Re: [asa] Advice for conversing with YECs (Cheek turning)

Agreed. This is the smoking gun that spoils the strict progressive creation argument and also what caused me to part ways with RTB. To say that they don't have a good answer for it is an understatement. I have heard Fuz say that the best evidence for evolution is the pseudoegene but he can't seem to bring himslef to accept that God could have created us gradually instead of all at once. I really do think this is a shame but hopefully one day they will come around.

What is unique about the psi GULO pseudogene argument is that they are prevented from hiding behind the "unknown function" response like they do with junk DNA when they say that one day a function will be found and then that will prove design. In this case the function is already known and the question is really the opposite in why would a known gene exist in common between humans and chimps and have the same lack of function? This forks them with the theodicy implication because if they say this is designed then you have to ask why would God want humans to have scurvy?

Thanks

John

--- On Mon, 10/27/08, Dennis Venema <Dennis.Venema@twu.ca> wrote:

> From: Dennis Venema <Dennis.Venema@twu.ca>
> Subject: Re: [asa] Advice for conversing with YECs (Cheek turning)
> To: "james000777@bellsouth.net" <james000777@bellsouth.net>, "gordon brown" <Gordon.Brown@Colorado.EDU>, "asa@calvin.edu" <asa@calvin.edu>
> Date: Monday, October 27, 2008, 5:15 PM
> It may be that forcing us to include vitamin C in our diet
> does make for healthier humans in general - but why then
> have the remains of a clearly once-functional gene for VitC
> biosynthesis present in our genome? If lack of VitC
> synthesis is the goal, why not just exclude this enzyme from
> the genome all together? Why have evidence for a previously
> functional version (in the same genomic area as in other
> mammals)?
>
> dennis
>
>
> On 27/10/08 1:58 PM, "james000777@bellsouth.net"
> <james000777@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
> I had the same answer when we discussed this at RTB (I am a
> volunteer apologist there). No enzyme to create vitamin C
> means a healthier diet is needed. I still haven't seen a
> good reply, except that because the gene doesn't work it
> must be "broken".
> James Patterson
>
> -------------- Original message from gordon brown
> <Gordon.Brown@Colorado.EDU>: --------------
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Mon, 27 Oct 2008, Dehler, Bernie wrote:
>
> >
> > I think the best evidence for evolution, that man came
> from an apelike
> creature and was not abruptly made by fiat, is pseudogenes.
> The book by Hugh
> Ross in "Who was Adam" has a good section on
> details on this (Ross is old earth
> and rejects evolution, but admits they have no response to
> the pseudogene
> argument). An example (in the book by Ross) is the
> pseudogene for an enzyme to
> create vitamin c (asorbic acid). Lower life forms have it,
> so they make their
> own vitamin c. Apes and humans have a corrupted version,
> so we can't make it
> and need to get vitamin c from our diet. Why would the
> fall curse humans and
>
> > apes (by messing up this gene) but not other animals?
>
> > >
>
> >
>
> > My remark here is not directed for or against your
> main point. Rather it
>
> > is prompted by your last claim above. Why should
> inability to produce our
>
> > own vitamin C be considered a curse? I like to drink
> orange juice.
>
> >
>
> > Gordon Brown (ASA member)
>
> >
>
> > To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu
> with
>
> > "unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of
> the message.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
> "unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the
> message.

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Mon Oct 27 18:43:20 2008