Open post to Bob, aka @piltdownsupermn on the success of his failure on Darwin Day

This was supposed to be recorded as a podcast but I’m neurotic about my voice and it never sounded right, so I’m posting it as a blog post instead.

Dear Bob,

Before I start, let’s deal with your view of Fundanmentally Flawed first. I’m neither at a kitchen table nor drunk. Well, I don’t drink so sorry to burst that little presumption of yours. And it probably won’t be the last either.

Anyhoo. I’m an atheist. You know, one of those people you think you have some sort of special insight into. And not an angry one that you so often portray. I call it frustration at reading the endless stream of crap you and other “cdesign proponentsists”, creationists, whatever, produce, And hateful? Nope, hate is a strong word and I hope I don’t hate anyone.

Just when I think you can’t sink any lower into the gutter, you always manage to pull something out of your arse to amaze me.

You seem to have missed the irony of your latest venture on the Question Evolution Day Facebook page.

While it is admirable to proclaim you want an open debate about evolution, it’s not so clever to then turn around and block any anyone who asks for those very questions, answers the questions you pose, or even dares to question your own “theory”.

I mean seriously Bob, what were you thinking. I almost had to change my underwear, I was that close to pissing myself laughing.

Let’s start the ball rolling with the front page, this paragraph tickled me in particular:

NOTE: This is not “religious” in nature, this is all about scientific evidence and its interpretation. The appeal is not to Biblical creationists per se, but to anyone who cares about intellectual honesty and freedom.

I can sense it. I can *SNIFF* sniff it. I call bullshit. Oh please, like you’d fucking clue what intellectual honesty is. For your information this means:

• One’s personal beliefs do not interfere with the pursuit of truth;
• Relevant facts and information are not purposefully omitted even when such things may contradict one’s hypothesis;
• Facts are presented in an unbiased manner, and not twisted to give misleading impressions or to support one view over another;
• References are acknowledged where possible, and plagiarism is avoided

You fail on four out of four, and we’ll see. Well done Bob. A+. Big fucking gold star.

Still, let’s see carry on, maybe that was just a blip. Under “other resources” we find:

http://creation.com/question-evolution
http://www.answersingenesis.org/
http://www.icr.org/
http://www.academicfreedomday.com/
http://www.intelligentdesign.org/
http://www.intelligentdesignnetwork.org/

Oh dear. And under “Llikes”

The Atheist Antidote, Creation Studies Institute, The Creation Page, Biblical Creation & Apologetics Ministries, CARM.org, Creation Research Society, Expelled, Institute for Creation Research (ICR), Creation Science Evangelism, Discovery Institute, Creation Ministries International, ApologetiX, Answers in Genesis, Ken Ham, We CAN and we WILL find 1,000,000 Creationists (1Mill Creation Ministries)

Yep. Not “religious” in anyway at all. Good point Bob, really badly made.Are you sure you want to keep banging on about intellectual honesty?

So from your opening statement on questioning evolution, you’re already a liar.

This “Question Evolution” campaign was started in 2011 by Creation Ministries, and it’s aims are best summed up by Jimmy Stephens, who’s spammed the crap out of forums by posting information about the campaign. He says, and I quote.

It [Question Evolution] is a bold campaign seeking to rid our schools, media, and politics of evolutionist indoctrination and spread the 15 questions which evolutionists can not adequately answer. Hopefully, you too will join CMI’s campaign to refute the falsehoods of evolution. Please found out more at creation.com/question-evolution and discover the promising efforts against the pseudoscience of evolution

Good to start off with an open mind! Doesn’t quite sound like something that’s going to lead to anything remotely like an honest debate to me.

The “falsehoods” and “pseudoscience” have been summed up in their pamphlet called 15 Unanswered Questions for Evolutionists, or “that evolutionists cannot adequately answer,” Like ANY answer would be adequate in their eyes. What is their criteria for being “adequate”?

Strange as on the first page of a Google search shows it’s been answered here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here, among others.

I can only presume that the creationists are still too busy slapping themselves on the backs on coming up with this questions since not one of you has bothered to answer back. It’s almost like you’re not interested in the answers but just trying to fool the flock into thinking there are issues with evolution where there isn’t. Oh, and to get those dollars rolling in with the super tacky merchandise available.

