View source for Philosophy:Objections to evolution

{{short description|Arguments that have been made against evolution}}
{{Evolutionary biology}}
'''Objections to evolution''' have been raised since evolutionary ideas came to prominence in the 19th century. When [[Biography:Charles Darwin|Charles Darwin]] published his 1859 book ''On the Origin of Species'', his theory of [[Biology:Evolution|evolution]] (the idea that [[Biology:Species|species]] arose through [[Biology:Common descent|descent with modification from a single common ancestor]] in a process driven by [[Biology:Natural selection|natural selection]]) initially met opposition from [[Scientist|scientist]]s with different theories, but eventually came to receive [[Biology:Level of support for evolution#Scientific support|overwhelming acceptance]] in the [[Philosophy:Scientific community|scientific community]]. The observation of evolutionary processes occurring (as well as the [[Biology:Neo-Darwinism|modern evolutionary synthesis]] explaining that evidence) has been uncontroversial among mainstream [[Biologist|biologist]]s since the 1940s.

Since then, most criticisms and denials of evolution have come from [[Religion:Religion|religious]] groups, rather than from the scientific community. Although many religious groups have found reconciliation of their beliefs with evolution, such as through [[Religion:Theistic evolution|theistic evolution]], other religious groups continue to reject evolutionary explanations in favor of [[Philosophy:Creationism|creationism]], the belief that the universe and life were created by [[Philosophy:Supernatural|supernatural]] forces. The {{wipe|United States}}-centered [[Unsolved:Creation–evolution controversy|creation–evolution controversy]] has become a focal point of perceived conflict between [[Religion:Relationship between religion and science|religion and science]].

Several branches of creationism, including [[Unsolved:Creation science|creation science]], [[Unsolved:Neo-creationism|neo-creationism]], and [[Unsolved:Intelligent design|intelligent design]], argue that the idea of life being directly designed by a [[Religion:God|god]] or intelligence is at least as scientific as evolutionary theory, and should therefore be [[Social:Creation and evolution in public education|taught in public education]]. Such arguments against evolution have become widespread and include objections to evolution's [[Scientific evidence|evidence]], [[Methodology|methodology]], plausibility, [[Philosophy:Morality|morality]], and scientific acceptance. The scientific community does not recognize such objections as valid, pointing to detractors' misinterpretations of such things as the [[Scientific method|scientific method]], evidence, and basic [[Physical law|physical law]]s.

==History==
[[File:Charles Darwin seated crop.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Charles Darwin's theory of evolution gained widespread acceptance as a description of the origin of species, but there was continued resistance to his views on the significance of natural selection as the mechanism of evolution.]]

Evolutionary ideas came to prominence in the early 19th century with the theory (developed between 1800 and 1822) of the [[Biology:Transmutation of species|transmutation of species]] put forward by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744–1829).  At first the [[Philosophy:Scientific community|scientific community]] – and notably [[Biography:Georges Cuvier|Georges Cuvier]] (1769–1832) – opposed the idea of evolution.<ref name="icj">{{cite book |last= Johnston |first= Ian C. |year= 1999 |chapter= Section Three: The Origins of Evolutionary Theory |chapter-url= http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/darwin/sect3.htm |title= . . . And Still We Evolve: A Handbook for the Early History of Modern Science |url= http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/darwin/title.htm |edition= 3rd revised |location= Nanaimo, BC |publisher= Liberal Studies Department, Malaspina University-College |access-date= 2007-07-25 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160416050826/http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/darwin/title.htm |archive-date= 2016-04-16 |url-status= dead }}</ref> The idea that [[Physical law|laws]] control [[Earth:Nature|nature]] and [[Organization:Society|society]] gained vast popular audiences with George Combe's ''The Constitution of Man'' of 1828 and with the anonymous ''Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation'' of 1844. When [[Biography:Charles Darwin|Charles Darwin]] published his 1859 book ''On the Origin of Species'', he convinced most of the scientific community that new species arise through descent through modification in a branching pattern of divergence from [[Biology:Common descent|common ancestors]], but while most scientists accepted natural selection as a valid and [[Empirical evidence|empirical]]ly testable [[Hypothesis|hypothesis]], Darwin's view of it as the primary mechanism of evolution was rejected by some.<ref name=darwin-online-2002-van-wyhe-complete />

Darwin's contemporaries eventually came to accept the transmutation of species based upon [[Biology:Fossil|fossil]] evidence, and the [[Religion:X Club|X Club]] (operative from 1864 to 1893) formed to defend the concept of evolution against opposition from the church and wealthy amateurs.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.aboutdarwin.com/timeline/November.html |title= Darwin's Timeline: November |date= February 10, 2008 |website= AboutDarwin.com |publisher= David Leff |location= Eugene, OR |access-date= 2015-03-21 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151128025624/http://www.aboutdarwin.com/timeline/November.html |archive-date= November 28, 2015 |url-status= dead |df= mdy-all }}</ref> At that time the specific evolutionary mechanism which Darwin provided – [[Biology:Natural selection|natural selection]] – was actively disputed by scientists in favour of alternative theories such as [[Biology:Lamarckism|Lamarckism]] and [[Philosophy:Orthogenesis|orthogenesis]]. Darwin's [[Earth:Gradualism|gradualistic]] account was also opposed by the ideas of [[Biology:Saltation|saltationism]] and [[Earth:Catastrophism|catastrophism]]. [[Biography:William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin|Lord Kelvin]] led scientific opposition to gradualism on the basis of his thermodynamic calculations for the [[Earth:Age of the Earth|age of the Earth]] at between 24 and 400 million years, and his views favoured a version of theistic evolution accelerated by divine guidance.<ref>{{harvnb|Bowler|1992|pp= 23–24}}</ref>  Geological estimates disputed Kelvin's age of the earth, and the geological approach gained strength in 1907 when radioactive dating of rocks revealed the Earth as billions of years old.<ref name="England et al 2007">{{cite journal |last1= England |first1= Philip |last2= Molnar |first2= Peter |last3= Righter |first3= Frank |date= January 2007 |title= John Perry's neglected critique of Kelvin's age for the Earth: A missed opportunity in geodynamics |journal=GSA Today |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=4–9 |doi=10.1130/GSAT01701A.1 |bibcode= 2007GSAT...17R...4E |issn=1052-5173|doi-access= free }}</ref><ref name="Boltwood">{{cite journal |last= Boltwood |first= Bertram B. |author-link= Bertram Boltwood |date= February 1907 |title= On the Ultimate Disintegration Products of the Radio-Active Elements. Part II. The Disintegration Products of Uranium |journal= American Journal of Science |series= 4 |volume= 23 |issue= 134 |pages= 78–88 |doi= 10.2475/ajs.s4-23.134.78 |s2cid= 131688682 |issn= 0002-9599|url= https://zenodo.org/record/1450152 }}</ref>  The specific [[Biology:Heredity|hereditary]] mechanism which Darwin hypothesized, [[Biology:Pangenesis|pangenesis]], which supported gradualism, also lacked any supporting evidence and was disputed by the empirical tests (1869 onwards) of [[Biography:Francis Galton|Francis Galton]].  Although evolution itself was scientifically unchallenged, uncertainties about the mechanism in the era of "[[Biology:The eclipse of Darwinism|the eclipse of Darwinism]]" persisted from the 1880s until the 1930s'<ref>{{harvnb|Bowler|1992|page= 3}}</ref> inclusion of [[Biology:Mendelian inheritance|Mendelian inheritance]] and the rise of the [[Biology:Modern synthesis (20th century)|modern evolutionary synthesis]]. The modern synthesis rose to universal acceptance among biologists with the help of new evidence, such as that from [[Biology:Genetics|genetics]], which confirmed Darwin's predictions and refuted the competing hypotheses.<ref>{{harvnb|Bowler|2003}}</ref>

[[Religion:Protestantism|Protestantism]], especially in America, broke out in "acrid polemics" and argument about evolution from 1860 to the 1870s—with the turning point possibly marked by the death of Louis Agassiz in 1873—and by 1880 a form of "[[Religion:Christianity|Christian]] evolution" was becoming the consensus.<ref>{{harvnb|Moore|1979|p= 10|ps=. "[...] Loewenberg identifies the period from 1860 to 1880 as one of 'acrid polemics' [...]. The turning-point for acceptance of evolution, [Loewenberg] says, was the death of Louis Agassiz in 1873.[...] Pfeifer [...] finds that [...] some form of 'Christian evolution' had gained wide acceptance by 1880."}}</ref> In Britain, while publication of ''The Descent of Man'' by Darwin in 1871 reinvigorated debate from the previous decade, Sir Henry Chadwick (1920–2008) notes a steady acceptance of evolution "among more educated Christians" between 1860 and 1885.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}} As a result, evolutionary theory was "both permissible and respectable" by 1876.<ref name="moore">{{harvnb|Moore|1979|p= 10}}</ref> Frederick Temple's lectures on ''The Relations between Religion and Science'' (1884) on how evolution was not "antagonistic" to religion highlighted this trend.<ref>{{harvnb|Temple|1884|loc= Lecture IV: [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17194/17194-h/17194-h.htm#LECTURE_IV "Apparent Conflict Between Religion and the Doctrine of Evolution"]}}</ref> Temple's appointment as [[Religion:Archbishop of Canterbury|Archbishop of Canterbury]] in 1896 demonstrated the broad acceptance of evolution within the church hierarchy.<ref name="moore" />

For decades the Roman Catholic Church avoided officially rejecting evolution. However, the Church would rein in Catholics who proposed that evolution could be reconciled with the [[Religion:Bible|Bible]], as this conflicted with the First Vatican Council's (1869–70) finding that everything was created [[Astronomy:Ex nihilo|out of nothing]] by God, and to deny that finding could lead to [[Religion:Excommunication|excommunication]]. In 1950 the encyclical ''[[Religion:Humani generis|Humani generis]]'' of Pope Pius XII first mentioned evolution directly and officially.<ref name=vatican-1950-08-12-pope-pius-xii /> It allowed one to enquire into the concept of [[Biology:Human|human]]s coming from pre-existing living matter, but not to question [[Religion:Adam and Eve|Adam and Eve]] or the creation of the [[Philosophy:Soul|soul]]. In 1996 [[Biography:Pope John Paul II|Pope John Paul II]] labelled evolution "more than a hypothesis" and acknowledged the large body of work accumulated in its support, but reiterated that any attempt to give a material explanation of the human soul is "incompatible with the truth about man".<ref name=caltech-1996-10-30-pope-john-paul-ii /> [[Biography:Pope Benedict XVI|Pope Benedict XVI]] in 2005 reiterated the conviction that human beings "are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary."<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050424_inizio-pontificato.html|title= 24 April 2005: Mass for the inauguration of the Pontificate {{!}} BENEDICT XVI|website= w2.vatican.va|access-date= 2017-05-19}}</ref> At the same time, Pope Benedict promoted the study of the relationship between the concepts of creation and evolution, based on the conviction that there cannot be a contradiction between faith and reason.<ref>See John Allen's essay at https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/benedicts-thinking-creation-and-evolution. See also Christoph Cardinal Schönborn's exposition "Benedict XVI. on 'Creation and Evolution'": http://www.pas.va/content/dam/accademia/pdf/acta20/acta20-schoenbornen.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805193716/http://www.pas.va/content/dam/accademia/pdf/acta20/acta20-schoenbornen.pdf |date=2019-08-05 }}</ref> Along these lines, the research project "Thomistic Evolution", run by a team of Dominican scholars, endeavours to reconcile the scientific evidence on evolution with the teaching of [[Biography:Thomas Aquinas|Thomas Aquinas]]<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.thomisticevolution.org/|title= Thomistic Evolution|website= www.thomisticevolution.org|language= en-US|access-date= 2017-05-19}}</ref> (1225–1274).

[[Religion:Islamic views on evolution|Islamic views on evolution]] ranged from those believing in literal creation (as implied in the [[Religion:Quran|Quran]]) to many educated Muslims who subscribed to a version of theistic or guided evolution in which the Quran reinforced rather than contradicted mainstream science. This occurred relatively early, as medieval [[Engineering:Madrasa|madrasa]]s taught the ideas of Al-Jahiz, a Muslim scholar from the 9th century, who proposed concepts similar to natural selection.<ref name=hssrd-2002-summer-majid /> However, acceptance of evolution remains low in the Muslim world, as prominent figures reject evolution's underpinning [[Philosophy:Philosophy|philosophy]] of [[Philosophy:Materialism|materialism]] as unsound to human origins and a denial of [[Religion:Allah|Allah]].<ref name=hssrd-2002-summer-majid /> Further objections by Muslim authors and writers largely reflect those put forward in the Western world.<ref name="EvoDeceit">{{harvnb|Yahya|1999}}</ref>

Regardless of acceptance from major religious hierarchies, early religious objections to Darwin's theory continue in use in opposition to evolution. The idea that species change over time through natural processes and that different species share common ancestors seemed to contradict the [[Social:Genesis creation narrative|Genesis account of Creation]]. Believers in [[Religion:Biblical infallibility|Biblical infallibility]] attacked [[Biology:Darwinism|Darwinism]] as heretical.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}} The [[Philosophy:Natural theology|natural theology]] of the early-19th century was typified by [[Biography:William Paley|William Paley]]'s 1802 version of the [[Philosophy:Watchmaker analogy|watchmaker analogy]], an [[Astronomy:Teleological argument|argument from design]] still deployed by the creationist movement. Natural theology included a range of ideas and arguments from the outset, and when Darwin's theory was published, ideas of theistic evolution were presented{{by whom|date=October 2019}} in which evolution is accepted as a secondary cause open to scientific investigation, while still holding belief in God as a first cause with a non-specified role in guiding evolution and creating humans.<ref name=Darwin&design>{{cite web |url= https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/darwin-and-design-article |title= Darwin and design |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website= Darwin Correspondence Project |publisher= [[Organization:University of Cambridge|University of Cambridge]]; [[Organization:American Council of Learned Societies|American Council of Learned Societies]] |location= Cambridge, UK |access-date= 2015-03-24 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150327005203/http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/darwin-and-design-article |archive-date= 2015-03-27 }}</ref> This position has been adopted by denominations of [[Religion:Christianity|Christianity]] and [[Religion:Jewish views on evolution|Judaism]] in line with [[Philosophy:Liberal Christianity|modernist theology]] which views the Bible and Torah as allegorical, thus removing the conflict between evolution and religion.

However, in the 1920s [[Religion:Christian fundamentalism|Christian fundamentalists]] in the {{wipe|United States}} developed their [[Religion:Biblical literalism|literalist]] arguments against modernist theology into [[Social:Creation and evolution in public education|opposition to the teaching of evolution]], with fears that Darwinism had led to German militarism and posed a threat to religion and morality. This opposition developed into the creation–evolution controversy, involving Christian literalists in the United States objecting to the teaching of evolution in public schools. Although early objectors dismissed evolution as contradicting their interpretation of the Bible, this argument was legally invalidated when the United States Supreme Court ruled in ''Epperson v. Arkansas'' in 1968 that forbidding the teaching of evolution on religious grounds violated the Establishment Clause.<ref name="SM07">{{cite journal |last1= Scott |first1= Eugenie C. |last2= Matzke |first2= Nicholas J. |author-link2= Nick Matzke |date= May 15, 2007 |title= Biological design in science classrooms |journal= Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume= 104 |issue= suppl. 1 |pages= 8669–8676 |bibcode= 2007PNAS..104.8669S |doi= 10.1073/pnas.0701505104 |issn= 0027-8424 |pmc= 1876445 |pmid= 17494747|doi-access= free }}</ref>

Since then creationists have developed more nuanced objections to evolution, alleging variously that it is unscientific, infringes on creationists' religious freedoms, or that the acceptance of evolution is a religious stance.<ref name="ham">{{harvnb|Ham|1987|loc= Chapter 2: [http://www.creationists.org/evolutionism-is-a-religion.html "Evolution is Religion"]}}</ref> Creationists have appealed to democratic principles of fairness, arguing that evolution is controversial and that science classrooms should therefore "[[Unsolved:Teach the Controversy|Teach the Controversy]]".<ref name="wedge" /> These objections to evolution culminated in the [[Unsolved:Intelligent design movement|intelligent-design movement]] in the 1990s and early 2000s that [[Unsolved:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District|unsuccessfully]] attempted to present itself as a scientific alternative to evolution.<ref name="bush">{{cite press release |last= Workosky |first= Cindy |date= August 3, 2005 |title= National Science Teachers Association Disappointed About Intelligent Design Comments Made by President Bush |url= http://old.nsta.org/about/pressroom.aspx?id=50794 |location= Arlington, VA |publisher= National Science Teachers Association |access-date= 2007-03-24 |archive-date= 2021-09-08 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210908170615/https://old.nsta.org/about/pressroom.aspx?id=50794 |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref name="HarrisPoll">
{{cite journal
 |last= Bishop |first= George |date= August 2006
 |title= Polls Apart on Human Origins
 |url= http://www.publicopinionpros.norc.org/features/2006/aug/bishop3.asp
 |journal= Public Opinion Pros |issn= 1555-5518
 |access-date= 2008-10-27
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110727130125/http://www.publicopinionpros.norc.org/features/2006/aug/bishop3.asp
 |archive-date= 2011-07-27 |url-status= dead
}}
</ref>

==Defining evolution==

A major source of confusion and ambiguity in any creation–evolution debate arises from the definition of ''evolution'' itself. In the context of biology, evolution is genetic changes in populations of organisms over successive generations. The word also has a number of different meanings in different fields, from [[Evolutionary computation|evolutionary computation]] to [[Biology:Molecular evolution|molecular evolution]] to [[Social:Sociocultural evolution|sociocultural evolution]] to [[Astronomy:Stellar evolution|stellar]] and [[Astronomy:Galaxy formation and evolution|galactic evolution]].

