a basically harmless mutation so it would have spread
easily through the population. The percentage of O people varies in different
ethnic groups.

B does not seem to be a mutation of A. It is only four amino acids different,
but that makes a precise difference in the shape of the reaction centre of the
enzyme so that it catalyses another reaction.

But when the O gene occurred soon after the flood the A and B could then be
separated because each person can carry only two genes. If they inherit an O
gene they can now only have either an A or a B, but not both. There are some
minor variations within the A type blood, but these do not make a difference for
blood transfusions.

Deriving 4 blood types from only 2 ancestral humans is not a problem because
each person actually has two genes for blood. I suspect that the original
created blood type was AB for both Adam and Eve. Blood group AB means a person
has one A and one B gene. So up to the flood only AA, AB , and BB types would
have existed.

It seems that blood Group O has resulted from genetic breakdown of the genes as
part of the general degeneration that has happened since the Fall and Flood. I
suspect this mutation occurred shortly before or after Noah's Flood when the
population was still fairly small, so a significant percentage of the human race
inherited the loss. Even today it is possible for one couple to have offspring
with all possible ABO groups. If one parent is group A, with a genotype of AO,
and the other is group B with a genotype of BO, their possible offspring can
have genotypes, AB, AO, BO and OO. Their blood groups would be AB, A, B and O.

ANSWER BY UK Blood Pathologist Dr David Ellis:

All 4 blood groups can be produced from 2 people. One simply needs a knowledge
of blood group genotypes as well as phenotypes to understand this. Groups A & B
are codominant but O is recessive. Below is a list of the genotypes of the
observable ABO phenotypes:-

A AA or AO
B BB or BO
AB AB
O OO

Thus there are 2 ways in which 2 individuals could give rise to all blood
groups.

1. If one is AB and the other O the children will be either A (AO) or B (BO) The
next generation will produce offspring who will display all 4 groups each
forming 25% if the family is large enough.

2. If one parent is A (AO) and the other B (BO) the same result would be seen in
the 1st filial generation.

Your questioner seems not to have understood the simple genetics of the ABO
blood group system.

The A & B blood group antigens are glycolipids, the lipid bit being part of the
red cell membrane (a lipid bilayer). O is not just absence of A & B but is a
glycolipid called the H substance made under control of the H gene. The
consensus opinion is that A & B are produced from H by the addition of an extra
immuno determinant sugar. One is D-galactose and the other N-acetyl
galactosamine. There is also a rare "Bombay" phenotype hh in which the H
substance is missing. These people can have A or B genes but do not display the
expected group because there is no H substance from which to make the respective
antigens.

A & B substances are widely distributed in nature including bacteria. That is
why people have isoagglutinins in their plasma. These are IgM antibodies to the
A or B group that the individual lacks. When the gut is colonised early in
infancy the body encounters the foreign antigens and produces against them. A &
B groups are also found in many, but not all, mammalian species. (Ref. Skeptics,
man, mammal)

9. LONGEST LIVED ANIMAL FOUND, according to reports in BBC News Online and
Bangor University News, 28 Oct 2007. Scientists from the School of Ocean
Sciences at Bangor University have dredged up a clam named “Arctica islandica”
from the ocean floor near Iceland. They estimate that it had lived between 405
and 410 years, making it the oldest known living animal (although it is now
dead). The previous record was around 374 years, and clams with lifespans of
over 200 years have also been found in the North Sea and Irish sea. The age
estimates are made on the basis of growth rings in the clams’ shells. The record
breaking clam has been named Ming, because the Ming dynasty was ruling China at
the time it was born. The clam was found as part of a project to study changes
in the sea temperature and conditions over the last millennium. The growth rings
in the clam shells vary according to temperature and food supply, so they act as
a record of climate changes over the clam’s lifetime. The clams may also help
scientists understand how some animals live to be very old. Chris Richardson of
Bangor University told the BBC: “What's intriguing the Bangor group is how these
animals have actually managed, in effect, to escape senescence (growing old).
One of the reasons we think is that the animals have got some difference in cell
turnover rates that we would associate with much shorter-lived animals.” The
scientists also suggest the clams “may have evolved exceptionally effective
defences which hold back the destructive ageing processes that normally occur.”
Chris Richardson added: “If, in Arctica islandica, evolution has created a model
of successful resistance to the damage of ageing, it is possible that an
investigation of the tissues of these real life Methuselahs might help us to
understand the processes of ageing.”