But let’s look on the positive side for just this once.

I am untied, sorry united, with you in your venture to question evolution. You’ve caught up with the rest of us who love science, and the scientists who do it every single day using the scientific method of experimentation, observation, repetition, recording of data and then publishing that data along with the methodology used for others to verify or falsify.

I know you throw phrases like no evidence for evolution, it’s a lie, it’s a fraud, etc but this method of working has lead evolution to be a solid theory. It’s been 152 years since Charles Darwin first published On the Origin of Species and in all that time, it has not been falsified. In fact, and you’re not going to like this, it’s got even stronger. Genetics, genotyping, phylogenetics, etc etc have proved Darwin was right, beyond a shadow of doubt.

I’m sure in your mind’s eye you picture creationism huffing and puffing and blowing the house of evolution down, but you’ve not even scratched the paintwork of the house. Creationists have not come up with one thing that challenges the accumulated evidence, rather they just repeat the same lies and misrepresentations that have been explained a 1000 time already,

If you don’t know what evolution, and reading your blog I doubt that you do, then asking the question “what is evolution?” if not shaming, or embarrassing but for your information evolution is… *drum roll please* … “changes in allele frequency in a population” or “descent with modification” if you wish, it’s the same thing. Now does that lead to other questions like

“What are alleles?”
“Where does natural selection come into it?”
“Mutations?”
“Genetic drift?”
“Gene flow?”

A little knowledge goes a long way and at your finger tips is the greatest resource for seeking knowledge – the internet, and as the saying goes, “Google is your friend.”

I know you won’t look any of this up. If you’re still banging on about Piltdown Man after 80 years, I’m thinking it’ll be a long, long time before you catch up with modern science. If ever.

You, like every creationist on the planet, do NO research of your own. You just sit on the sidelines belittling the hard work being done by scientists thinking that you KNOW better than people infinitely more qualified to talk about such things, given that they’ve worked on it for decades while you sit on your arses doing ab-sol-lute-ley FUCK. ALL. but pollute the internet with reblogged bollocks from ICR, AIG, CMI, but with that personal touch of one or two paragraphs of introduction, which is usually as fucked up as the post you’re talking about.

Another quick example is your Sediment and Stratigraphy post where you state evolutionists logic in dating fossils:

How old is the fossil? You can tell because of the rock layers that contained it. How can you tell how old the rock layers are? Because of the fossils in them.

You’ve got some nerve having truth in the title of your blog, and that’s just one example from hundreds on your web site. Why do you make this shit up? Why not actually write and explain to your readers that they date fossils by dating volcanic layers above and below the fossil which gives us an age range for when the animal died. Intellectual honesty much Bob?

Now I’m not saying as an atheist or someone who things evolution is a proven fact that I’m more intelligent or a better person than anyone else, including yourself.

I have no education whatsoever. I left school at 16 with no qualifications, but I had two things going for me. 1. I was a good programmer and graphic artist at that age so I had a career anyway, and 2. I love to read, and that is where I learnt about science, not in the physics classroom where we learnt about vacuums, properties of light and boiling water in a fucking bucket.

I know you won’t agree, but I’m open minded and I’m utterly convinced that to argue against something, you have to understand both sides of the argument and I’ve read the books which put the side of creationism and intelligent design but like I’ve read books on evolution, genetics, geology, archeology.

If only you questioned your belief in the Bible and God with the same vigour.

So where are these questions, apart from the 15 from CMI that have been ripped to shreds already?

*chirping crickets sound*

Just as I thought. There isn’t any.

And what is with this capice and buono sera. I’m sure you think it makes you sound cool and intelligent, but just as the content on your blogs, using Italian to start and end a blog post when you think you’ve falsified evolution just makes you sound like a cock.

So to conclude, let’s pop the a final bubble. You have this idea that atheism wants to silence creationism or fundamentalism. The truth couldn’t be further from the truth. You see, the more you open your mouth, post blogs and tweet, the less work any atheist has to do in making the case against any form of organised religion and their resulting utter stupidity.

So far from wanting to deny you your right to free speech, in contrast to you’re own muzzling of opponents, I want to encourage you more into the pit of stupidity.