{{Multiple image|direction=vertical|align=right|image1= Biston.betularia.7200.jpg |image2= Biston.betularia.f.carbonaria.7209.jpg|width= 200| caption1= White peppered moth |caption2= Black morph in [[Biology:Peppered moth evolution|peppered moth evolution]]. Even minor variation in a population can lead to evolution by natural selection.}}

''Evolution'' in colloquial contexts can refer to any sort of "progressive" development or gradual improvement, and a process that results in greater quality or complexity.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evolution | title = Definition of Evolution| publisher = merriam-webster.com | access-date = 4 January 2017 | quote = 2 c (1): a process of continuous change from a lower, simpler, or worse to a higher, more complex, or better state : GROWTH <br> (2): a process of gradual and relatively peaceful social, political, and economic advance}}</ref> When misapplied to biological evolution this common meaning can lead to frequent misunderstandings. For example, the idea of [[Biology:Devolution|devolution]] ("backwards" evolution) is a result of erroneously assuming that evolution is directional or has a specific goal in mind (cf. orthogenesis). In reality, the evolution of a biological organism has no "objective" and is only showing increasing ability of successive generations to survive and reproduce in their environment; and increased suitability is only defined in relation to this environment. Biologists do not regard any one species (such as humans) as more ''highly evolved'' or ''advanced'' than another. Certain sources have been criticized for indicating otherwise due to a tendency to evaluate nonhuman organisms according to [[Philosophy:Anthropocentrism|anthropocentric]] standards rather than according to more objective ones.<ref name="devolving">{{cite journal |last=Dougherty |first= Michael J. |date=July 20, 1998 |title=Is the human race evolving or devolving? |url= http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-the-human-race-evolvin/ |journal=Scientific American |issn=0036-8733 |access-date=2015-03-24}}</ref>

Evolution also does not require that organisms become more complex. Although the [[Biology:Timeline of the evolutionary history of life|biological development of different forms of life]] shows an apparent trend towards the [[Biology:Evolution of biological complexity|evolution of biological complexity]], there is a question as to whether this appearance of increased complexity is real, or whether it comes from neglecting the fact that the majority of life on Earth has always consisted of [[Biology:Prokaryote|prokaryote]]s.<ref name="Carroll">{{cite journal |last=Carroll |first= Sean B. |date=February 22, 2001 |title=Chance and necessity: the evolution of morphological complexity and diversity |journal=Nature |volume=409 |issue=6823 |pages=1102–1109 |doi=10.1038/35059227 |issn=0028-0836 |pmid=11234024|bibcode=2001Natur.409.1102C |s2cid= 4319886 }}</ref> In this view, complexity is not a necessary consequence of evolution, but specific circumstances of evolution on Earth frequently made greater complexity advantageous and thus [[Biology:Natural selection|naturally selected]] for. Depending on the situation, organisms' complexity can either increase, decrease, or stay the same, and all three of these trends have been observed in studies of evolution.<ref name="devolving" />

Creationist sources frequently define evolution according to a colloquial, rather than the scientific meaning. As a result, many attempts to rebut evolution do not address the findings of [[Biology:Evolutionary biology|evolutionary biology]] (see [[Straw man|straw-man argument]]). This also means that advocates of creationism and evolutionary biologists often simply speak past each other.<ref name=talkorigins-1993-1-22-moran-definition />
==Scientific acceptance==

===Status as a theory===
{{further|Biology:Evolution as fact and theory}}

Critics of evolution assert that evolution is "just a theory", which emphasizes that scientific theories are never absolute, or misleadingly presents it as a matter of opinion rather than of fact or evidence.<ref name=talkorigins-1993-1-22-moran-fact /> This reflects a difference of the meaning of ''[[Theory|theory]]'' in a scientific context: whereas in colloquial speech a ''theory'' is a conjecture or guess, in [[Scientific theory|science, a theory]] is an explanation whose predictions have been verified by experiments or other evidence. ''Evolutionary theory'' refers to an explanation for the diversity of species and their ancestry which has met extremely high standards of scientific evidence. An example of evolution as theory is the [[Biology:Modern synthesis (20th century)|modern synthesis]] of Darwinian natural selection and Mendelian inheritance. As with any scientific theory, the modern synthesis is constantly debated, tested, and refined by scientists, but there is an overwhelming consensus in the scientific community that it remains the only robust model that accounts for the known facts concerning evolution.<ref name=aaas-2006-2-16-statement-teaching-evolution />

Critics also state that evolution is not a [[Philosophy:Fact|fact]].<ref name="MentonFact">{{cite web |url=http://mall.turnpike.net/C/cs/theory.htm |title=Is Evolution a Theory, a Fact, or a Law? |last=Menton |first=David N. |year=1993 |work=Missouri Association for Creation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100914223848/http://mall.turnpike.net/C/cs/theory.htm |archive-date=2010-09-14 |access-date=2010-06-16}} "Originally published in: St. Louis MetroVoice, October 1993, Vol. 3, No. 10"</ref> In science a fact is a verified empirical observation while in colloquial contexts a fact can simply refer to anything for which there is overwhelming evidence. For example, in common usage theories such as "[[Astronomy:Heliocentrism|the Earth revolves around the Sun]]" and "objects fall due to gravity" may be referred to as "facts", even though they are purely theoretical. From a scientific standpoint, therefore, evolution may be called a "fact" for the same reason that gravity can: under the scientific definition, evolution is an observable process that occurs whenever a population of organisms genetically changes over time. Under the colloquial definition, the theory of evolution can also be called a fact, referring to this theory's well-established nature. Thus, evolution is widely considered [[Biology:Evolution as fact and theory|both a theory and a fact]] by scientists.<ref name=talkorigins-1993-1-22-moran-fact /><ref name=talkorigins-2003-10-1-faq-misconceptions-isaak /><ref name="gouldfact">{{harvnb|Gould|1983|pp=253–262}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/lenski.html |title=Evolution: Fact and Theory |last=Lenski |first=Richard E. |date=September 2000 |website=actionbioscience |publisher=[[Organization:American Institute of Biological Sciences|American Institute of Biological Sciences]] |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=2007-03-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403205805/http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/lenski.html |archive-date=2007-04-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Similar confusion is involved in objections that evolution is "unproven", since no theory in science is known to be absolutely true, only verified by [[Empirical evidence|empirical evidence]].<ref name=icr-morris /><ref>{{harvnb|Morris|1974}}</ref> This distinction is an important one in [[Philosophy:Philosophy of science|philosophy of science]], as it relates to the lack of absolute [[Philosophy:Certainty|certainty]] in all empirical claims, not just evolution. Strict [[Proof theory|proof]] is possible only in [[Formal science|formal science]]s such as logic and mathematics, not [[Natural science|natural science]]s (where terms such as "validated" or "corroborated" are more appropriate). Thus, to say that evolution is not proven is trivially true, but no more an indictment of evolution than calling it a "theory". The confusion arises in that the colloquial meaning of ''proof'' is simply "compelling evidence", in which case scientists would indeed consider evolution "proven".<ref name="Theobald">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/sciproof.html |title=Scientific 'Proof', scientific evidence, and the scientific method |last=Theobald |first=Douglas |work=29+ Evidences for Macroevolution: The Scientific Case for Common Descent |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2007-03-24}} Version 2.89.</ref>

===Degree of acceptance===
{{further|Biology:Level of support for evolution}}

An objection is often made in the teaching of evolution that evolution is controversial or contentious.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Ratliff |first=Evan |date=October 2004 |title=The Crusade Against Evolution |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/evolution.html?pg=2 |magazine=Wired |volume=12 |issue=10 |issn=1059-1028 |access-date=2015-03-27}}</ref><ref name="equal" />  Unlike past creationist arguments which sought to abolish the teaching of evolution altogether, this argument makes the claim that evolution should be presented alongside alternative views since it is controversial, and students should be allowed to evaluate and choose between the options on their own.<ref name="equal">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CA/CA040.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CA040: Equal time |date=September 25, 2004 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2007-03-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Meyer |first=Stephen C. |author-link=Stephen C. Meyer |date=March 30, 2002 |title=Teach the Controversy |url=http://www.discovery.org/a/1134 |newspaper=The Cincinnati Enquirer |location=Tysons Corner, VA |publisher=[[Company:Gannett Company|Gannett Company]] |access-date=2015-03-27}}</ref>

This objection forms the basis of the "[[Unsolved:Teach the Controversy|Teach the Controversy]]" campaign by the [[Organization:Discovery Institute|Discovery Institute]], a think tank based in Seattle, Washington, to promote the teaching of intelligent design in U.S. public schools.  This goal followed the Institute's "[[Unsolved:Wedge strategy|wedge strategy]]", an attempt to gradually undermine evolution and ultimately to "reverse the stifling dominance of the  [[Philosophy:Materialism|materialist]] worldview, and to replace it with a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions."<ref name="wedge">A copy of the [[Organization:Discovery Institute|Discovery Institute]]'s ''[[Unsolved:Wedge strategy|wedge strategy]]'' document is found here: {{cite web |url=http://www.antievolution.org/features/wedge.pdf |title=The Wedge |year=1999 |publisher=Discovery Institute |location=Seattle, WA |access-date=2007-03-24}} pg 6 Five Year Strategic Plan Summary end of para 1 "We are building on this momentum, broadening the wedge with a positive scientific alternative to materialistic scientific theories, which has come to be called the theory of intelligent design (ID). Design theory promises to reverse the stifling dominance of the materialist worldview, and to replace it with a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions."</ref> Several other attempts were made to insert intelligent design or creationism into the U.S. public school curriculum, including the failed [[Unsolved:Santorum Amendment|Santorum Amendment]] in 2001.<ref name=washingtonpost-2005-8-2-gwb />

Scientists and U.S. courts have rejected this objection on the grounds that science is not based on [[Philosophy:Argumentum ad populum|appeals to popularity]], but on evidence. The [[Philosophy:Scientific consensus|scientific consensus]] of biologists determines what is considered acceptable science, not popular opinion or fairness, and although evolution is controversial in the public arena, it is entirely uncontroversial among experts in the field.<ref name="scott" /><ref name="IAP_2006">{{cite web |url=http://www.interacademies.net/10878/13901.aspx |title=IAP Statement on the Teaching of Evolution |author=IAP Member Academies |date=June 21, 2006 |website=IAP |publisher=The World Academy of Sciences |location=Trieste, Italy |access-date=2015-03-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717190031/http://www.interacademies.net/10878/13901.aspx |archive-date=July 17, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In response, creationists have disputed the level of scientific [[Biology:Level of support for evolution|support for evolution]]. The Discovery Institute has gathered over 761 scientists as of August 2008 to sign ''A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism'' in order to show that there are a number of scientists who dispute what they refer to as "Darwinian evolution". This statement did not profess outright disbelief in evolution, but expressed skepticism as to the ability of "random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life." Several counter-petitions have been launched in turn, including ''[[Religion:A Scientific Support for Darwinism|A Scientific Support for Darwinism]]'', which gathered over 7,000 signatures in four days,<ref>{{citation | title=Ask Science |first=Kenneth |last= Chang |newspaper=New York Times |date=February 21, 2006 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/21/science/ask-science.html |access-date=2016-09-08}}</ref> and Project Steve, a tongue-in-cheek petition that has gathered the signatures of 1,393 (as of May 24, 2016) evolution-supporting scientists named "Steve" (or any similar variation thereof—Stephen, Stephanie, Esteban, etc.).<ref name="PS1200">{{cite web |url=http://ncse.com/news/2012/04/project-steve-n-1200-007293 |title=Project Steve: n > 1200 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=April 6, 2012 |website=National Center for Science Education |location=Oakland, CA |access-date=May 24, 2016
}}</ref>

Creationists have argued for over a century that evolution is a "theory in crisis" that will soon be overturned, based on objections that it lacks reliable evidence or violates natural laws. These objections have been rejected by most scientists, as have claims that intelligent design, or any other creationist explanation, meets the basic scientific standards that would be required to make them scientific alternatives to evolution. It is also argued that even if evidence against evolution exists, it is a [[Philosophy:False dilemma|false dilemma]] to characterize this as evidence ''for'' intelligent design.<ref name=entouch-2002-morton-imminent-demise />

A similar objection to evolution is that certain scientific authorities—mainly pre-modern ones—have doubted or rejected evolution.<ref name="deceased">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CA/CA114.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CA114: Many famous scientists were creationists |date=November 25, 2005 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2022-01-24}}</ref> Most commonly, it is argued that Darwin "recanted" on his deathbed, a false anecdote originating from Lady Hope's story.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hope.html |title=The Lady Hope Story: A Widespread Falsehood |first=Simon |last=Yates |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2022-01-24}}</ref> These objections are generally rejected as appeals to authority.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_4K720YRj88C&q=Lady+Hope%27s+story+appeal+to+authority&pg=PA229 | title=Evangelicals and Science in Historical Perspective| isbn=9780195353969| last1=Livingstone| first1=David N.| last2=Hart| first2=D. G.| last3=Noll| first3=Mark A.| date=1999-04-08| publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>

==Scientific status==
A common neo-creationist objection to evolution is that evolution does not adhere to normal scientific standards—that it is not genuinely scientific. It is argued that evolutionary biology does not follow the [[Scientific method|scientific method]] and therefore should not be taught in science classes, or at least should be taught alongside other views (i.e., creationism). These objections often deal with:
* the very nature of evolutionary theory,
* the scientific method, and
* the [[Philosophy:Philosophy of science|philosophy of science]].

===Religious nature===
{{further|Religion:Relationship between religion and science|Scientism}}

Creationists commonly argue that "evolution is a religion; it is not a science."<ref name="ham" /> The purpose of this criticism is to reframe the debate from one between science (evolution) and religion (creationism) to between two religious beliefs—or even to argue that evolution is religious while intelligent design is not.<ref>{{harvnb|Dembski|1998}}</ref><ref name="notscience">{{cite journal |last=Morris |first=Henry M. |date=February 2001 |url=http://www.icr.org/i/pdf/imp/imp-332.pdf |title=Evolution Is Religion—Not Science |journal=Impact |location=El Cajon, CA |publisher=[[Organization:Institute for Creation Research|Institute for Creation Research]] |issue=332 |pages=i–iv |oclc=8153605 |access-date=2015-03-28}}</ref> Those that oppose evolution frequently refer to supporters of evolution as "evolutionists" or "[[Biology:Darwinism|Darwinists]]".<ref name="ham" />

The arguments for evolution being a religion generally amount to arguments by [[Analogy|analogy]]: it is argued that evolution and religion have one or more things in common, and that therefore evolution is a religion. Examples of claims made in such arguments are statements that evolution is based on [[Philosophy:Faith|faith]],<ref name=icr-morris /> and that supporters of evolution [[Philosophy:Dogma|dogma]]tically reject alternative suggestions out-of-hand.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wiker |first=Benjamin D. |date=July–August 2003 |title=Part II: The Christian Critics — Does Science Point to God? |url=http://www.crisismagazine.com/2003/part-ii-the-christian-critics-does-science-point-to-god |journal=Crisis Magazine |publisher=Morley Publishing Group |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=2015-03-28}}</ref> These claims have become more popular in recent years as the neo-creationist movement has sought to distance itself from religion, thus giving it more reason to make use of a seemingly anti-religious analogy.<ref name="scott">{{harvnb|Scott|2005}}</ref>

Supporters of evolution have argued in response that no scientist's claims are treated as sacrosanct, as shown by the aspects of Darwin's theory that have been rejected or revised by scientists over the years to form first [[Biology:Neo-Darwinism|neo-Darwinism]] and later the [[Biology:Modern synthesis (20th century)|modern evolutionary synthesis]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CA/CA611.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CA611: Evolution Sacrosanct? |date=February 15, 2004 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2015-03-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kutschera |first1=Ulrich |last2=Niklas |first2=Karl J. |author-link2=Karl J. Niklas |date=June 2004 |title=The modern theory of biological evolution: an expanded synthesis |journal=Naturwissenschaften |volume=91 |issue=6 |pages=255–276 |bibcode=2004NW.....91..255K |doi=10.1007/s00114-004-0515-y |issn=1432-1904 |pmid=15241603|s2cid=10731711 }}</ref> The claim that evolution relies on faith is likewise rejected on the grounds that evolution has strong supporting evidence, and therefore does not require faith.