ED. COM. Sceptics often scoff at the long human lifespans recorded in the early
chapters of Genesis, but then turn around and seek to find out how to live
longer, and how to stop us from dying whenever possible. The real conclusion to
be reached here is that something tells us that getting old and dying are not
what we humans are meant to do. At 410 years old, this clam has not yet made
Methuselah status, whom the Biblical record of Genesis lists as living for 969
years. This Ming research was in part funded by Help the Aged, a British Charity
which obviously wants people to live longer/better or both. If you take Genesis
seriously your research will be a lot further ahead. Genesis tells us that the
world started out “very good”. Therefore, people and animals would have had
perfectly functioning bodies with no disease causing mutations, and they lived
in a perfect environment.

Then Biological Death came into the world, not because of age or disease, but as
the punishment for human sin and rebellion against the Creator. Death and aging
were not and are not a natural part of life. That’s why we fight it and even
scientists are trying to stop it. Sadly though, if they do ever offer you
eternal life on this planet or anywhere else in this Universe that has been
afflicted by the curse of man's sin, living with people who can’t die and won't
forsake sin and rebellion against God and man - it will be a real let down. The
Creator Christ's offer is much better, eternal life on a new earth with a new
heavens and a final removal of the curse brought on by man's sin.
(Read more in Genesis 1-3 and John 1-3 and Revelation 20-22)

Further research in Genesis reveals that after death came, human bodies, which
had started out perfect, took a long time to die and the first 10 generations
till Noah's flood averaged almost 1000 yrs. It wasn’t until after Noah’s flood,
when the environment degenerated significantly, that lifespans of land based
humans began to rapidly decrease. It may be that by living at the bottom of the
ocean, protected from increased radiation by a water barrier and far from the
cell damaging pollution of early post flood human civilisation, enabled the clam
to live a long life. We will be interested to hear what the Bangor scientists
discover about the climate from studying clam shells from the past 2000 years -
we predict they will find periods where the climate has been colder and hotter
than it is now, because God told Noah that from the time after the flood to the
end of the world, there would be periods of cold and heat, and that God, not
climate politicians, would determine when the end would come.

[Soldier4Christ]

NOW FOR NEANDERTHAL NEWS, courtesy of the ABC, BBC, New Scientist and
ScienceNOW. A study of Neanderthal DNA reported in ScienceNOW 18 Oct 2007 and
ABC News in Science 19 Oct 2007, has revealed that Neanderthals had a version of
a gene named FOXP2 that is only found in humans and is linked with the ability
to speak. The gene was found by a team of researchers at the Max Planck
Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. Svante Pääbo, one
of the scientists involved, commented “If there was one single gene I really
wanted to see in Neanderthals, it was this one.” These scientists were also
asked to analyse DNA from bones found in a cave in Siberia. According to New
Scientist News 30 Sep 2007, they found a short stretch of mitochondrial DNA that
was identical to DNA extracted from Neanderthal bones found in Belgium. Jeffrey
McKee at Ohio State University commented: “It means that Neanderthals were a bit
more adaptable than some people give them credit for”. Meanwhile, another group
of scientists have also been studying Neanderthal genes, according to BBC News
Online 25 Oct 2007. Carles Lalueza-Fox and colleagues at University of Barcelona
have found a gene named MC1R in DNA taken from Neanderthal specimens found in a
cave in Spain. The scientists inserted the gene into a human melanocyte, a
pigment producing cell found in skin and hair. The Neanderthal gene caused
changes in the melanocyte function that are seen in modern people with red hair
and pale skin. Lalueza-Fox commented to the BBC: “In Neanderthals, there was
probably the whole range of hair colour we see today in modern European
populations, from dark to blond right through to red”.


