Missing chromosomes problem solved

If you are of the Christian fundamentalist persuasion you may want to skip this one. It’s about that subject that gives you hives, no – not abortion, the other one, evolution. If you think that I’m too hard on you and not being reasonable and accommodating I don’t care – I don’t play nice on this one. My opinions were formed by a science education that lasted many years, yours were formed by a few sentences from your numbnuts hick preacher without any questioning by you whatsoever.

The problem to date, is that our side has played too nice, that doesn’t happen on this blog, you regard my education as the equivalent of witchcraft and I consider you as failing in your duty as human beings for not questioning what some idiot tells you is fact with no supporting evidence at all. You do realize that if Christ was alive today he wouldn’t be on your side in this debate? He actively encouraged the open questioning tolerant approach to life adopted by scientists never the closed hateful intolerant approach practiced by your leaders and subsequently by you.

Just to make one thing clear, I will happily discuss evolution or anything else with you. I will do so in a civil manner and even purchase any liquid refreshment required to facilitate such discussion but there is one teensy weensy condition, that you come to the discussion armed with more than Pat Robertson’s opinion on the topic. In fact you need to come prepared, you need to know the pillars that support evolution theory, from vestigial structures, mitochondrial DNA, the fossil record. There are about three more but I’m sure that you get the point. Oh. and don’t even start with the “It’s only a theory” crap – you have to do much better than that, you have to dismantle the theory of evolution using post Enlightenment techniques. Yup, this education thing is pretty tough sometimes, tougher than say, flipping on your TV preacher and letting the words enter your brain without ever meeting any opposition.

By all means lets discuss the gaps in the fossil record, providing you can give specific examples, I just can’t wait to hear your arguments as to why mitocondrial DNA may not give an extremely accurate account of lineage or why the whale still possesses the remnants of a pelvis. Problem is, that you don’t operate on that level which is your prerogative and good luck to you on that one, I hold no malice and pass no judgment. I only do that when you try to use tools that you don’t even begin to understand (science) to prove that I and many others are wrong. It is not enough for you to do your own thing but you have to try to stop others from doing theirs.

The huge irony in this? religion by definition is a matter of faith. Faith is not an optional thing or a cop out, it is a fundamental tenet. At the core of Christianity is the requirement that something be believed in that cannot be proved. Faith is what gets you to your version of heaven. Why then do you have to piss on Reason? Think about this, there is no conflict in our positions, we just view the world through different lenses, faith and reason respectively. In fact a a person could and probably should use these lenses interchangeably, some aspects of life require science and others faith.

I honestly intended this article to be about the extra chromosomes possessed by our nearest great ape relatives. disappearing chromosomes are not good from an evolutionary theory perspective. Turns out that the missing material isn’t missing at all but has been incorporated into other chromosomes. More about this here

UPDATE: The discovery is an old one, I should have read the linked article more carefully but that doesn’t really alter the point of this post.