The argument that evolution is religious has been rejected in general on the grounds that ''religion'' is not defined by how dogmatic or zealous its adherents are, but by its spiritual or supernatural beliefs. But evolution is neither dogmatic nor based on faith, and they accuse creationists of [[Philosophy:Equivocation|equivocating]] between the strict definition of ''religion'' and its colloquial usage to refer to anything that is enthusiastically or dogmatically engaged in. United States courts have also rejected this objection:<ref>{{cite court |litigants=McLean v. Arkansas|McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education |vol=529 |reporter=F. Supp. |opinion=1255 |court=E.D. Ark. |year=1982 |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/mclean-v-arkansas.html}}</ref>

<blockquote>Assuming for the purposes of argument, however, that evolution is a religion or religious tenet, the remedy is to stop the teaching of evolution, not establish another religion in opposition to it. Yet it is clearly established in the case law, and perhaps also in common sense, that evolution is not a religion and that teaching evolution does not violate the Establishment Clause, Epperson v. Arkansas, supra, [[Organization:Willoughby v. Stever|Willoughby v. Stever]], No. 15574-75 (D.D.C. May 18, 1973); aff'd. 504 F.2d 271 (D.C. Cir. 1974), cert. denied, 420 U.S. 924 (1975); Wright v. Houston Indep. School Dist., 366 F. Supp. 1208 (S.D. Tex 1978), aff.d. 486 F.2d 137 (5th Cir. 1973), cert. denied 417 U.S. 969 (1974).</blockquote>

A related claim is that evolution is [[Philosophy:Atheism|atheistic]] (see the Atheism section below); creationists sometimes merge the two claims and describe evolution as an "atheistic religion" (cf. [[Philosophy:Humanism|humanism]]).<ref name="notscience" /> This argument against evolution is also frequently generalized into a criticism of all science; it is argued that "science is an atheistic religion", on the grounds that its [[Philosophy:Naturalism#Methodological naturalism|methodological naturalism]] is as unproven, and thus as "faith-based", as the supernatural and theistic beliefs of creationism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://atheism.about.com/od/atheismscienceevolution/a/ScienceFaith.htm |title=Myth: Science is a Religion for Atheists that Requires Faith |last=Cline |first=Austin |year=2006 |website=About.com |publisher=[[Company:The New York Times Company|The New York Times Company]] |location=New York |access-date=2007-03-25 |archive-date=2011-04-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429013934/http://atheism.about.com/od/atheismscienceevolution/a/ScienceFaith.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Unfalsifiability{{anchor|Evolution is unfalsifiable}}===
A statement is considered [[Philosophy:Falsifiability|falsifiable]] if there is an observation or a test that could be made that would demonstrate that the statement is false. Statements that are not falsifiable cannot be examined by scientific investigation since they permit no tests that evaluate their accuracy. Creationists such as [[Biography:Henry M. Morris|Henry M. Morris]] have claimed that any observation can be fitted into the evolutionary framework, so it is impossible to demonstrate that evolution is wrong and therefore evolution is non-scientific.<ref name="CA211">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CA/CA211.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CA211: Evolution falsifiable |date=March 3, 2004 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2008-04-20}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Morris|1974|pp=6–7}}</ref>

Evolution could be falsified by many conceivable lines of evidence, such as:
* the [[Biology:Fossil#Dating|fossil record]] showing no change over time,
* confirmation that mutations are prevented from accumulating in a population, or
* observations of organisms being created supernaturally or spontaneously.<ref name="CA211" />
[[Biography:J. B. S. Haldane|J. B. S. Haldane]], when asked what hypothetical evidence could disprove evolution, replied "[[Biology:Precambrian rabbit|fossil rabbits in the Precambrian era]]."<ref>{{harvnb|Ridley|2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Wallis|first=Claudia|date=August 7, 2005|title=The Evolution Wars|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1090909-1,00.html|magazine={{wipe|Time (magazine)}}|volume=166|issue=7|pages=26–30, 32, 34–5|pmid=16116981|access-date=2015-03-30}}</ref> Numerous other potential ways to falsify evolution have also been proposed.<ref name="Theobald" /> For example, the fact that humans have one fewer pair of chromosomes than the [[Biology:Hominidae|great apes]] offered a testable hypothesis involving the fusion or splitting of chromosomes from a common ancestor. The fusion hypothesis was confirmed in 2005 by discovery that human chromosome 2 is homologous with a fusion of two chromosomes that remain separate in other [[Biology:Primate|primate]]s. Extra, inactive [[Biology:Telomere|telomere]]s and [[Biology:Centromere|centromere]]s remain on human chromosome 2 as a result of the fusion.<ref name="pbslearningmedia-2007-human-chromosome-2" /> The assertion of common descent could also have been disproven with the invention of [[Biology:DNA sequencing|DNA sequencing]] methods. If true, human [[Biology:DNA|DNA]] should be far more similar to chimpanzees and other great apes, than to other [[Biology:Mammal|mammal]]s. If not, then common descent is falsified. DNA analysis has shown that humans and chimpanzees share a large percentage of their DNA (between 95% and 99.4% depending on the measure).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3744-chimps-are-human-gene-study-implies.html|title=Chimps are human, gene study implies|last=Hecht|first=Jeff|date=May 19, 2003|work=New Scientist|access-date=2008-05-10|publisher=Reed Business Information|location=London|issn=0262-4079}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Wildman|first1=Derek E.|last2=Uddin|first2=Monica|author3=Guozhen Liu|last4=Grossman|first4=Lawrence I.|last5=Goodman|first5=Morris|display-authors=3|date=June 10, 2003|title=Implications of natural selection in shaping 99.4% nonsynonymous DNA identity between humans and chimpanzees: Enlarging genus ''Homo''|journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.|volume=100|issue=12|pages=7181–7188|doi=10.1073/pnas.1232172100|issn=0027-8424|pmc=165850|pmid=12766228|bibcode=2003PNAS..100.7181W|doi-access=free}}</ref> Also, the evolution of [[Biology:Pan (genus)|chimpanzee]]s and humans from a common ancestor predicts a (geologically) recent common ancestor. Numerous [[Biology:Transitional fossil|transitional fossil]]s have since been found.<ref name="talkorigins-faqs-foley" /> Hence, human evolution has passed several falsifiable tests.

Many of Darwin's ideas and assertions of fact have been falsified as evolutionary science has developed, but these amendments and falsifications have uniformly confirmed his central concepts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/evolphil/falsify.html|title=Is Evolution Science, and What Does 'Science' Mean?|last=Wilkins|first=John S.|year=1997|work=Evolution and Philosophy|publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc.|location=Houston, TX|access-date=2007-03-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://wasdarwinwrong.com/kortho13.htm#Wrong|title=In What Way Was Darwin Wrong?|last=Korthof|first=Gert|website=Towards The Third Evolutionary Synthesis|access-date=2011-11-26}}</ref> In contrast, creationist explanations involving the direct intervention of the supernatural in the physical world are not falsifiable, because any result of an experiment or investigation could be the unpredictable action of an omnipotent deity.<ref name="Expelled Exposed: Science & Religion">{{cite web|url=http://www.expelledexposed.com/the-truth/evolution|title=Why Expelled Flunks » Science & Religion|website=Expelled Exposed|publisher=National Center for Science Education|location=Oakland, CA|access-date=2015-03-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813194325/http://www.expelledexposed.com/the-truth/evolution|archive-date=2016-08-13|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1976, the philosopher [[Biography:Karl Popper|Karl Popper]] said that "Darwinism is not a testable scientific theory but a metaphysical research programme."<ref>{{harvnb|Popper|1985}}</ref> He later changed his mind and argued that Darwin's "theory of natural selection is difficult to test" with respect to other areas of science.<ref name="popper">{{cite journal |last=Popper |first=Karl |date=December 1978 |title=Natural Selection and the Emergence of Mind |journal=Dialectica |volume=32 |issue=3–4 |pages=339–355 |doi=10.1111/j.1746-8361.1978.tb01321.x |issn=1746-8361}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Cole |first=John R. |date=Fall 1981 |title=Misquoted Scientists Respond |url=http://ncse.com/cej/2/4/misquoted-scientists-respond |journal=Creation/Evolution |location=Buffalo, NY |publisher=National Center for Science Education |volume=2 |issue=4 |access-date=2015-03-29}} Quoting Popper: "I have changed my mind about the testability and logical status of the theory of natural selection, and I am glad to have the opportunity to make a recantation."</ref>

In his 1982 book, ''Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism'', philosopher of science [[Biography:Philip Kitcher|Philip Kitcher]] specifically addresses the "falsifiability" question by taking into account notable philosophical critiques of Popper by [[Biography:Carl Gustav Hempel|Carl Gustav Hempel]] and [[Biography:Willard Van Orman Quine|Willard Van Orman Quine]] and provides a definition of theory other than as a set of falsifiable statements.<ref>{{harvnb|Hempel|1965|}}
* {{harvnb|Quine|1953}}</ref> As Kitcher points out, if one took a strictly Popperian view of "theory", observations of [[Astronomy:Uranus|Uranus]] when it was first discovered in 1781 would have "falsified" [[Biography:Isaac Newton|Isaac Newton]]'s [[Physics:Celestial mechanics|celestial mechanics]].{{how|date=August 2019}} Rather, people suggested that another planet influenced Uranus' orbit—and this prediction was indeed eventually confirmed. Kitcher agrees with Popper that "there is surely something right in the idea that a science can succeed only if it can fail."<ref>{{harvnb|Kitcher|1982|p=45}}</ref> But he insists that we view scientific theories as consisting of an "elaborate collection of statements", some of which are not falsifiable, and others—what he calls "auxiliary hypotheses", which are.

=== Tautological nature ===
A related claim to the supposed unfalsifiability of evolution is that natural selection is [[Philosophy:Tautology (logic)|tautological]].<ref name="popper" /> Specifically, it is often argued that the phrase "[[Biology:Survival of the fittest|survival of the fittest]]" is a tautology, in that [[Biology:Fitness|fitness]] is defined as ability to survive and reproduce.  This phrase was first used by [[Biography:Herbert Spencer|Herbert Spencer]] in 1864 but is rarely used by biologists. Additionally, fitness is more accurately defined as the state of possessing traits that make survival more likely; this definition, unlike simple "survivability", avoids being trivially true.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/evolphil/tautology_org_ver.html |title=A Good Tautology is Hard to Find |last=Wilkins |first=John S. |year=1997 |work=Evolution and Philosophy |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2015-03-30}} Original version. Updated version [http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/evolphil/tautology.html here].</ref><ref>See [[Biology:Survival of the fittest|Survival of the fittest]] for a more thorough discussion.</ref>

Similarly, it is argued that evolutionary theory is [[Philosophy:Circular reasoning|circular reasoning]], in that evidence is interpreted as supporting evolution, but evolution is required to interpret the evidence. An example of this is the claim that geological [[Earth:Stratum|strata]] are dated through the fossils they hold, but that fossils are in turn dated by the strata they are in.<ref name=icr-morris /> However, in most cases strata are not dated by their fossils, but by their position relative to other strata and by [[Physics:Radiometric dating|radiometric dating]], and most strata were dated before the theory of evolution was formulated.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/dating.html |title=Radiometric Dating and the Geological Time Scale: Circular Reasoning or Reliable Tools? |last=MacRae |first=Andrew |date=October 2, 1998 |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2007-03-24}}</ref>

==Evidence==
{{further|Biology:Evidence of common descent}}

Objections to the fact that evolution occurs tend to focus on specific interpretations about the evidence.

===Lack of observation===
[[File:Archaeopteryx-model.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Biology:Transitional fossil|Transitional species]] such as the ''Archaeopteryx'' have been a fixture of the creation–evolution debate for almost 150 years.]]

A common claim of creationists is that evolution has never been observed.<ref>A report of this objecton has been recorded from the nineteenth century {{cite wikisource| title=The Development Hypothesis| last=Spencer| first=Herbert|  year=1852}}</ref><ref name="hovinddvd">{{cite AV media |people=[[Biography:Kent Hovind|Kent Hovind]] (Presenter) |year=2002 |orig-year=Original series published 1998 |title=The Dangers of Evolution |medium=DVD |location=Pensacola, FL |publisher=[[Biography:Kent Hovind#Creation Science Evangelism and Creation Today|Creation Science Evangelism]] |id=Creation Seminar Series, part 5 |oclc=57301209}}</ref> Challenges to such objections often come down to debates over how evolution is defined (see the Defining evolution section above). Under the conventional biological definition of ''evolution'', it is a simple matter to observe evolution occurring. Evolutionary processes, in the form of populations changing their genetic composition from generation to generation, have been observed in different scientific contexts, including the evolution of [[Biology:Drosophila melanogaster|fruit flies]], [[Biology:Mouse|mice]], and [[Biology:Bacteria|bacteria]] in the laboratory,<ref name="Buckling">{{cite journal |last1=Buckling |first1=Angus |last2=Maclean |first2=R. Craig |last3=Brockhurst |first3=Michael A. |last4=Colegrave |first4=Nick |date=February 12, 2009 |title=The ''Beagle'' in a bottle |journal=Nature |volume=457 |issue=7231 |pages=824–829 |bibcode=2009Natur.457..824B |doi=10.1038/nature07892 |issn=0028-0836 |pmid=19212400|s2cid=205216404 }}</ref> and of [[Biology:Tilapia|tilapia]] in the field. Such studies on [[Biology:Experimental evolution|experimental evolution]], particularly those using [[Biology:Microorganism|microorganism]]s, are now providing important insights into how evolution occurs, especially in the case of [[Biology:Antimicrobial resistance|antibiotic resistance]].<ref name="Buckling" /><ref name=naturepublishing-2003-elena />

In response to such examples, creationists say there are two major subdivisions of evolution to be considered, [[Biology:Microevolution|microevolution]] and [[Biology:Macroevolution|macroevolution]], and it is questionable if macro-evolution has been physically observed to occur.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tbsef.org/FAQ.htm#Is%20TBSEF%20against%20teaching%20evolution? |title=Questions frequently asked about the TBSEF: Is TBSEF against teaching evolution? |website=Texans for Better Science Education Foundation |location=Spring, TX |access-date=2015-03-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/kansas/kangaroo10.html |title=Kansas Evolution Hearings: Part 10 |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |type=Transcript |access-date=2015-03-31}}</ref>  Most creationist organizations do not dispute the occurrence of short-term, relatively minor evolutionary changes, such as that observed even in dog breeding. Rather, they dispute the occurrence of major evolutionary changes over long periods of time, which by definition cannot be directly observed, only inferred from microevolutionary processes and the traces of macroevolutionary ones.

As biologists define ''macroevolution'', both microevolution and macroevolution have been observed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CB/CB901.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CB901: No Macroevolution |date=April 16, 2004 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2015-03-31 |quote=As biologists use the term, macroevolution means evolution at or above the species level. Speciation has been observed and documented.}} Published as {{harvnb|Isaak|2007|pp=87–88}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Dawkins|2010|pp=110–120}}</ref> [[Biology:Speciation|Speciation]]s, for example, have been directly observed many times.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-speciation.html#part5 |title=Observed Instances of Speciation |last=Boxhorn |first=Joseph |date=September 1, 1995 |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2007-03-24}}</ref> Additionally, the modern evolutionary synthesis draws no distinction in the processes described by the theory of evolution when considering macroevolution and microevolution as the former is simply at the species level or above and the latter is below the species level.<ref name="Theobald" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/macroevolution.html |title=Macroevolution: Its Definition, Philosophy and History |last=Wilkins |first=John S. |date=September 23, 2006 |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2007-03-24}}</ref> An example of this is [[Biology:Ring species|ring species]].

Additionally, past macroevolution can be inferred from historical traces. Transitional fossils, for example, provide plausible links between several different groups of organisms, such as ''[[Biology:Archaeopteryx|Archaeopteryx]]'' linking [[Biology:Bird|bird]]s and non-avian [[Biology:Dinosaur|dinosaur]]s,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mayr |first1=Gerald |last2=Pohl |first2=Burkhard |last3=Peters |first3=D. Stefan |s2cid=28611454 |date=December 2, 2005 |title=A well-preserved ''Archaeopteryx'' specimen with theropod features |journal=Science |volume=310 |issue=5753 |pages=1483–1486 |bibcode=2005Sci...310.1483M |doi=10.1126/science.1120331 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=16322455|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/15488/files/PAL_E2876.pdf }}</ref> or the ''[[Biology:Tiktaalik|Tiktaalik]]'' linking fish and limbed amphibians.<ref name=nature-2006-4-6-shubin-daeschler-jenkins /> Creationists dispute such examples, from asserting that such fossils are hoaxes or that they belong exclusively to one group or the other, to asserting that there should be far more evidence of obvious transitional species. Darwin himself found the paucity of transitional species to be one of the greatest weaknesses of his theory: <blockquote>Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain  and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory. The explanation lies, as I believe, in the extreme imperfection of the geological record.</blockquote> Darwin appealed to the limited collections then available, the extreme lengths of time involved, and different rates of change with some living species differing very little from fossils of the [[Earth:Silurian|Silurian]] period. In later editions he added "that the periods during which species have been undergoing modification, though very long as measured by years, have probably been short in comparison with the periods during which these same species remained without undergoing any change."<ref name="origin">{{harvnb|Darwin|1859|pp=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F373&pageseq=298 280–313]}}
*{{harvnb|Darwin|1866|pp=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F385&pageseq=391 359–360]}}</ref> The number of clear transitional fossils has increased enormously since Darwin's day, and this problem has been largely resolved with the advent of the theory of [[Biology:Punctuated equilibrium|punctuated equilibrium]], which predicts a primarily stable fossil record broken up by occasional major speciations.<ref name=talkorigins-1998-2-25-elsberry /><ref name=ugent-logica-1986-burian />

As more and more compelling direct evidence for inter-species and species-to-species evolution has been gathered, creationists have redefined their understanding of what amounts to "created kinds", and have continued to insist that more dramatic demonstrations of evolution be experimentally produced.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wieland |first=Carl |date=April 1991 |title=Variation, information and the created kind |url=http://creation.com/variation-information-and-the-created-kind |journal=Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal |publisher=Creation Ministries International |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=42–47 |access-date=2007-03-24}}</ref> One version of this objection is "Were you there?", popularized by [[Unsolved:Young Earth creationism|young Earth creationist]] [[Biography:Ken Ham|Ken Ham]]. It argues that because no one except God could directly observe events in the distant past, scientific claims are just speculation or "story-telling".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ham |first=Ken |author-link=Ken Ham |year=1989 |title=Were You There? |url=http://www.icr.org/article/670/88/ |journal=Acts & Facts |location=El Cajon, CA |publisher=Institute for Creation Research |volume=18 |issue=10 |access-date=2015-04-01}}</ref><ref name=talkorigins-2004-5-10-isaak /> DNA sequences of the [[Biology:Genome|genome]]s of organisms allow an independent test of their predicted relationships, since species which diverged more recently will be more closely related genetically than species which are more distantly related; such [[Biology:Phylogenetic tree|phylogenetic tree]]s show a hierarchical organization within the [[Biology:Tree of life|tree of life]], as predicted by common descent.<ref name=aaas-1997-4-11-huelsenbeck-rannala /><ref name=naturepublishing-2005-5-delsuc-brinkman-philippe />

In fields such as [[Physics:Astrophysics|astrophysics]] or [[Physics:Meteorology|meteorology]], where direct observation or laboratory experiments are difficult or impossible, the scientific method instead relies on observation and logical inference. In such fields, the test of falsifiability is satisfied when a theory is used to predict the results of new observations. When such observations contradict a theory's predictions, it may be revised or discarded if an alternative better explains the observed facts. For example, [[Physics:Newton's law of universal gravitation|Newton's theory of gravitation]] was replaced by [[Biography:Albert Einstein|Albert Einstein]]'s theory of [[Physics:General relativity|general relativity]] when the latter was observed to more precisely predict the orbit of [[Astronomy:Mercury (planet)|Mercury]].<ref name="Ein1916">{{cite journal |last=Einstein |first=Albert |year=1916 |title=Die Grundlage der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie |trans-title=The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity |url=http://www.alberteinstein.info/gallery/gtext3.html |format=PDF |journal=[[Physics:Annalen der Physik|Annalen der Physik]] |language=de |volume='''354''' [49] |issue=7 |pages=769–822 |doi=10.1002/andp.19163540702 |bibcode=1916AnP...354..769E |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060829045130/http://www.alberteinstein.info/gallery/gtext3.html <!--Added by H3llBot-->|archive-date=2006-08-29 |issn=0003-3804 |access-date=2006-09-03}}</ref>

===Unreliable evidence===
A related objection is that evolution is based on unreliable evidence, claiming that evolution is not even well-evidenced. Typically, this is either based on the argument that evolution's evidence is full of frauds and hoaxes, that current evidence for evolution is likely to be overturned as some past evidence has been, or that certain types of evidence are inconsistent and dubious.