ED. COM. Bit of a shock isn’t it – now the Museum can have models of fair
skinned, red haired Neanderthals so very different from the black apish looking
ones we have grown up with. The evolutionist's original Neanderthal is now so
far from the picture based on the latest research, perhaps they need to consider
the alternative i.e. an account of a group of ancient people with varying skin
colours who could speak, and went wandering far and wide, and who were able to
cope with different living conditions. Sounds familiar? Try reading Genesis 10
and 11. In spite of constant claims that Neanderthals were less than human, all
indicators of how they functioned, including a larger brain size on average, fit
with them being fully human, and fit into the Biblical history of the human
race. In the beginning the earth and human bodies were “very good” so humans
were probably a mid brown skin colour – enough pigment to protect their skin
from the sun, but allow in enough light to stimulate the production of vitamin
D. This even balance was starting to break down by the time of Noah’s sons -
Ham, whose name means “dark”, and Japheth, whose name means “fair”. Therefore,
after the Flood the descendents of Noah’s sons would have had a variety of skin
colours. Genesis also tells us that humans were created with speech built in and
spoke the same language, until they defied God’s instructions to spread out and
fill the earth.  Genesis 11 records that God gave them different languages and
forced them to spread out. This judgement occurred at Babel, in the Middle East,
so people could easily spread into both Europe and Russia from there. This event
occurred a couple of centuries after Noah’s Flood. Meanwhile, as part of the
aftermath of the flood, the earth’s climate was degenerating rapidly and would
have gone through a period of cold caused by changes in the atmospheric carbon
dioxide and water vapour. As people spread out they found themselves in harsh
conditions, and the effects of a poor diet and scarce resources resulted in
disease and deformities, as seen in the Neanderthal bones. If anything, the
light skinned red headed people would have had some advantage in northern Europe
and Siberia, as they could make more vitamin D, so maybe more of them survived
and ‘fair’ became a common skin colour in the post flood Neanderthal population,
and instead of dying out, they simply disappeared through intermarriage in the
post flood world.

[Soldier4Christ]

NEANDERTHALS USED TOOTHPICKS, according to a report in Reuters, 12 Sep 2007.
Palaeontologist Juan Luis has studied two molar teeth found in Pinilla del
Valle, near Madrid in Spain, and found they had “grooves formed by the passage
of a pointed object which confirms the use of a small stick for cleaning the
mouth.” The molars were very well preserved and showed signs of wear consistent
with an age of about 30 years.


ED. COM. This may seem a rather trivial finding, but it is another reminder that
Neanderthals were fully human. In spite of attempts to classify them as a
different species to bolster the theory of evolution, whenever studies have been
done on individual characteristics they have always shown that Neanderthals
lived and functioned just like ordinary people.

[Soldier4Christ]

APPENDIX NOT USELESS, according to a news release from Duke University, 8
Oct 2007. William Parker and Randal Bollinger of Duke University Medical Centre
have been studying the way bacteria interact with the large bowel, where large
numbers of useful bacteria live and help with normal digestive processes and
help keep out harmful bacteria. They found that useful bacteria live in
aggregates called biofilms, which also contain immune system molecules and
secretions from the bowel. If the bowel becomes inflamed with a
diarrhoea-causing disease the biofilms can be flushed out and need to be
re-formed for the bowel to return to normal health and function. But where can
new useful bacteria come from? Parker and Bollinger concluded from their studies
that the appendix acts as a “safe house” for good bacteria during a bout of
diarrhoea as its location makes it “relatively difficult for anything to enter
it as the contents of the bowels are emptied.” Parker commented: “Diseases
causing severe diarrhoea are endemic in countries without modern health and
sanitation practices, which often results in the entire contents of the bowels,
including the biofilms, being flushed from the body. Once the bowel contents
have left the body, the good bacteria hidden away in the appendix can emerge and
repopulate the lining of the intestine before more harmful bacteria can take up
residence. In industrialized societies with modern medical care and sanitation
practices, the maintenance of a reserve of beneficial bacteria may not be
necessary. This is consistent with the observation that removing the appendix in
modern societies has no discernable negative effects.”

ED. COM. The conclusion that the appendix has a function is no surprise to us.
It has long been known that the appendix contains clumps of immune system cells,
and like much of the immune system, these are largest and most active early in
life, when the body is establishing which microbes can safely live in the bowel.
It certainly makes sense that the appendix continues to have a role in
maintaining the population of good bacteria and provides a back-up when the
system is disturbed. The idea of the appendix being a useless leftover is an
example of the theory of evolution being a hindrance to science, rather than a
help. There are true Vestigial Organs wherever creatures have lost wings, legs
etc, but they are always the sad result of devolutionary change or degeneration.