Arguments against evolution's reliability are thus often based on analyzing the history of evolutionary thought or the [[History:History of science|history of science]] in general. Creationists point out that in the past, major [[Philosophy:Paradigm shift|scientific revolutions]] have overturned theories that were at the time considered near-certain. They thus claim that current evolutionary theory is likely to undergo such a revolution in the future, on the basis that it is a "theory in crisis" for one reason or another.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CA/CA110.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CA110: Evolution will soon be widely rejected |year=2004 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2007-03-24}}</ref>
[[File:Haeckel drawings.jpg|thumb|180px|right|[[Biography:George Romanes|George Romanes]]' 1892 copy of Ernst Haeckel's embryo drawings, often attributed incorrectly to Haeckel<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Richardson |first1=Michael K. |last2=Keuck |first2=Gerhard |date=November 2002 |title=Haeckel's ABC of evolution and development |journal=Biological Reviews |volume=77 |issue=4 |pages=495–528 |doi=10.1017/S1464793102005948 |issn=1464-7931 |pmid=12475051|citeseerx=10.1.1.578.2749 |s2cid=23494485 }}</ref>]]
Critics of evolution commonly appeal to past scientific hoaxes such as the [[Social:Piltdown Man|Piltdown Man]] forgery. It is argued that because scientists have been mistaken and deceived in the past about evidence for various aspects of evolution, the current evidence for evolution is likely to also be based on fraud and error. Much of the evidence for evolution has been accused of being fraudulent at various times, including ''Archaeopteryx'', [[Biology:Peppered moth evolution|peppered moth melanism]], and [[Biology:Darwin's finches|Darwin's finches]]; these claims have been subsequently refuted.<ref name=archaeopteryx-1986-charig-greenaway-milner-walker-whybrow /><ref name=talkorigins-1997-12-15-nedin /><ref name="wells">{{harvnb|Wells|2000}}</ref><ref name=talkorigins-faqs-wells />

It has also been claimed that certain former pieces of evidence for evolution which are now considered out-of-date and erroneous, such as [[Biography:Ernst Haeckel|Ernst Haeckel]]'s 19th-century comparative drawings of embryos, used to illustrate his [[Biology:Recapitulation theory|recapitulation theory]] (''"[[Biology:Ontogeny|ontogeny]] recapitulates [[Biology:Phylogenetics|phylogeny]]"''), were not merely errors but frauds.<ref name="CB701">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CB/CB701.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CB701: Haeckel's embryo pictures |date=June 5, 2005 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2010-06-07}}</ref> [[Biology:Molecular biology|Molecular biologist]] [[Biography:Jonathan Wells (intelligent design advocate)|Jonathan Wells]]  criticizes biology textbooks by alleging that they continue to reproduce such evidence after it has been debunked.<ref name="wells" /> In response, the [[Organization:National Center for Science Education|National Center for Science Education]] notes that none of the textbooks reviewed by Wells makes the claimed error, as Haeckel's drawings are shown in a historical context with discussion about why they are wrong, and the accurate modern drawings and photos used in the textbooks are misrepresented by Wells.<ref name="Icon4">{{cite web |url=http://ncse.com/creationism/analysis/icon-4-haeckels-embryos |title=Icon 4 — Haeckel's Embryos |last=Gishlick |first=Alan D. |date=November 23, 2006 |website=National Center for Science Education |location=Oakland, CA |access-date=2008-12-17}}</ref>

===Unreliable chronology===
[[File:Haeckel-embryos-weeks4-6.jpg|thumb|left|Illustrations of dog and human embryos, looking almost identical at 4 weeks then differing at 6 weeks, shown above a 6-week turtle embryo and 8 day hen embryo, presented by Haeckel in 1868 as convincing proof of evolution. The pictures of the earliest embryonic stages are now considered inaccurate.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Richardson |first1=Michael K. |last2=Hanken |first2=James |last3=Selwood |first3=Lynne |author-link3=Lynne Selwood |last4=Wright |first4=Glenda M. |last5=Richards |first5=Robert J. |author-link5=Robert J. Richards |last6=Pieau |first6=Claude |last7=Raynaud |first7=Albert |display-authors=3 |date=May 15, 1998 |title=Haeckel, embryos, and evolution |journal=Science |type=Letter to the editor |volume=280 |issue=5366 |pages=983, 985–986 |bibcode=1998Sci...280Q.983R |doi=10.1126/science.280.5366.983c |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=9616084 |s2cid=2497289}}</ref>]]
Creationists claim that evolution relies on certain types of evidence that do not give reliable information about the past. For example, it is argued that [[Physics:Radiometric dating|radiometric dating]] technique of evaluating a material's age based on the [[Physics:Radioactive decay|radioactive decay]] rates of certain [[Physics:Isotope|isotope]]s generates inconsistent and thus unreliable results. [[Physics:Radiocarbon dating|Radiocarbon dating]] based on the [[Physics:Carbon-14|carbon-14]] isotope has been particularly criticized. It is argued that radiometric decay relies on a number of unwarranted assumptions such as the principle of uniformitarianism, consistent decay rates, or rocks acting as [[Closed system|closed system]]s. Such arguments have been dismissed by scientists on the grounds that independent methods have confirmed the reliability of radiometric dating as a whole; additionally, different radiometric dating methods and techniques have independently confirmed each other's results.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CD/CD010.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CD010: Radiometric Dating |year=2004 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2007-03-24}}</ref>

Another form of this objection is that fossil evidence is not reliable. This is based on a much wider range of claims. These include that there are too many "gaps" in the fossil record,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CC/CC200.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CC200: Transitional fossils |date=November 5, 2006 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2008-07-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CC/CC200_1.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CC200.1: Transitional fossil abundance |date=January 29, 2004 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2008-07-13}}</ref> that fossil-dating is circular (see the Unfalsifiability section above), or that certain fossils, such as [[Earth:Polystrate fossil|polystrate fossil]]s, are seemingly "out of place". Examination by geologists have found polystrate fossils to be consistent with ''in situ'' formation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CC/CC340.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CC340: Out-of-place fossils |date=March 22, 2004 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2008-07-13}}</ref> It is argued that certain features of evolution support creationism's [[Earth:Catastrophism|catastrophism]] (cf. [[Religion:Genesis flood narrative|Great Flood]]), rather than evolution's [[Earth:Gradualism|gradualistic]] [[Biology:Punctuated equilibrium|punctuated equilibrium]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CC/CC363.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CC363: Requirements for fossilization |date=July 23, 2003 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2007-03-24}}</ref> which some assert is an ''ad hoc'' theory to explain the fossil gaps.<ref name=talkorigins-2004-3-17-isaak />

==Plausibility==

===Improbability===
{{further|Astronomy:Teleological argument|Philosophy:Watchmaker analogy|Philosophy:Evolutionary argument against naturalism|Philosophy:Haldane's dilemma}}
A common objection to evolution is that it is simply too unlikely for life, in its complexity and apparent "design", to have arisen "by chance". It is argued that the odds of life having arisen without a deliberate intelligence guiding it are so astronomically low that it is unreasonable ''not'' to infer an intelligent designer from the natural world, and specifically from the [[Biology:Biodiversity|diversity of life]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Batten |first=Don |date=March 1995 |title=Cheating with chance |url=http://creation.com/cheating-with-chance |journal=Creation Ex Nihilo |publisher=Creation Ministries International |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=14–15 |access-date=2009-12-06}}</ref> A more extreme version of this argument is that evolution cannot create complex structures (see the Creation of complex structures section below). The idea that it is simply too implausible for life to have evolved is often wrongly encapsulated with a quotation that the "probability of life originating on Earth is no greater than the chance that a hurricane, sweeping through a scrapyard, would have the luck to assemble a [[Engineering:Boeing 747|Boeing 747]]"—a claim attributed to [[Physics:Astrophysics|astrophysicist]] [[Biography:Fred Hoyle|Fred Hoyle]] and known as [[Philosophy:Junkyard tornado|Hoyle's fallacy]].<ref>{{harvnb|Dawkins|2006|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=yq1xDpicghkC&pg=PA137 137–138]}}</ref> Hoyle was a Darwinist, [[Philosophy:Atheism|atheist]] and [[Antitheism|anti-theist]], but advocated the theory of [[Biology:Panspermia|panspermia]], in which abiogenesis begins in [[Astronomy:Outer space|outer space]] and primitive life on Earth is held to have arrived via natural dispersion.

Views superficially similar, but unrelated to Hoyle's, are thus invariably justified with arguments from analogy. The basic idea of this argument for a designer is the [[Astronomy:Teleological argument|teleological argument]], an argument for the [[Philosophy:Existence of God|existence of God]] based on the perceived order or purposefulness of the [[Astronomy:Universe|universe]]. A common way of using this as an objection to evolution is by appealing to the 18th-century philosopher William Paley's watchmaker analogy, which argues that certain natural phenomena are analogical to a watch (in that they are ordered, or complex, or purposeful), which means that, like a watch, they must have been designed by a "watchmaker"—an intelligent agent. This argument forms the core of intelligent design, a neo-creationist movement seeking to establish certain variants of the design argument as legitimate science, rather than as philosophy or [[Religion:Theology|theology]], and have them be taught alongside evolution.<ref name="SM07" /><ref name="scott" />
[[File:WilliamPaley.jpg|frame|left|Because the theory of evolution is often thought of as the idea that life arose "by chance", [[Astronomy:Teleological argument|design arguments]] such as William Paley's watchmaker analogy of 1802 have long been popular objections to the theory:<ref name="chance">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/chance/chance.html |title=Evolution and Chance |last=Wilkins |first=John S. |date=April 17, 1997 |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2015-04-02}} Version 2.1 Draft 1.</ref> Paley's book included a response to the proto-evolutionary ideas of Erasmus Darwin.]]
Supporters of evolution generally respond by arguing that this objection is simply an [[Philosophy:Argument from ignorance|argument by lack of imagination]], or [[Philosophy:Argument from incredulity|argument from incredulity]]: a certain explanation is seen as being [[Philosophy:Counterintuitive|counterintuitive]], and therefore an alternate, more intuitive explanation is appealed to instead. In actuality, evolution is not based on "chance", but on predictable chemical interactions: natural processes, rather than supernatural beings, are the "designer". Although the process involves some random elements, it is the non-random selection of survival-enhancing genes that drives the evolution of complex and ordered patterns. The fact that the results are ordered and seem "designed" is no more evidence for a supernatural intelligence than the appearance of complex non-living phenomena (e.g. [[Physics:Snow#Snowflakes|snowflakes]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CI/CI100.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CI100: Intelligent Design |date=April 3, 2004 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2015-04-02}}</ref> It is also argued that there is insufficient evidence to make statements about the plausibility or implausibility of abiogenesis, that certain structures demonstrate [[Philosophy:Argument from poor design|poor design]], and that the implausibility of life evolving exactly as it did is no more evidence for an intelligence than the implausibility of a deck of cards being shuffled and dealt in a certain random order.<ref name="scott" /><ref name="chance" />

It has also been noted that arguments against some form of life arising "by chance" are really objections to nontheistic [[Biology:Abiogenesis|abiogenesis]], not to evolution. Indeed, arguments against "evolution" are based on the misconception that abiogenesis is a component of, or necessary precursor to, evolution. Similar objections sometimes conflate the Big Bang with evolution.<ref name=talkorigins-1993-1-22-moran-definition />

[[Religion:Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] and philosopher [[Biography:Alvin Plantinga|Alvin Plantinga]], who believes evolution must have been guided if it occurred, has formalized and revised the improbability argument as the evolutionary argument against naturalism, which asserts that it is irrational to reject a supernatural, intelligent creator because the apparent probability of certain faculties evolving is so low. Specifically, Plantinga claims that evolution cannot account for the rise of reliable reasoning faculties. Plantinga argues that whereas a God would be expected to create beings with reliable reasoning faculties, evolution would be just as likely to lead to unreliable ones, meaning that if evolution is true, it is irrational to trust whatever reasoning one relies on to conclude that it is true.<ref>{{harvnb|Plantinga|1993}}</ref> This novel [[Philosophy:Epistemology|epistemological]] argument has been criticized similarly to other probabilistic design arguments. It has also been argued that rationality, if conducive to survival, is more likely to be selected for than irrationality, making the natural development of reliable cognitive faculties more likely than unreliable ones.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fitelson |first1=Branden |last2=Sober |first2=Elliott |date=June 1998 |title=Plantinga's Probability Arguments Against Evolutionary Naturalism |url=http://fitelson.org/plant.pdf |journal=Pacific Philosophical Quarterly |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=115–129 |doi=10.1111/1468-0114.00053 |issn=0279-0750 |access-date=2007-03-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CA/CA120.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CA120: Mind's fallibility |date=September 1, 2003 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2007-03-24}}</ref>

A related argument against evolution is that most mutations are harmful.<ref name="CB101">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CB/CB101.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CB101: Most mutations harmful? |date=June 20, 2008 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2010-05-30}}</ref> However, the vast majority of mutations are [[Biology:Neutral mutation|neutral]], and the minority of mutations which are beneficial or harmful are often situational; a mutation that is harmful in one environment may be helpful in another.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/mutations.html |title=Are Mutations Harmful? |last=Harter |first=Richard |date=May 23, 1999 |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2007-03-24}}</ref>

===Unexplained aspects of the natural world===
[[File:Vog1h.jpg|thumb|upright|right|1880 photo of the Berlin ''Archaeopteryx'' specimen, showing leg feathers that were removed subsequently, during preparation.]]

In addition to complex structures and systems, among the phenomena that critics variously claim evolution cannot explain are [[Philosophy:Consciousness|consciousness]], [[Philosophy:Evolution of human intelligence|hominid intelligence]], [[Biology:Instinct|instinct]]s, [[Philosophy:Emotion|emotion]]s, [[Biology:Metamorphosis|metamorphosis]], [[Earth:Photosynthesis|photosynthesis]], [[Social:Homosexuality|homosexuality]], [[Physics:Music|music]], [[Social:Language|language]], religion, morality, and [[Philosophy:Altruism|altruism]] (see [[Philosophy:Altruism|altruism in animals]]).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Phillip E. |date=October 1990 |title=Evolution as Dogma: The Establishment of Naturalism |url=http://www.firstthings.com/article/1990/10/002-evolution-as-dogma-the-establishment-of-naturalism |journal=First Things |issn=1047-5141 |access-date=2015-04-03}}</ref> Most of these, such as hominid intelligence, instinct, emotion, photosynthesis, language, and altruism, have been well-explained by evolution, while others remain mysterious, or only have preliminary explanations. No alternative explanation has been able to adequately explain the biological origin of these phenomena either.<ref name=talkorigins-2003-9-17-isaak />

Creationists argue against evolution on the grounds that it cannot explain certain non-evolutionary processes, such as abiogenesis, the Big Bang, or the [[Philosophy:Meaning of life|meaning of life]]. In such instances, ''evolution'' is being redefined to refer to the entire history of the universe, and it is argued that if one aspect of the universe is seemingly inexplicable, the entire body of scientific theories must be baseless. At this point, objections leave the arena of evolutionary biology and become general scientific or philosophical disputes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CE/CE440.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CE440: The origin of it all |date=September 25, 2004 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2007-03-24}}</ref>

Astronomers Fred Hoyle and [[Biography:Chandra Wickramasinghe|Chandra Wickramasinghe]] have argued in favor of cosmic ancestry,<ref>{{harvnb|Klyce|Wickramasinghe|2003}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hoyle|Wickramasinghe|1982}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hoyle|Wickramasinghe|1993}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hoyle|1982}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.skeptictank.org/figlie.htm |title=Figures don't Lie but Creationists Figure |last=Grynspan |first=Alec |date=November 9, 1997 |website=The Skeptic Tank |publisher=Fredric L. Rice |location=San Clementa, CA |access-date=2015-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092535/http://www.skeptictank.org/figlie.htm |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="121oC">{{cite conference |chapter=Growth and replication of red rain cells at 121°C and their red fluorescence |last1=Gangappa |first1=Rajkumar |last2=Wickramasinghe |first2=Chandra |last3=Wainwright |first3=Milton |author-link3=Milton Wainwright |last4=Kumar |first4=A. Santhosh |last5=Louis |first5=Godfrey |title=Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology XIII |author-link5=Godfrey Louis |display-authors=3 |date=September 7, 2010 |conference=Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology XIII |volume=7819 |publisher=[[Organization:SPIE|International Society for Optical Engineering]] |editor1-last=Hoover |editor1-first=Richard B. |editor1-link=Richard B. Hoover |editor2-last=Levin |editor2-first=Gilbert V. |editor2-link=Gilbert Levin |editor3-last=Rozanov |editor3-first=Alexei Y. |display-editors = 3 |editor4-last=Davies |editor4-first=Paul C. W. |series=Proceedings of the SPIE |pages=78190N |location=Bellingham, WA |bibcode=2010SPIE.7819E..0NG |oclc=672026808 |doi=10.1117/12.876393 |arxiv=1008.4960 }} Conference held August 3–5, 2010, San Diego, CA.</ref> and against abiogenesis and evolution.<ref name="Archaeopteryx">{{harvnb|Hoyle|Wickramasinghe|1986|p=135}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Fry|2000}}</ref>

==Impossibility==
This class of objections is more radical than the above, claiming that a major aspect of evolution is not merely unscientific or implausible, but rather impossible, because it contradicts some other law of nature or is constrained in such a way that it cannot produce the biological diversity of the world.

===Creation of complex structures===
{{further|Biology:Irreducible complexity}}
[[File:Flagellum base diagram-en.svg|thumb|The bacterial flagellum has been invoked in creation science and in intelligent design to illustrate the concept of irreducible complexity. Careful analysis shows that there are no major obstacles to a gradual evolution of flagella.]]

{{blockquote|
Living things have fantastically intricate features—at the anatomical, cellular and molecular level— that could not function if they were any less complex or sophisticated. The only prudent conclusion is that they are the products of intelligent design, not evolution.| [[Biography:Jonathan Sarfati|Jonathan Sarfati]], quoting ''Scientific American'' editor John Rennie<ref>{{harvnb|Sarfati|Matthews|2002}}
*{{cite web |url=http://creation.com/refuting-evolution-2-chapter-10-argument-irreducible-complexity#note |title=Refuting Evolution 2 – chapter 10: Argument: 'Irreducible complexity' |last1=Sarfati |first1=Jonathan |last2=Matthews |first2=Mike |website=Creation.com |publisher=Creation Ministries International |access-date=2015-04-05}}</ref><ref name=scientificamerican-2002-rennie /> }}
Modern evolutionary theory posits that all biological systems must have evolved incrementally, through a combination of natural selection and [[Biology:Genetic drift|genetic drift]]. Both Darwin and his early detractors recognized the potential problems that could arise for his theory of natural selection if the lineage of organs and other biological features could not be accounted for by gradual, step-by-step changes over successive generations; if all the intermediary stages between an initial organ and the organ it will become are not all improvements upon the original, it will be impossible for the later organ to develop by the process of natural selection alone. Complex organs such as the eye had been presented by William Paley as exemplifying the need for [[Astronomy:Teleological argument|design by God]], and anticipating early criticisms that the [[Biology:Evolution of the eye|evolution of the eye]] and other complex organs seemed impossible, Darwin noted that:<ref>{{harvnb|Darwin|1859|pp=186–187}}</ref>

<blockquote>[R]eason tells me, that if numerous gradations from a perfect and complex eye to one very imperfect and simple, each grade being useful to its possessor, can be shown to exist; if further, the eye does vary ever so slightly, and the variations be inherited, which is certainly the case; and if any variation or modification in the organ be ever useful to an animal under changing conditions of life, then the difficulty of believing that a perfect and complex eye could be formed by natural selection, though insuperable by our imagination, can hardly be considered real.</blockquote>

Similarly, [[Biology:Ethology|ethologist]] and evolutionary biologist [[Biography:Richard Dawkins|Richard Dawkins]] said on the topic of the evolution of the feather in an interview for the television program ''The Atheism Tapes'':

<blockquote>
There's got to be a series of advantages all the way in the feather. If you can't think of one, then that's your problem not natural selection's problem... It's perfectly possible feathers began as fluffy extensions of reptilian scales to act as insulators... The earliest feathers might have been a different approach to hairiness among reptiles keeping warm.
</blockquote>

Creationist arguments have been made such as "What use is half an eye?" and "What use is half a wing?".<ref name="urlCB921.2: Half a wing">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CB/CB921_2.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CB921.2: Half a wing |date=November 17, 2005 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2010-06-07}}</ref> Research has confirmed that the natural [[Biology:Evolution of the eye|evolution of the eye]] and other intricate organs is entirely feasible.<ref name=Gehring2005>{{cite journal |last=Gehring |first=Walter J. |date=May–June 2005 |title=New Perspectives on Eye Development and the Evolution of Eyes and Photoreceptors |journal=Journal of Heredity |volume=96 |issue=3 |pages=171–184 |doi=10.1093/jhered/esi027 |issn=0022-1503 |pmid=15653558|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/303235/files/esi027.pdf |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.corante.com/loom/archives/2005/02/15/eyes_part_one_opening_up_the_russian_doll.php |title=Eyes, Part One: Opening Up the Russian Doll |last=Zimmer |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Zimmer |date=February 15, 2005 |website=The Loom |location=Corante |type=Blog |access-date=2007-09-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071002123841/http://www.corante.com/loom/archives/2005/02/15/eyes_part_one_opening_up_the_russian_doll.php |archive-date=October 2, 2007 }}</ref> Creationist claims have persisted that such complexity evolving without a designer is inconceivable and this objection to evolution has been refined in recent years as the more sophisticated irreducible complexity argument of the intelligent design movement, formulated by Michael Behe.<ref name="SM07" />  [[Biochemist]] [[Biography:Michael Behe|Michael Behe]] has argued that current evolutionary theory cannot account for certain complex structures, particularly in microbiology. On this basis, Behe argues that such structures were "purposely arranged by an intelligent agent".<ref>{{cite news |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |author-link=Michael Behe |date=October 29, 1996 |title=Darwin Under the Microscope |url=http://www.arn.org/docs/behe/mb_dm11496.htm |newspaper={{wipe|The New York Times}} |page=25 |access-date=2007-03-24|ref=none}}</ref>

Irreducible complexity is the idea that certain biological systems cannot be broken down into their constituent parts and remain functional, and therefore that they could not have evolved naturally from less complex or complete systems. Whereas past arguments of this nature generally relied on macroscopic organs, Behe's primary examples of irreducible complexity have been cellular and biochemical in nature. He has argued that the components of systems such as the blood clotting cascade, the [[Biology:Immune system|immune system]], and the [[Biology:Flagellum#Bacterial|bacterial flagellum]] are so complex and interdependent that they could not have evolved from simpler systems.<ref>{{harvnb|Behe|1996}}</ref>

{{anchor|Intelligent design falsification}}{{Blockquote|In fact, ''my argument for intelligent design is open to direct experimental rebuttal''. Here is a thought experiment that makes the point clear. In ''Darwin's Black Box'' [...] I claimed that the bacterial flagellum was irreducibly complex and so required deliberate intelligent design. The flip side of this claim is that the flagellum can't be produced by natural selection acting on random mutation, or any other unintelligent process. To falsify such a claim, a scientist could go into the laboratory, place a bacterial species lacking a flagellum under some selective pressure (for mobility, say), grow it for ten thousand generations, and see if a flagellum—or any equally complex system—was produced. If that happened, my claims would be neatly disproven.| Michael Behe<ref name="Behe">{{cite web |url=http://www.discovery.org/a/445 |title=Philosophical Objections to Intelligent Design: Response to Critics |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |date=July 31, 2000 |website=[[Organization:Center for Science and Culture|Center for Science and Culture]] |publisher=Discovery Institute |location=Seattle, WA |access-date=2015-04-05}}</ref>}}

In the years since Behe proposed irreducible complexity, new developments and advances in biology such as an improved understanding of the evolution of flagella,<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Renyi Liu |last2=Ochman |first2=Howard |date=April 24, 2007 |title=Stepwise formation of the bacterial flagellar system |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=104 |issue=17 |pages=7116–7121 |bibcode=2007PNAS..104.7116L |doi=10.1073/pnas.0700266104 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=1852327 |pmid=17438286|doi-access=free }}</ref> have already undermined these arguments<ref name="cb200">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CB/CB200.html |title=Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CB200: Irreducible complexity |date=July 19, 2007 |editor-last=Isaak |editor-first=Mark |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2015-04-05|ref=none}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Ussery |first=David |date=March 1999 |title=''Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution'' by Michael J. Behe |url=http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/courses/genomics_course/BeheDBB.html |journal=BIOS |type=Book review |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=40–45 |issn=0005-3155 |jstor=4608497 |access-date=2015-04-05}}</ref> The idea that seemingly irreducibly complex systems cannot evolve has been refuted through evolutionary mechanisms, such as [[Biology:Exaptation|exaptation]] (the adaptation of organs for entirely new functions)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Aharoni |first1=Amir |last2=Gaidukov |first2=Leonid |last3=Khersonsky |first3=Olga |last4=Gould |first4=Stephen McQ |last5=Roodveldt |first5=Cintia |last6=Tawfik |first6=Dan S. |date=January 2005 |title=The 'evolvability' of promiscuous protein functions |journal=Nature Genetics |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=73–76 |doi=10.1038/ng1482 |issn=1061-4036 |pmid=15568024 |s2cid=8245673 |display-authors=3}}</ref> and the use of "scaffolding", which are initially necessary features of a system that later degenerate when they are no longer required. Potential evolutionary pathways have been provided for all of the systems Behe used as examples of irreducible complexity.<ref name="cb200" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/behe/review.html |title=Darwin's Black Box: Irreducible Complexity or Irreproducible Irreducibility? |last=Robison |first=Keith |date=December 11, 1996 |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2015-04-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Claramonte Sanz |first=Vicente |year=2009 |title=La llama áurea de Darwin: respuestas de la bioquímica al diseño inteligente |trans-title=Darwin's golden flame: Responses of biochemistry to intelligent design |url=http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=4229834 |journal=Teorema |language=es |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=173–188 |issn=0210-1602 |access-date=2015-04-05}}</ref>

====Cambrian explosion complexity argument====
{{further|Earth:Cambrian explosion}}
The [[Earth:Cambrian explosion|Cambrian explosion]] was the relatively rapid appearance around {{Ma|539}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Stratigraphic Chart 2022 |url=https://stratigraphy.org/ICSchart/ChronostratChart2022-02.pdf |publisher=International Stratigraphic Commission | date=February 2022  |access-date=25 April 2022}}</ref> of most major [[Biology:Animal|animal]] [[Biology:Phylum|phyla]] as demonstrated in the fossil record,<ref name="BerkeleyCambrian">{{cite web |url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/cambrian/cambrian.php |title=The Cambrian Period |last1=Waggoner |first1=Ben M. |last2=Collins |first2=Allen G. |last3=Hsu |first3=Karen |last4=Kang |first4=Myun |last5=Lavarias |first5=Amy |last6=Prabaker |first6=Kavitha |last7=Skaggs |first7=Cody |date=November 22, 1994 |editor1-last=Rieboldt |editor1-first=Sarah |editor2-last=Smith |editor2-first=Dave |website=Tour of geologic time |publisher=University of California Museum of Paleontology |location=Berkeley, CA |type=Online exhibit |display-authors=2 |access-date=2015-04-05}}</ref> and many more phyla now extinct.{{refn|group=note|Counts vary, but typical is that 35 of the 40 extant phyla originated then, and up to 100 additional phyla that are now extinct.}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Cambrian/timing/timing.html |title=Timing |last=Lane |first=Abby |date=January 20, 1999 |website=The Cambrian Explosion |publisher=[[Organization:University of Bristol|University of Bristol]] |location=Bristol, England |access-date=2015-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307031317/http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Cambrian/timing/timing.html |archive-date=March 7, 2018 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> This was accompanied by major diversification of other organisms.{{refn|group=note|This included at least animals, [[Earth:Phytoplankton|phytoplankton]] and [[Biology:Calcimicrobe|calcimicrobe]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Butterfield|2001|pp=200–216}}</ref>}} Prior to the Cambrian explosion most organisms were simple, composed of individual cells occasionally organized into [[Biology:Colony|colonies]]. Over the following 70 or 80 million years the rate of diversification accelerated by an [[Order of magnitude|order of magnitude]]{{refn|group=note|As defined in terms of the extinction and origination rate of species.<ref name="Butterfield2007">{{cite journal| last1 = Butterfield | first1 = N. J.| s2cid = 59436643| year = 2007| title = Macroevolution and macroecology through deep time| journal = Palaeontology| volume = 50| issue = 1| pages = 41–55| doi = 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2006.00613.x| bibcode = 2007Palgy..50...41B| doi-access = free}}</ref>}} and the diversity of life began to resemble that of today,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bambach |first1=Richard K. |last2=Bush |first2=Andrew M.|last3=Erwin |first3=Douglas H. |date=January 2007 |title=Autecology and the filling of Ecospace: Key metazoan radiations |journal=Palaeontology |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2006.00611.x |bibcode=2007Palgy..50....1B |issn=0031-0239|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Servais |first1=Thomas |last2=Harper |first2=David A. T. |author3=Jun Li |last4=Munnecke |first4=Axel |last5=Owen |first5=Alan W. |last6=Sheehan |first6=Peter M. |display-authors=3 |date=April–May 2009 |title=Understanding the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE): Influences of paleogeography, paleoclimate, or paleoecology? |url=https://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/19/4/pdf/i1052-5173-19-4-4.pdf |journal=GSA Today |volume=19 |issue=4–5 |pages=4–10 |doi=10.1130/GSATG37A.1 |bibcode=2009GSAT...19d...4S |issn=1052-5173 |access-date=2015-04-05|doi-access=free }}</ref> although they did not resemble the species of today.<ref name="BerkeleyCambrian" />

The basic problem with this is that natural selection calls for the slow accumulation of changes, where a new phylum would take longer than a new class which would take longer than a new order, which would take longer than a new family, which would take longer than a new genus would take longer than emergence of a new species <ref>{{harvnb|Fowler|2007|p=170}}</ref> but the apparent occurrence of high-level taxa without precedents is perhaps implying unusual evolutionary mechanisms.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Budd |first=Graham E. |date=February 2003 |title=The Cambrian Fossil Record and the Origin of the Phyla |journal=Integrative and Comparative Biology |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=157–165 |doi=10.1093/icb/43.1.157 |issn=1540-7063 |pmid=21680420|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://nimravid.wordpress.com/2008/03/21/cambrian-explosion-phyla/ |title=The Cambrian Explosion and the Appearance of Phyla |author=Nimravid |date=March 21, 2008 |website=Nimravid's Weblog |type=Blog |access-date=2014-07-12}}</ref>

There is general consensus that many factors helped trigger the rise of new phyla,<ref>{{cite news |last=Ghose |first=Tia |date=September 19, 2013 |title=Evolutionary Big Bang Was Sparked By Multiple Events |url=http://www.livescience.com/39790-cambrian-explosion-had-multiple-causes.html |work=LiveScience |location=Salt Lake City, UT |publisher=Purch |access-date=2014-07-12}}</ref> but there is no generally accepted consensus about the combination and the Cambrian explosion continues to be an area of controversy and research over why so rapid, why at the phylum level, why so many phyla then and none since, and even if the apparent fossil record is accurate.<ref name=palaeontologyonline-2012-antcliffe /> Some recent advances suggest that there is no clearly definable "Cambrian Explosion" event in the fossil record, but rather that there was a progression of transitional radiations starting with the Ediacaran period and continuing at a similar rate into the Cambrian.<ref>{{cite journal | author1 = Wood, R. |author2 = Liu, A.G. |author3=Bowyer, F. |author4=Wilby, P.R. |author5 = Dunn, F.S. |author6= Kenchington, C.G. |author7 = Cuthill, J.F.H. |author8 = Mitchell, E.G. |author9 = Penny, A. | title=Integrated records of environmental change and evolution challenge the Cambrian Explosion | journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution | volume=3 | issue=4 | pages=528–538 | doi=10.1038/s41559-019-0821-6 | year=2019 |pmid = 30858589 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