[Soldier4Christ]

EARLY EMBRYO FORMATION described in Nature, vol 449, 1049, 25 Oct 2007.
Biologists at University College London, UK and University of Virginia, USA,
have studied the process where a single layer of cells forms into three layers
during the early stages of embryonic development. The three layers give rise to
different organs and structures in the body. The top layer forms the nervous
system and skin; the middle layer the musculo-skeletal and blood circulation
systems; the bottom layer the inner organs. The researchers found that in birds
and mammals the middle layer, called mesoderm, is formed from cell movements in
the centre of the embryo under the influence of a growth factor from a cell
layer called extra-embryonic endoderm – a cell layer found in birds and mammals
but not fish and amphibians. This process is initiated very early in embryonic
development, before the formation of a structure named the primitive streak,
which defines the centre axis of the body. This means the development of the
body is different in birds and mammals compared with fish and amphibians even
before any basic body tissues and structures are formed.

ED. COM. This study is more proof that Haeckel’s theory that embryos show the
process of evolution as they develop is completely false. The theory was
actually shown to be wrong in Haeckel’s lifetime, because his drawings of
embryos, which are still being presented as evidence for this theory, were
proven to be fakes. The falseness of this theory was overwhelmingly proven in
1997 when a British embryologist Michael Richardson published photos of
different animal embryos, which showed how different they were. The new study is
on embryos much younger than the ones Richardson photographed, and it confirms
there is no evidence for evolution in any stage of embryonic development.

[Soldier4Christ]

NOTABLE QUOTABLE, from US Republican presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee,
recorded in Nature, vol 450, p8, 1 Nov 2007. “Science changes with every
generation and new generation and God doesn’t. So I’ll stick with God if the two
are in conflict.”

ED. COM. Science is a human activity, and is therefore limited by human
fallibilities and will always need to be reviewed and revised. God’s word never
will. Jesus said that Heaven and Earth will pass away but His word would never
pass away (Matthew 24:35). God’s word will stand up to any honest scrutiny, and
therefore the solution to any apparent contradictions between science and God is
to do some more research and find the truth.


_________________


POLAR BEARS ENDANGERED? Official numbers 1950: 5,000. 2007: 25,000. Source:
Times UK 12 Nov 2007 p.17. Reach your own conclusions.

[Soldier4Christ]

FISH HOLE UP IN TREES, according to reports in Daily Mail 17 Oct 2007 and
New Scientist, 19 Oct 2007, p20. Killifish are small fish, about 2 inches (5cm)
long, that live in muddy pools in the mangrove swamps around the Caribbean Sea.
The muddy pools often dry up, but the fish are able to survive for months at a
time by taking to the trees. The fish hole up in rotting logs by crowding into
tracks made by insects, where they lie lined up “like peas in a pod”. In order
to survive for long periods out of water, the fish change their gills so that
they retain water and nutrients and add proteins to their skin to enable them to
excrete waste products.

ED. COM. These fish live in an environment that is very changeable, but they can
survive when the swamp dries up because they already have the built in ability
to change their gills and make the extra skin proteins. This extreme example of
adaptation shows that adaptation is a real biological process, but it has
nothing to do with evolution. Adaptation is the ability to cope with changes in
the environment, and can only occur if a living creature already has the means
of doing it. Obviously any fish without this ability does not get a second
chance to evolve when the pond dries out.

[Soldier4Christ]

HYBRIDS CAUSE CONSERVATION CONUNDRUM, according to a report in ScienceNOW,
17 Sep 2007 and ScienceDaily 2 Oct 2007. The California tiger salamander is a
“threatened species that lives in the Salinas Valley in California. For the last
50 years it has been breeding with banded salamanders introduced from Texas.
Biologists have studied the native and introduced species and the hybrid of the
two species and found the hybrids were “significantly more likely to survive
than either parental species”. The researchers suggest that this is example of
“hybrid vigour”. These observations have caused problems for conservationists,
“for example, should any populations of foreign or hybrid salamanders be
eradicated to preserve the genetic purity of the Californian natives?” The work
may also challenge conservationists’ criteria for deciding which populations get
protection under the US Endangered Species Act. Benjamin Fitzpatrick of
University of Tennessee, Knoxville who took part in the study commented: “We
will have to decide what it takes to qualify as Native.”