An example of opinions involving the commonly cited rise in oxygen [[Earth:Great Oxidation Event|Great Oxidation Event]] from biologist [[Biography:PZ Myers|PZ Myers]] summarizes:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/04/13/more-lies-from-the-discovery-institute/ |title=More lies from the Discovery Institute |author=PZ Myers |date=April 13, 2013 |website=[[Biology:Pharyngula (blog)|Pharyngula]] |type=Blog |access-date=2014-07-14}}</ref> "What it was<!--not a mistake--> was environmental changes, in particular the bioturbation revolution caused by the evolution of worms that released buried nutrients, and the steadily increasing [[Chemistry:Oxygen|oxygen]] content of the atmosphere that allowed those nutrients to fuel growth;<ref name="Knoll1999">{{cite journal |last1=Knoll |first1=Andrew H. |author-link1=Andrew H. Knoll |last2=Carroll |first2=Sean B. |s2cid=8908451 |author-link2=Sean B. Carroll |date=June 25, 1999 |title=Early Animal Evolution: Emerging Views from Comparative Biology and Geology |journal=Science |volume=284 |issue=5423 |pages=2129–2137 |doi=10.1126/science.284.5423.2129 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=10381872}}</ref><ref name="Towe1970">{{cite journal |last=Towe |first=Kenneth M. |date=April 1, 1970 |title=Oxygen-Collagen Priority and the Early Metazoan Fossil Record |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=65 |issue=4 |pages=781–788 |bibcode=1970PNAS...65..781T |doi=10.1073/pnas.65.4.781 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=282983 |pmid=5266150|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="CatlingEtAl2005">{{cite journal |last1=Catling |first1=David C. |last2=Glein |first2=Christopher R. |last3=Zahnle |first3=Kevin J. |last4=McKay |first4=Christopher P. |s2cid=24861353 |author-link4=Christopher McKay |date=June 2005 |title=Why O<sub>2</sub> Is Required by Complex Life on Habitable Planets and the Concept of Planetary 'Oxygenation Time' |journal=Astrobiology |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=415–438 |bibcode=2005AsBio...5..415C |doi=10.1089/ast.2005.5.415 |issn=1531-1074 |pmid=15941384}}</ref> ecological competition, or a kind of arms race, that gave a distinct selective advantage to novelties that allowed species to occupy new niches; and the evolution of developmental mechanisms that enabled multicellular organisms to generate new morphotypes readily." The increase in molecular oxygen (O<sub>2</sub>) also may have allowed the formation of the protective [[Physics:Ozone layer|ozone layer]] (O<sub>3</sub>) that helps shield Earth from lethal UV radiation from the [[Astronomy:Sun|Sun]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.albany.edu/faculty/rgk/atm101/ozone.htm |title=Ozone |last=Keese |first=Bob |website=The Upper Atmosphere: A ATM 101 |publisher=[[Organization:University at Albany, SUNY|University at Albany]] |location=Albany, NY |type=Lecture |access-date=2014-06-10}}</ref>

===Creation of information===
{{further|Biology:Biosemiotics}}
A recent objection of creationists to evolution is that evolutionary mechanisms such as [[Biology:Mutation|mutation]] cannot generate new information. Creationists such as [[Biography:William A. Dembski|William A. Dembski]], Werner Gitt, and Lee Spetner have attempted to use [[Information theory|information theory]] to dispute evolution. Dembski has argued that life demonstrates [[Unsolved:Specified complexity|specified complexity]], and proposed a law of conservation of information that extremely improbable "complex specified information" could be conveyed by natural means but never originated without an [[Unsolved:Intelligent designer|intelligent agent]].  Gitt asserted that information is an intrinsic characteristic of life and that an analysis demonstrates the mind and will of their Creator.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gitt |first=Werner |date=August 1996 |title=Information, Science and Biology |url=http://creation.com/images/pdfs/tj/j10_2/j10_2_181-187.pdf |journal=Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal |publisher=Creation Ministries International |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=181–187 |access-date=2015-04-06}}</ref>

These claims have been widely rejected by the scientific community, which asserts that new information is regularly generated in evolution whenever a novel mutation or [[Biology:Gene duplication|gene duplication]] arises. Dramatic examples of entirely new and unique traits arising through mutation have been observed in recent years, such as the evolution of [[Biology:Nylon-eating bacteria|nylon-eating bacteria]] which developed new [[Biology:Enzyme|enzyme]]s to efficiently digest a material that never existed before the modern era.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/information/infotheory.html |title=Information Theory and Creationism |last1=Musgrave |first1=Ian |last2=Baldwin |first2=Rich |year=2005 |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2007-03-24|display-authors=0}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nmsr.org/nylon.htm |title=Evolution and Information: The Nylon Bug |last=Thomas |first=Dave |publisher=[[Organization:New Mexicans for Science and Reason|New Mexicans for Science and Reason]] |location=Albuquerque, NM |access-date=2007-03-24}}</ref>  There is no need to account for the creation of information when an organism is considered together with the environment it evolved in. The information in the genome forms a record of how it was possible to survive in a particular environment. The information is gathered from the environment through [[Trial and error|trial and error]], as mutating organisms either reproduce or fail.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bergstrom |first1=Carl T. |author-link=Carl Bergstrom |last2=Lachmann |first2=Michael |title=The fitness value of information |journal=Oikos (Copenhagen, Denmark) |year=2006 |volume=119 |issue=2 |pages=219–230 |doi=10.1111/j.1600-0706.2009.17781.x |pmid=25843980 |pmc=4384894 |arxiv=q-bio.PE/0510007 |bibcode=2005q.bio....10007B }}</ref>

The concept of specified complexity is widely regarded as [[Philosophy:Pseudomathematics|mathematically unsound]] and has not been the basis for further independent work in [[Information theory|information theory]], in the theory of complex systems, or in [[Biology:Biology|biology]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/information/dembski.html |title=Information Theory and Creationism: William Dembski |author=Rich Baldwin |year=2005 |publisher=[[Biology:TalkOrigins Archive|TalkOrigins Archive]] |access-date=2010-05-10}}</ref><ref>Mark Perakh, (2005). ''[http://www.talkreason.org/articles/newmath.cfm Dembski "displaces Darwinism" mathematically – or does he?]''</ref><ref name="Rosenhouse"/>

===Violation of the second law of thermodynamics===
{{further|Physics:Entropy and life}}
[[File:Photosynthesis.gif|thumb|200px|right|Since [[Astronomy:Earth|Earth]] receives energy from the Sun, it is an open system. The second law of thermodynamics applies only to isolated systems.]]

Another objection is that evolution violates the [[Physics:Second law of thermodynamics|second law of thermodynamics]].<ref>{{harvnb|Morris|1974|p=45}}: "Until evolutionists can not only speculate, but demonstrate, that there does exist in nature some vast program to direct the growth toward higher complexity of the marvelous organic space-time unity known as the terrestrial biosphere (not to mention that of the cosmos), as well as some remarkable global power converter to energize the growth through converted solar energy, the whole evolutionary idea is negated by the Second Law."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Patterson|1984|pp=99–116}}: "Henry Morris, director of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) has joined several other engineers to make thermodynamics a cornerstone of the creation-evolution controversy. For twenty years Morris has maintained that the second law of thermodynamics directly contradicts evolution. ... Is there, indeed, a paradox at all? The answer to this question is, quite simply – no! Morris and his colleagues have constructed a completely fallacious and deceptive argument."</ref> The law states that "the entropy of an isolated system not in equilibrium will tend to increase over time, approaching a maximum value at equilibrium". In other words, an isolated system's [[Physics:Entropy|entropy]] (a measure of the dispersal of energy in a physical system so that it is not available to do mechanical work) will tend to increase or stay the same, not decrease. Creationists argue that evolution violates this physical law by requiring an increase in order (i.e., a decrease in entropy).<ref name=icr-morris /><ref name=aig-thermodynamics-evolution />

The claims have been criticized for ignoring that the second law only applies to [[Physics:Isolated system|isolated system]]s. Organisms are [[Physics:Thermodynamic system#Open system|open systems]] as they constantly exchange energy and matter with their environment: for example animals eat food and excrete waste, and radiate and absorb heat. It is argued that the Sun-Earth-space system does not violate the second law because the enormous increase in entropy due to the Sun and Earth radiating into space dwarfs the local decrease in entropy caused by the existence and evolution of [[Physics:Self-organization|self-organizing]] life.<ref name=talkorigins-2003-10-1-faq-misconceptions-isaak /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://physics.gmu.edu/~roerter/EvolutionEntropy.htm |title=Does Life On Earth Violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics? |last=Oerter |first=Robert N. |year=2006 |publisher=[[Organization:George Mason University|George Mason University]] |location=Fairfax, VA |access-date=2007-03-24}}</ref><ref name=ncse-creationism-laws-thermodynamics />

Since the second law of thermodynamics has a precise mathematical definition, this argument can be analyzed quantitatively.<ref name="Styer">{{cite journal |last=Styer |first=Daniel F. |s2cid=122319803 |date=November 2008 |title=Entropy and evolution |journal=[[Physics:American Journal of Physics|American Journal of Physics]] |volume=76 |issue=11 |pages=1031–1033 |doi=10.1119/1.2973046 |issn=0002-9505|bibcode=2008AmJPh..76.1031S }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Bunn |first=Emory F. |date=October 2009 |title=Evolution and the Second Law of Thermodynamics |arxiv=0903.4603|journal=American Journal of Physics |volume=77 |issue=10 |pages=922–925 |doi=10.1119/1.3119513 |issn=0002-9505|bibcode=2009AmJPh..77..922B |s2cid=17088865 }}</ref>  This was done by [[Physicist|physicist]] Daniel F. Styer, who concluded: "Quantitative estimates of the entropy involved in biological evolution demonstrate that there is no conflict between evolution and the second law of thermodynamics."<ref name="Styer" />

In a published letter to the editor of ''The Mathematical Intelligencer'' titled "How anti-evolutionists abuse mathematics", [[Biography:Mathematician|mathematician]] [[Biography:Jason Rosenhouse|Jason Rosenhouse]] stated:<ref name="Rosenhouse">{{cite journal |last=Rosenhouse |first=Jason |date=Fall 2001 |title=How Anti-Evolutionists Abuse Mathematics |url=http://educ.jmu.edu/~rosenhjd/sewell.pdf |journal=[[The Mathematical Intelligencer]] |type=Letter to the editor |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=3–8 |issn=0343-6993 |access-date=2015-04-07 |doi=10.1007/bf03024593 |s2cid=189888286 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Sewell |first=Granville |date=Fall 2000 |title=A Mathematician's View of Evolution |url=http://www.math.utep.edu/Faculty/sewell/articles/mathint.pdf |journal=The Mathematical Intelligencer |type=Opinion |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=5–7 |issn=0343-6993 |access-date=2015-04-07 |doi=10.1007/bf03026759 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412073505/http://www.math.utep.edu/Faculty/sewell/articles/mathint.pdf |archive-date=2015-04-12 }}</ref>
<blockquote>The fact is that natural forces routinely lead to local decreases in entropy. Water freezes into ice and fertilised eggs turn into babies. Plants use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen, but [we do] not invoke divine intervention to explain the process ... thermodynamics offers nothing to dampen our confidence in Darwinism.</blockquote>

==Moral implications==
Other common objections to evolution allege that evolution leads to objectionable results, such as [[Biology:Eugenics|eugenics]] and Nazi racial theory. It is argued that the teaching of evolution degrades values, undermines morals, and fosters [[Religion:Irreligion|irreligion]] or [[Philosophy:Atheism|atheism]]. These may be considered [[Philosophy:Appeal to consequences|appeals to consequences]] (a form of [[Informal fallacy|logical fallacy]]), as the potential ramifications of belief in evolutionary theory have nothing to do with its truth.

===Humans as animals===
In [[Biology:Taxonomy|biological classification]], humans are animals,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goodman |first1=Morris |last2=Tagle |first2=Danilo A. |last3=Fitch |first3=David H. A. |last4=Bailey |first4=Wendy |last5=Czelusniak |first5=John |last6=Koop |first6=Ben F. |last7=Benson |first7=Philip |last8=Slightom |first8=Jerry L. |display-authors=3 |date=March 1990 |title=Primate evolution at the DNA level and a classification of hominoids |journal=Journal of Molecular Evolution |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=260–266 |doi=10.1007/BF02099995 |issn=0022-2844 |pmid=2109087|bibcode=1990JMolE..30..260G |s2cid=2112935 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://animaldiversity.org/site/accounts/classification/Hominidae.html |title=Hominidae: Classification |last1=Myers |first1=Philip |last2=Espinosa |first2=R. |last3=Parr |first3=C. S. |last4=Jones |first4=T. |last5=Hammond |first5=G. S. |last6=Dewey |first6=T. A. |year=2015 |work=[[Biology:Animal Diversity Web|Animal Diversity Web]] |publisher=[[Organization:University of Michigan|University of Michigan]] |location=Ann Arbor, MI |display-authors=3 |access-date=2015-04-07}}</ref> a basic point which has been known for more than 2,000 years. Aristotle already described man as a political animal<ref>Politics, 1253a</ref> and [[Biography:Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] defined man as a rational animal,<ref>Isagoge</ref> a definition accepted by the [[Philosophy:Scholasticism|Scholastic philosophers]] in the [[History:Middle Ages|Middle Ages]]. The creationist J. Rendle-Short asserted in ''Creation'' magazine that if people are taught evolution they can be expected to behave like animals:<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rendle-Short |first=Tyndale John |date=February 1980 |title=What should a Christian think about evolution? |url=http://creation.com/what-should-a-christian-think-about-evolution |journal=Ex Nihilo |publisher=Creation Ministries International |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=15–17 |access-date=2015-04-07 |quote=9. Evolution lowers man from the 'image of God' to the level of an animal. Why then should he not behave as one, in his own life and towards others?}}</ref> since animals behave in all sorts of different ways, this is meaningless. In evolutionary terms, humans are able to acquire knowledge and change their behaviour to meet social standards, so humans behave in the manner of other humans.<ref name=talkorigins-2003-4-2-isaak />

===Social effects===
{{further|Philosophy:Social effects of evolutionary theory}}
[[File:Editorial cartoon depicting Charles Darwin as an ape (1871).jpg|right|thumb|100px|1871 caricature of Charles Darwin as an [[Biology:Ape|ape]]<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=A Venerable Orang-utang |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=image&itemID=CUL-DAR141.5&pageseq=1 |newspaper=The Hornet |type=Editorial cartoon commentary |location=London |date=March 22, 1871 |access-date=2015-04-07 |quote=I have to apologize once more for the wild flights of my incorrigible artist. I told him most clearly and positively to draw me a life-like portrait of that profound philosopher, Mr. Darwin...}} — Original cartoon [http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=image&itemID=CUL-DAR141.5&pageseq=3 here]. From the collection of The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online.</ref>]]
[[File:Huxley - Mans Place in Nature.jpg|thumb|left|200px| [[Biography:Thomas Henry Huxley|Thomas Henry Huxley]]'s book ''Man's Place in Nature'' (1863) was the first devoted to human evolution and an early example of comparative biology.]]
In 1917, Vernon Kellogg published ''Headquarters Nights: A Record of Conversations and Experiences at the Headquarters of the German Army in France and Belgium'', which asserted that German intellectuals were totally committed to might-makes-right due to "whole-hearted acceptance of the worst of Neo-Darwinism, the ''Allmacht'' of natural selection applied rigorously to human life and society and ''Kultur''."<ref>{{harvnb|Kellogg|1917|pp=[https://archive.org/details/headquartersnig01kellgoog/page/n37 <!-- pg=3 quote=flussen. --> 22–31]}}</ref> This strongly influenced the politician William Jennings Bryan, who saw Darwinism as a moral threat to America and campaigned against evolutionary theory; his campaign culminated in the [[Religion:Scopes Trial|Scopes Trial]], which effectively prevented teaching of evolution in most public schools until the 1960s.<ref name=pbs-evolution-library-scopes-trial />

R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, wrote August 8, 2005, in NPR's ''Taking Issue'' essay series, that "Debates over education, abortion, environmentalism, homosexuality and a host of other issues are really debates about the origin — and thus the meaning — of human life. ...evolutionary theory stands at the base of [[Philosophy:Moral relativism|moral relativism]] and the rejection of traditional morality."<ref>{{cite news |last=Mohler |first=R. Albert Jr. |date=August 8, 2005 |title=The Origins of Life: An Evangelical Baptist View |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4760816 |work=Taking Issue |type=Essay |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=NPR |access-date=2007-03-24}} ''Taking Issue'' subject: Evolution and Religious Faith.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lwbc.co.uk/Genesis/results%20of%20believing%20evolution.htm |title=The Result of Believing Evolution |last=Hall |first=Gary J. |website=Living Word Bible Church United Kingdom |location=Liverpool, England |type=Lesson |access-date=2007-03-24}}</ref>

[[Biography:Henry M. Morris|Henry M. Morris]], engineering professor and founder of the Creation Research Society and the Institute of Creation Research, claims that evolution was part of a [[Religion:Paganism|pagan]] religion that emerged after the [[Religion:Tower of Babel|Tower of Babel]], was part of [[Biography:Plato|Plato]]'s and [[Biography:Aristotle|Aristotle]]'s philosophies, and was responsible for everything from war to pornography to the breakup of the nuclear family.<ref>{{harvnb|Morris|1989}}</ref>  He has also claimed that perceived social ills like [[Philosophy:Crime|crime]], teenage pregnancies, [[Social:Homosexuality|homosexuality]], [[Medicine:Abortion|abortion]], [[Philosophy:Immorality|immorality]], [[Social:War|war]]s, and genocide are caused by a belief in evolution.<ref>{{harvnb|Morris|1982}}</ref>

Pastor [[Biography:D. James Kennedy|D. James Kennedy]] of The Center for Reclaiming America for Christ and Coral Ridge Ministries claims that Darwin was responsible for Adolf Hitler's atrocities. In Kennedy's documentary and the accompanying pamphlet with the same title, ''Darwin's Deadly Legacy'', Kennedy states that "To put it simply, no Darwin, no Hitler." In his efforts to expose the "harmful effects that evolution is still having on our nation, our children, and our world," Kennedy also states that, "We have had 150 years of the theory of Darwinian evolution, and what has it brought us? Whether Darwin intended it or not, millions of deaths, the destruction of those deemed inferior, the devaluing of human life, increasing hopelessness."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/kennedy-evolution-blame-death-hopelessness-world |title=Kennedy: Evolution to Blame for Death, Hopelessness in World |date=August 17, 2006 |website=Right Wing Watch |publisher=People for the American Way |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=2015-04-08}}</ref><ref name="agape_press">{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Allie |last2=Parker |first2=Jenni |date=August 25, 2006 |title=TV Producer Defends Documentary Exposing Darwin-Hitler Link |url=http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/8/252006b.asp |agency=Agape Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060830014156/http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/8/252006b.asp |archive-date=2006-08-30 |access-date=2015-04-08}}</ref><ref name="ADLBlasts">{{cite press release |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=ADL Blasts Christian Supremacist TV Special & Book Blaming Darwin For Hitler |url=http://archive.adl.org/nr/exeres/3e0340d2-b672-45c7-8ff1-10c9eed96f42,0b1623ca-d5a4-465d-a369-df6e8679cd9e,frameless.html |location=New York |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |date=August 22, 2006 |access-date=2015-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225927/http://archive.adl.org/nr/exeres/3e0340d2-b672-45c7-8ff1-10c9eed96f42,0b1623ca-d5a4-465d-a369-df6e8679cd9e,frameless.html |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The Discovery Institute's [[Organization:Center for Science and Culture|Center for Science and Culture]] fellow [[Biography:Richard Weikart|Richard Weikart]] has made similar claims,<ref>{{harvnb|Weikart|2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Witt |first=Jonathan |date=December 15, 2006 |title=From Darwin to Hitler: A Pathway to Horror (Updated) |url=http://www.evolutionnews.org/2006/12/from_darwin_to_hitler_a_straig.html |work=Evolution News and Views |location=Seattle, WA |publisher=Discovery Institute |access-date=2015-04-08}}</ref> as have other creationists.<ref name=creation-1999-8-bergman /> The claim was central to the documentary film ''[[Unsolved:Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed|Expelled]]'' (2008) promoting intelligent design creationism. The Anti-Defamation League describes such claims as outrageous misuse of [[Social:The Holocaust|the Holocaust]] and its imagery, and as trivializing the "...many complex factors that led to the mass extermination of European Jewry. Hitler did not need Darwin or evolution to devise his heinous plan to exterminate the Jewish people, and Darwin and evolutionary theory cannot explain Hitler's genocidal madness. Moreover, anti-Semitism existed long before Darwin ever wrote a word."<ref name="ADLBlasts" /><ref name=adl-2008-4-29-misappropriation />

Young Earth creationist [[Biography:Kent Hovind|Kent Hovind]] blames a long list of social ills on evolution, including [[Social:Communism|communism]], [[Social:Socialism|socialism]], [[Social:World War I|World War I]], [[Social:World War II|World War II]], racism, the Holocaust, {{wipe|Joseph Stalin}}'s war crimes, the Vietnam War, [[Biography:Pol Pot|Pol Pot]]'s Killing Fields, the increase in crime and unwed mothers.<ref name="hovinddvd" /> Hovind's son Eric Hovind claims that evolution is responsible for tattoos, body piercing, premarital sex, unwed births, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), divorce, and child abuse.<ref name=dakotavoice-2006-5-7-ellis />

Such accusations are counterfactual, and there is evidence that the opposite seems to be the case. A study published by the author and illustrator [[Biography:Gregory S. Paul|Gregory S. Paul]] found that religious beliefs, including belief in creationism and disbelief in evolution, are positively correlated with social ills like crime.<ref name=creighton-2005-paul /> The Barna Group surveys find that Christians and non-Christians in the U.S. have similar divorce rates, and the highest divorce rates in the U.S. are among [[Religion:Baptists|Baptists]] and [[Religion:Pentecostalism|Pentecostals]], both sects which reject evolution and embrace creationism.<ref name=barna-2004-09-08 />

[[Biography:Michael Shermer|Michael Shermer]] argued in ''Scientific American'' in October 2006 that evolution supports concepts like family values, avoiding lies, fidelity, moral codes and the rule of law.<ref name=michaelshermer-2006-10-shermer /> He goes on to suggest that evolution gives more support to the notion of an omnipotent creator, rather than a tinkerer with limitations based on a human model, the more common image subscribed to by creationists. Careful analysis of the creationist charges that evolution has led to moral relativism and the Holocaust yields the conclusion that these charges appear to be highly suspect.<ref name=tallahassee-2008-2-6-ruse /> Such analyses conclude that the origins of the Holocaust are more likely to be found in historical Christian antisemitism than in evolution.<ref name=talkorigins-2007-3-13-isaak /><ref name=talkreason-2007-08-24-avalos />

Evolution has been used to justify [[Social:Social Darwinism|Social Darwinism]], the exploitation of so-called "lesser breeds without the law" by "superior races", particularly in the nineteenth century.<ref name=perry-chase-jacob-jacob /> Typically strong European nations that had successfully expanded their empires could be said to have "survived" in the struggle for dominance.<ref name=perry-chase-jacob-jacob /> With this attitude, Europeans except for  Christian missionaries rarely adopted any customs and languages of local people under their empires.<ref name=perry-chase-jacob-jacob /> Creationists have frequently maintained that Social Darwinism—leading to policies designed to reward the most competitive—is a [[Logical consequence|logical consequence]] of "Darwinism" (the theory of natural selection in biology).<ref name="Paul 220">Paul, Diane B. in {{cite book |author=Gregory Radick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X1InLet11j0C&pg=PA219 |title=The Cambridge Companion to Darwin |date=5 March 2009 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521711845 |pages=219–20 |quote=Like many foes of Darwinism, past and present, the American populist and creationist William Jennings Bryan thought a straight line ran from Darwin's theory ('a dogma of darkness and death') to beliefs that it is right for the strong to crowd out the weak.}}</ref> Biologists and historians have stated that this is a fallacy of [[Medicine:Appeal to nature|appeal to nature]], since the theory of natural selection is merely intended as a description of a biological phenomenon and should not be taken to imply that this phenomenon is ''good'' or that it ought to be used as a moral guide in human society.<ref name="pinker">{{cite web |last=Sailer |first=Steve |date=30 October 2002 |title=Q&A: Steven Pinker of 'Blank Slate' |url=http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2002/10/30/QA-Steven-Pinker-of-Blank-Slate/26021035991232/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151205074319/http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2002/10/30/QA-Steven-Pinker-of-Blank-Slate/26021035991232/ |archive-date=5 December 2015 |access-date=5 December 2015 |website=UPI}}</ref>

===Atheism===
{{further|Philosophy:Atheism}}
Another charge leveled at evolutionary theory by creationists is that belief in evolution is either tantamount to atheism, or conducive to atheism.<ref>{{harvnb|Strobel|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=TV6pTalyyx8C&pg=PT39 32]}}: "In my quest to determine if contemporary science points toward or away from God, I knew I had to first examine the claims of evolution in order to conclude once and for all whether Darwinism creates a reasonable foundation for atheism. That's because if the materialism of Darwinian evolution is a fact, then the atheist conclusions I reached as a student might still be valid."</ref><ref name=arn-johnson /> It is commonly claimed that all proponents of evolutionary theory are "materialistic atheists". On the other hand, Davis A. Young argues that creation science ''itself'' is harmful to Christianity because its bad science will turn more away than it recruits. Young asks, "Can we seriously expect non-Christians to develop a respect for Christianity if we insist on teaching the brand of science that creationism brings with it?"<ref>{{harvnb|Young|1988}}</ref>  However, evolution neither requires nor rules out the existence of a supernatural being. Philosopher [[Biography:Robert T. Pennock|Robert T. Pennock]] makes the comparison that evolution is no more atheistic than [[Engineering:Plumbing|plumbing]].<ref>{{harvnb|Pennock|1999}}</ref> [[Biography:H. Allen Orr|H. Allen Orr]], professor of biology at [[Organization:University of Rochester|University of Rochester]], notes that:

{{blockquote|
Of the five founding fathers of twentieth-century evolutionary biology—[[Biography:Ronald Fisher|Ronald Fisher]], [[Biography:Sewall Wright|Sewall Wright]], [[Biography:J. B. S. Haldane|J. B. S. Haldane]], [[Biography:Ernst Mayr|Ernst Mayr]], and [[Biography:Theodosius Dobzhansky|Theodosius Dobzhansky]]—one was a devout Anglican who preached sermons and published articles in church magazines, one a practicing Unitarian, one a dabbler in Eastern mysticism, one an apparent atheist, and one a member of the Russian Orthodox Church and the author of a book on religion and science.<ref name=thenewyorker-orr /> }}

In addition, a wide range of religions have reconciled a belief in a supernatural being with evolution.<ref name=ncse-religiousorganizations /> Molleen Matsumura of the National Center for Science Education found that "of Americans in the twelve largest Christian denominations, 89.6% belong to churches that support evolution education." These churches include the "United Methodist Church, National Baptist Convention USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, [[Religion:Presbyterianism|Presbyterian Church]] (USA), National Baptist Convention of America, African Methodist Episcopal Church, the [[Organization:Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]], the Episcopal Church, and others."<ref name=thewitchitaeagle-schrock /> A poll in 2000 done for People for the American Way found that 70% of the American public felt that evolution was compatible with a belief in God. Only 48% of the people polled could choose the correct definition of evolution from a list, however.<ref name=pfaw-public-education />

One poll reported in the journal ''Nature'' showed that among American scientists (across various disciplines), about 40 percent believe in both evolution and an active deity ([[Religion:Theistic evolution|theistic evolution]]).<ref name=naturepublishing-larson /> This is similar to the results reported for surveys of the general American public. Also, about 40 percent of the scientists polled believe in a God that answers [[Unsolved:Prayer|prayer]]s, and believe in [[Unsolved:Immortality|immortality]].<ref name=ncse-witham /> While about 55% of scientists surveyed were atheists, [[Philosophy:Agnosticism|agnostic]]s, or nonreligious theists, atheism is far from universal among scientists who support evolution, or among the general public that supports evolution. Very similar results were reported from a 1997 Gallup Poll of the American public and scientists.<ref name=religioustolerance-robinson />

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!  style="background:#d0e5f5;color:black" |Group<ref name=religioustolerance-robinson />
!! style="background:#d0e5f5;color:black" |Belief in [[Unsolved:Young Earth creationism|young Earth creationism]] !! style="background:#d0e5f5;color:black"| Belief in [[Religion:Theistic evolution|God-guided evolution]]!! style="background:#d0e5f5;color:black"| Belief in evolution without [[Religion:God|God]] guiding the process
|-
|'''American public'''||'''44%'''||'''39%'''||'''10%'''
|-
|'''American scientists'''*||'''5%'''||'''40%'''||'''55%'''
|- 
|colspan="4" style="font-size:84%;text-align:left;"|*Includes persons with professional degrees in fields unrelated to evolution, such as computer science, chemical engineering, physics, psychology, business administration, etc.<ref name=religioustolerance-robinson />
|}

Traditionalists still object to the idea that diversity in life, including human beings, arose through natural processes without a need for supernatural intervention, and they argue against evolution on the basis that it contradicts their literal interpretation of [[Astronomy:Creation myth|creation myth]]s about separate "created kinds". However, many religions, such as Catholicism which does not endorse nor deny evolution, have allowed Catholics to reconcile their own personal belief with evolution through the idea of [[Religion:Theistic evolution|theistic evolution]].<ref name=caltech-1996-10-30-pope-john-paul-ii /><ref name=ekklesia/><ref>{{Cite web|title=Adam, Eve, and Evolution|url=https://www.catholic.com/tract/adam-eve-and-evolution|access-date=2021-03-25|website=Catholic Answers}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Can Catholics believe in evolution?|url=https://nwcatholic.org/voices/daniel-mueggenborg/can-catholics-believe-in-evolution|access-date=2021-03-26|website=Northwest Catholic|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Vatican's View of Evolution: Pope Paul II and Pope Pius|url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/vaticanview.html|access-date=2021-03-26|website=law2.umkc.edu}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Biology:Alternatives to Darwinian evolution|Alternatives to Darwinian evolution]]
* [[Unsolved:Rejection of evolution by religious groups|Rejection of evolution by religious groups]]
* [[Philosophy:Faith and rationality|Faith and rationality]]
{{Clear}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist | refs=

<!-- WEBSITE REFERENCES -->

<ref name=aaas-2006-2-16-statement-teaching-evolution>{{cite web | title = Statement on the Teaching of Evolution | url = http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2006/pdf/0219boardstatement.pdf | date = 16 February 2006 | publisher = American Association for the Advancement of Science | location = Saint Louis, MO | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060221125539/http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2006/pdf/0219boardstatement.pdf | archive-date = 2006-02-21}}</ref>

<ref name=adl-2008-4-29-misappropriation>{{cite press release | title = Anti-Evolution Film Misappropriates the Holocaust | url = http://archive.adl.org/nr/exeres/25a3641b-c374-4f2b-9a96-c04e93960427,0b1623ca-d5a4-465d-a369-df6e8679cd9e,frameless.html | location = New York | publisher = Anti-Defamation League | date = 29 April 2008 | access-date = 8 April 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232232/http://archive.adl.org/nr/exeres/25a3641b-c374-4f2b-9a96-c04e93960427,0b1623ca-d5a4-465d-a369-df6e8679cd9e,frameless.html | archive-date = 3 March 2016 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }}
*{{cite web | title = Intelligent Design: It's Not Science | url = http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/civil-rights/religiousfreedom/religfreeres/ID-NotSci-docx.pdf | year = 2012 | publisher = Anti-Defamation League | location = New York | access-date = 2015-04-08 | archive-date = 2015-02-25 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150225075632/http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/civil-rights/religiousfreedom/religfreeres/ID-NotSci-docx.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref>

<ref name=aig-thermodynamics-evolution>{{cite web | title = Does the Second Law of Thermodynamics Favor Evolution? | url = https://answersingenesis.org/physics/second-law-of-thermodynamics | publisher = answersingenesis.org | year = 2015}}</ref>

<ref name=arn-johnson>{{cite web | last = Johnson | first = Phillip E. | date = August 16, 1999 | title = The Church of Darwin | url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB934759227734378961 | newspaper = {{wipe|The Wall Street Journal}}}}fulltext [http://arn.org/docs/johnson/chofdarwin.htm reprint]</ref>

<ref name=barna-2004-09-08>{{cite web | title = Born Again Christians Just As Likely to Divorce As Are Non-Christians | url = https://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/194-born-again-christians-just-as-likely-to-divorce-as-are-non-christians | date = 8 September 2004 | publisher = The Barna Group | location = Ventura, CA | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141011120737/https://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/194-born-again-christians-just-as-likely-to-divorce-as-are-non-christians | archive-date = 11 October 2014 }}</ref>

<ref name=caltech-1996-10-30-pope-john-paul-ii>{{cite news | author = Pope John Paul II |  date = October 30, 1996 | title = Magisterium is concerned with question of evolution, for it involves conception of man | url = http://www.its.caltech.edu/~nmcenter/sci-cp/evolution.html | newspaper = L'Osservatore Romano | type = Message to the [[Religion:Pontifical Academy of Sciences|Pontifical Academy of Sciences]] | edition = Weekly English | location = Tipografia Vaticana, Vatican City | publisher = Holy See | number = 44 | pages = 3, 7 | access-date = 2015-03-24 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160321064939/http://www.its.caltech.edu/%7Enmcenter/sci-cp/evolution.html | archive-date = 2016-03-21 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

<ref name=creation-1999-8-bergman>This [[Philosophy:Creationism|creationist]] claim that is part of a [[Organization:Discovery Institute intelligent design campaigns|Discovery Institute campaign]] and is amply repeated in creationist literature. For example: *{{cite journal | last = Bergman | first = Jerry | date = August 1999 | title = Darwinism and the Nazi race Holocaust | url = http://creation.com/darwinism-and-the-nazi-race-holocaust | journal = Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal | publisher = Creation Ministries International | volume = 13 | issue = 2 | pages = 101–111}}
*{{cite journal |last=Sarfati |first=Jonathan |date=December 1999 |title=The Holocaust and evolution |url=http://creation.com/the-holocaust-and-evolution |journal=Creation Ex Nihilo |type=Guest editorial |publisher=Creation Ministries International |volume=22 |issue=1 |page=4 |access-date=2015-04-08}}</ref>

<ref name=dakotavoice-2006-5-7-ellis>{{cite web | last = Ellis | first = Bob | date = 7 May 2006 | title = Creationist Links Origins to Faith, Everyday Life | url = http://www.dakotavoice.com/200605/20060507_1.html | website = Dakota Voice | location = Rapid City, SD | publisher = Dakota Voice, LLC}}</ref>

<ref name=darwin-online-2002-van-wyhe-complete>{{cite web | last = van Wyhe | first = John |  year = 2002 | title = Charles Darwin: gentleman naturalist | url = http://darwin-online.org.uk/darwin.html | website = [[Biology:The Complete Works of Charles Darwin Online|The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online]]}}</ref>

<ref name=ekklesia>{{cite web | title = Churches urged to challenge Intelligent Design | url = http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_060220creationism.shtml | date = 20 February 2006 | publisher = Ekklesia | location = London}}</ref>