ED. COM. Have you noticed the hypocrisy of most Conservationists – they usually
believe in evolution, but do anything they can to stop it. “Hybrid vigour” is
the reason mixed breed dogs are more robust than pure breed dogs, but it is
really a misnomer. All breeds of dogs are the one species, so the offspring
produced by cross breeding are not really hybrids. The reason for the vigour is
that pure bred animals are the result of inbreeding, so any genetic defects tend
to accumulate. Cross breeding introduces healthy genes from the two breeds that
can compensate for defective genes in each of the pure bred animals. True
hybrids are the result of crosses between two different species, such as a horse
and a donkey producing a mule. They may be healthy as individuals but they are
sterile, and cannot be said to be vigorous.

The Salinas Valley salamanders are more like cross breeds within species, rather
than hybrids between species. Therefore, the conservationists should leave them
to breed and keep the species strong. Fitzpatrick’s comment reminds us that
there are no such things as “indigenous” or native species. The reason there are
different animals in different places in the world is not because they evolved
there. All the land dwelling, air breathing animals on earth today are
descendents of the animals that got off Noah’s ark and spread out all over the
world. Therefore, they were fully formed, distinct kinds when they arrived in
any land. Since then some kinds may have been split up into smaller groups, and
these may have been classified into different species, but they are still the
same kind, so when given the opportunity to breed again they do.

[Soldier4Christ]

ANIMAL HUMAN EMBRYO RESEARCH GETS APPROVAL, according to reports BBC News
Online, news@nature and ScienceNOW. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology
authority in the UK have approved research using embryos created by mixing human
and animal cells. The technique involves removing the nucleus of an egg cell
from an animal, such as a cow or a rabbit, and inserting the nucleus of human
cell. The resulting cell is called a “cybrid” rather than a hybrid, because it
has a human nucleus and animal cytoplasm. A true hybrid has a nucleus with a
mixture of chromosomes for the two different species that contributed to it. The
scientists hope to induce the cell to divide and form embryonic stem cells,
which they will then use for research into stem cell therapy for human diseases,
e.g. Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Motor Neurone Disease. The reason for wanting
to use animal cells for this research is that there are not enough human eggs
available for the research. One of the scientists who wants to try the
technique, Stephen Minger of King's College London in the U.K. commented: “The
use of nonhuman oocytes (egg cells) for SCNT is currently the only ethically
justifiable option given the large numbers of eggs required to derive cloned
human stem cell lines.”

ED. COM. This research assumes that the animal cytoplasm will not make any
difference as only the human DNA in the nucleus will determine how the cell will
function. This is not true. Cytoplasm contains animal DNA (in the mitochondria),
which must work with the human DNA in the nucleus if the cell is to function
properly. Research on early embryos indicates that cytoplasm content has a
profound effect on the early development of the embryo. As such, we predict that
nothing will come of it that is any use for curing human diseases, and it is
unethical to give suffering people false hope.

There is nothing ethical about this research at all. The Apostle Paul wrote:
“All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another,
birds another and fish another.” (I Cor 15:39) Paul’s basis for this statement
is that all the different kinds of animals were made as separate creations and
human beings are unique creations made in the image of God. To try to mix human
and animal cells is denying that humans are unique creations and flying in the
face of the God who made them.

[nChrist]

NOTABLE QUOTABLE, from US Republican presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee,
recorded in Nature, vol 450, p8, 1 Nov 2007. “Science changes with every
generation and new generation and God doesn’t. So I’ll stick with God if the two
are in conflict.”

ED. COM. Science is a human activity, and is therefore limited by human
fallibilities and will always need to be reviewed and revised. God’s word never
will. Jesus said that Heaven and Earth will pass away but His word would never
pass away (Matthew 24:35). God’s word will stand up to any honest scrutiny, and
therefore the solution to any apparent contradictions between science and God is
to do some more research and find the truth.


_________________


POLAR BEARS ENDANGERED? Official numbers 1950: 5,000. 2007: 25,000. Source:
Times UK 12 Nov 2007 p.17. Reach your own conclusions.

Pastor Roger,

Brother, the more I hear from Mike Huckabee - the better I like him. We all need to go to the COMPLETE TRUTH, GOD'S WORD, every day. If something or someone is contrary to GOD'S WORD, it's WRONG - plain and simple.

Love In Christ,
Tom

 

[Soldier4Christ]

I am definitely with you on that. Yes. I am liking Mike Huckabee more and more each day. He is the best Presidential candidate that we could possibly ask for. The majority of this nation has been asking for someone like him for a long time. Now if they will just do what is right and vote him into office.