<ref name=entouch-2002-morton-imminent-demise>{{cite web | last = Morton | first = Glenn R. | year = 2002 | title = The Imminent Demise of Evolution: The Longest Running Falsehood in Creationism | url = http://home.entouch.net/dmd/moreandmore.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090207173612/http://home.entouch.net/dmd/moreandmore.htm | archive-date = 2009-02-07}}</ref>

<ref name=icr-morris>{{cite web | last = Morris | first = Henry | title = Does Entropy Contradict Evolution? | url = http://www.icr.org/article/does-entropy-contradict-evolution | publisher = Institute for Creation Research}}</ref>

<ref name=ncse-creationism-laws-thermodynamics>{{cite web | title = Creationism and the Laws of Thermodynamics | url = https://ncse.com/rncse/25/5-6/creationism-laws-thermodynamics | year = 2005 | publisher = [[Organization:National Center for Science Education|National Center for Science Education]]}}</ref>

<ref name=ncse-religiousorganizations>{{cite web | title = Statements from Religious Organizations | url = http://ncse.com/media/voices/religion | website = National Center for Science Education | location = Oakland, CA}}</ref>

<ref name=pbs-evolution-library-scopes-trial>{{cite web | title = Evolution library: Scopes trial | url = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/08/2/l_082_01.html | publisher = PBS}}</ref>

<ref name=pbslearningmedia-2007-human-chromosome-2>{{cite web | title = Human Chromosome 2 | url = http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/evol07.sci.life.evo.genconnect/human-chromosome-2 | year = 2007 | website = PBS LearningMedia | publisher = PBS; WGBH Educational Foundation}} Video segment from ''Nova'''s ''[[Unsolved:Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial|Judgment Day]]'' (2007).</ref>

<ref name=pfaw-public-education>{{cite web | title = Evolution and Creationism In Public Education: An In-depth Reading Of Public Opinion | url = https://www.pfaw.org/sites/default/files/evolutionandcreationisminpubliceducation.pdf | date = March 2000 | website = People For the American Way | publisher = People For the American Way | location = Washington, D.C. | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924072656/http://www.pfaw.org/sites/default/files/evolutionandcreationisminpubliceducation.pdf | archive-date = 2015-09-24 }}</ref>

<ref name=religioustolerance-robinson>{{cite web | last = Robinson | first = Bruce A. | title = Beliefs of the U.S. public about evolution and creation | url = http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_publia.htm | website = ReligiousTolerance.org | publisher = Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance}}</ref>

<ref name=talkorigins-1993-1-22-moran-definition>{{cite web | last = Moran | first = Laurence | date = January 22, 1993 | title = What is Evolution? | url = http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/evolution-definition.html | website = [[Biology:TalkOrigins Archive|TalkOrigins Archive]] | publisher = The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. | location = Houston, TX}}</ref>

<ref name=talkorigins-1993-1-22-moran-fact>{{cite web | last = Moran | first = Laurence | date = 22 January 1993 | title = Evolution is a Fact and a Theory | url = http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/evolution-fact.html | website = [[Biology:TalkOrigins Archive|TalkOrigins Archive]] | publisher = The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. | location = Houston, TX | quote = In the American vernacular, 'theory' often means 'imperfect fact'--part of a hierarchy of confidence running downhill from fact to theory to hypothesis to guess. Thus the power of the creationist argument: evolution is 'only' a theory and intense debate now rages about many aspects of the theory. If evolution is worse than a fact, and scientists can't even make up their minds about the theory, then what confidence can we have in it? [...] Well evolution ''is'' a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty.}} — Moran quoting Stephen J. Gould (''Discover'', May 1981)</ref>

<ref name=talkorigins-1997-12-15-nedin>{{cite web | last = Nedin | first = Chris | date = December 15, 1997 | url = http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/archaeopteryx/forgery.html | title = On ''Archaeopteryx'', Astronomers, and Forgery | website = TalkOrigins Archive | publisher = The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. | location = Houston, TX}}</ref>

<ref name=talkorigins-1998-2-25-elsberry>{{cite web | last = Elsberry | first = Wesley R. |  date = February 25, 1998 | title = Missing links still missing!? | url = http://www.talkorigins.org/origins/postmonth/feb98.html | website = TalkOrigins Archive | publisher = The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. | location = Houston, TX | type = Post of the Month}}</ref>

<ref name=talkorigins-2003-10-1-faq-misconceptions-isaak>{{cite web | last = Isaak | first = Mark | date = 1 October 2003 | title = Five Major Misconceptions about Evolution | url = http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-misconceptions.html | website = TalkOrigins Archive | publisher = The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. | location = Houston, TX}}</ref>

<ref name=talkorigins-2003-4-2-isaak>{{cite web | editor-last = Isaak | editor-first = Mark | date = April 2, 2003 | title = Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CA009: Being and behaving like animals | url = http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CA/CA009.html | website = [[Biology:TalkOrigins Archive|TalkOrigins Archive]] | publisher = The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. | location = Houston, TX}}</ref>

<ref name=talkorigins-2003-9-17-isaak>{{cite web | editor-last = Isaak | editor-first = Mark | date = 17 September 2003 | title = Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CB401: Inconceivable instinct | url = http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CB/CB401.html | website = TalkOrigins Archive | publisher = The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. | location = Houston, TX}}</ref>

<ref name=talkorigins-2004-3-17-isaak>{{cite web | editor-last = Isaak | editor-first = Mark | date = 17 March 2004 | title = Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CC201: Phyletic gradualism | url = http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CC/CC201.html | website = TalkOrigins Archive | publisher = The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. | location = Houston, TX}}</ref>

<ref name=talkorigins-2004-5-10-isaak>{{cite web | editor-last = Isaak | editor-first = Mark | date = 10 May 2004 | title = Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CA221: Were you there? | url = http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CA/CA221.html | website = TalkOrigins Archive | publisher = The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. | location = Houston, TX}}</ref>

<ref name=talkorigins-2007-3-13-isaak>{{cite web | editor-last = Isaak | editor-first = Mark | date = 13 March 2007 | title = Index to Creationist Claims: Claim CA006.1: Hitler's views | url = http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CA/CA006_1.html | website = TalkOrigins Archive | publisher = The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. | location = Houston, TX|ref=none}}</ref>

<ref name=talkorigins-faqs-foley>{{cite web | last = Foley | first = Jim | title = Fossil Hominids: The Evidence for Human Evolution | url = http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs | website = TalkOrigins Archive | publisher = The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. | location = Houston, TX}}</ref>

<ref name=talkorigins-faqs-wells>{{cite web | title = Icons of Evolution FAQs | url = http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/wells | website = TalkOrigins Archive | publisher = The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. | location = Houston, TX}}</ref>

<ref name=talkreason-2007-08-24-avalos>{{cite web | last = Avalos | first = Hector | date = August 24, 2007 | title = Creationists for Genocide | url = http://www.talkreason.org/articles/Genocide.cfm |  website = Talk.reason}}</ref>

<!--deadlink--><ref name=tallahassee-2008-2-6-ruse>{{cite web | last = Ruse | first = Michael |  date = 6 February 2008 | title = Darwin and Hitler: a not-very-intelligent link | url = http://www.nebsci.net/fla46.html | newspaper = Tallahassee Democrat | type = Op-ed ("My View") | location = Tysons Corner, VA | publisher = [[Company:Gannett Company|Gannett Company]] | page = B3}}</ref>

<ref name=vatican-1950-08-12-pope-pius-xii>{{cite web | author = Pope Pius XII | date = August 12, 1950 | title = Humani Generis | url =https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_12081950_humani-generis.html |  website = Vatican: the Holy See | publisher = [[Organization:Holy See|Holy See]] | location = St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City | type = Papal encyclical | access-date = 2016-07-20 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120419021937/http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_12081950_humani-generis_en.html | archive-date = April 19, 2012}}</ref>

<!-- BOOK REFERENCES -->

<ref name=perry-chase-jacob-jacob>{{harvnb|Perry|Chase|Jacob|Jacob|2014|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jy5BBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA634 634–635]}}: "The most extreme ideological expression of nationalism and imperialism was Social Darwinism. In the popular mind, the concepts of evolution justified the exploitation by the 'superior races' of 'lesser breeds without the law.' This language of race and conflict, of superior and inferior people, had wide currency in the Western nations. Social Darwinists vigorously advocated empires, saying that strong nations—by definition, those that were successful at expanding industry and empire—would survive and others would not. To these elitists, all white peoples were more fit than nonwhites to prevail in the struggle for dominance. Even among Europeans, some nations were deemed more fit than others for the competition. Usually, Social Darwinists thought their own nation the best, an attitude that sparked their competitive enthusiasm. ...In the nineteenth century, in contrast to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Europeans, except for missionaries, rarely adopted the customs or learned the languages of local people. They had little sense that other cultures and other peoples deserved respect. Many Westerners believed that it was their Christian duty to set an example and to educate others. Missionaries were the first to meet and learn about many peoples and the first to develop writing for those without a written language. Christian missionaries were ardently opposed to slavery...."</ref>

<!-- JOURNAL REFERENCES -->

<ref name=archaeopteryx-1986-charig-greenaway-milner-walker-whybrow>{{cite journal | last1 = Charig | first1 = Alan J. |  last2 = Greenaway | first2 = Frank | last3 = Milner | first3 = Angela C. | author-link3 = Angela Milner | last4 = Walker | first4 = Cyril A. | author-link4 = Cyril Walker (palaeontologist) | last5 = Whybrow | first5 = Peter J. | date = May 2, 1986 | title = ''Archaeopteryx'' Is Not a forgery | journal = Science | volume = 232 | issue = 4750 | pages = 622–626 | bibcode = 1986Sci...232..622C | doi = 10.1126/science.232.4750.622 | issn = 0036-8075 | pmid = 17781413 | s2cid = 39554239 | display-authors = 3}}</ref>

<ref name=aaas-1997-4-11-huelsenbeck-rannala>{{cite journal | last1 = Huelsenbeck | first1 = John P. | last2 = Rannala | first2 = Bruce | date = 11 April 1997 | title = Phylogenetic Methods Come of Age: Testing Hypotheses in an Evolutionary Context | journal = Science | volume = 276 | issue = 5310 | pages = 227–232 | doi = 10.1126/science.276.5310.227 | issn = 0036-8075 | pmid = 9092465| citeseerx = 10.1.1.456.4974 }}</ref>

<ref name=creighton-2005-paul>{{cite journal | last = Paul | first = Gregory S. |  year = 2005 | title = Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies: A First Look | url = http://moses.creighton.edu/jrs/2005/2005-11.pdf | journal = Journal of Religion & Society | volume = 7 | issn = 1522-5658 | access-date = 2015-04-09 | archive-date = 2015-03-31 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150331014559/http://moses.creighton.edu/jrs/2005/2005-11.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref>

<ref name=hssrd-2002-summer-majid>{{cite journal | last = Majid | first = Abdul | date = Summer 2002 | title = The Muslim Responses To Evolution | url = http://www.hssrd.org/journal/summer2002/muslim-response.htm | journal = Science-Religion Dialogue | location = Mansehra, Pakistan | publisher = Hazara Society for Science-Religion Dialogue | volume = 1 | issue = 1 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040119181826/http://www.hssrd.org/journal/summer2002/muslim-response.htm | archive-date = 2004-01-19}}</ref>

<ref name=michaelshermer-2006-10-shermer>{{cite journal | last = Shermer | first = Michael |  date = October 2006 | title = Darwin on the Right | url = http://www.michaelshermer.com/2006/10/darwin-on-the-right | journal = Scientific American | volume = 295 | issue = 4 | page = 38 | doi = 10.1038/scientificamerican1006-38 | pmid = 16989476 | issn = 0036-8733| bibcode = 2006SciAm.295d..38S }}</ref>

<ref name=naturepublishing-2003-elena>{{cite journal | last1 = Elena | first1 = Santiago F. | last2 = Lenski | first2 = Richard E. |  date = June 2003 | title = Evolution experiments with microorganisms: the dynamics and genetic bases of adaptation | journal = Nature Reviews Genetics | volume = 4 | issue = 6 | pages = 457–469 | doi=10.1038/nrg1088 | issn = 1471-0056 | pmid = 12776215| s2cid = 209727 }}</ref>

<ref name=naturepublishing-2005-5-delsuc-brinkman-philippe>{{cite journal | last1 = Delsuc | first1 = Frédéric | last2 = Brinkmann | first2 = Henner | last3 = Philippe | first3 = Hervé | date = May 2005 | title = Phylogenomics and the reconstruction of the tree of life | journal = Nature Reviews Genetics | volume = 6 | issue = 5 | pages = 361–75 | doi = 10.1038/nrg1603 | issn = 1471-0056 | pmid = 15861208| citeseerx = 10.1.1.333.1615 | s2cid = 16379422 }}</ref>

<ref name=ncse-witham>{{cite journal | last = Witham | first = Larry | date = November–December 1997 | title = Many scientists see God's hand in evolution | url = http://ncse.com/rncse/17/6/many-scientists-see-gods-hand-evolution | journal = Reports of the National Center for Science Education | volume = 17 | issue = 6 | page = 33 | issn = 2158-818X}}</ref>

<ref name=nature-2006-4-6-shubin-daeschler-jenkins>{{cite journal | last1 = Shubin | first1 = Neil H. |  last2 = Daeschler | first2 = Edward B. | author-link2 = Ted Daeschler | last3 = Jenkins | first3 = Farish A. | author-link3 = Farish Jenkins | date = April 6, 2006 | title = The pectoral fin of ''Tiktaalik roseae'' and the origin of the tetrapod limb | journal = Nature | volume = 440 | issue = 7085 | pages = 764–771 | bibcode = 2006Natur.440..764S | doi = 10.1038/nature04637 | issn = 0028-0836 | pmid = 16598250| s2cid = 4412895 }}</ref>

<ref name=naturepublishing-larson>{{cite journal | last1 = Larson | first1 = Edward J. |  last2 = Witham | first2 = Larry | date = April 3, 1997 | title = Scientists are still keeping the faith | journal = Nature | volume = 386 | issue = 6624 | pages = 435–436 | bibcode = 1997Natur.386..435L | doi = 10.1038/386435a0 | s2cid = 32101226 | issn = 0028-0836}}</ref>

<ref name=palaeontologyonline-2012-antcliffe>{{cite journal | last = Antcliffe | first = Jonathan B. | year = 2012 | title = Patterns in Palaeontology: The Cambrian explosion – Paradoxes and possible worlds | url = http://www.palaeontologyonline.com/articles/2012/the-cambrian-explosion-paradoxes-and-possible-worlds/ | journal = Palaeontology Online | volume = 2 | issue = Article 8 | pages = 1–12 | publisher = Palaeontological Association (sponsor)}}</ref>

<ref name=scientificamerican-2002-rennie>{{cite journal | last = Rennie | first = John |  date = July 2002 | title = 15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense | journal = Scientific American | volume = 287 | issue = 1 | pages = 78–85 | doi = 10.1038/scientificamerican0702-78 | issn = 0036-8733 | pmid = 12085506| bibcode = 2002SciAm.287a..78R }}</ref>

<ref name=thenewyorker-orr>{{cite magazine | last = Orr | first = H. Allen |  date = May 30, 2005 | title = Devolution | url = http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/05/30/devolution-2?currentPage=1 | magazine = The New Yorker | issn = 0028-792X}}</ref>

<ref name=ugent-logica-1986-burian>{{cite journal | last = Burian | first = Richard M. | title = Why the panda provides no comfort to the creationist | url = http://logica.ugent.be/philosophica/fulltexts/37-2.pdf | journal = Philosophica | year = 1986 | volume = 37 | number = 1 | pages = 11–26 | doi = 10.21825/philosophica.82521 | s2cid = 247442638 | access-date = 2016-01-16 | archive-date = 2016-10-07 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161007121150/http://logica.ugent.be/philosophica/fulltexts/37-2.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref>

<!-- NEWS REFERENCES -->

<ref name=thewitchitaeagle-schrock>{{cite news | last = Schrock | first = John Richard | date = May 17, 2005 | title = Christianity, Evolution Not in Conflict | url = http://www.educationfrontlines.net/newspaper/050517-christianity.htm | newspaper = The Wichita Eagle | location = Sacramento, CA | publisher = [[Company:The McClatchy Company|The McClatchy Company]] | page = 17A | access-date = April 10, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150416011640/http://www.educationfrontlines.net/newspaper/050517-christianity.htm | archive-date = April 16, 2015 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

<ref name=washingtonpost-2005-8-2-gwb>{{cite news | title = Transcript of Roundtable Interview, page 5 of 5 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/02/AR2005080200899_5.html | newspaper = {{wipe|The Washington Post}} | date = August 2, 2005}}</ref>

}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book | last = Behe | first = Michael J. | year = 1996 | title = Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution | location = New York | publisher = Free Press | isbn = 978-0-684-82754-4 | lccn = 96000695 | oclc = 34150540| title-link = Darwin's Black Box }}
* {{cite book | last = Bowler | first = Peter J. |  year = 1992 | orig-year = Original hardback edition published 1983 |title=The Eclipse of Darwinism: Anti-Darwinian Evolution Theories in the Decades Around 1900 |edition=Johns Hopkins Paperbacks | location = Baltimore, MD | publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press | isbn = 978-0-8018-4391-4 | lccn = 82021170 | oclc = 611262030}}
* {{cite book | last = Bowler | first = Peter J. | year = 2003 | title = Evolution: The History of an Idea | edition = 3rd | location = Berkeley, CA | publisher = University of California Press | isbn = 978-0-520-23693-6 | lccn = 2002007569 | oclc = 49824702| url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/evolutionhistory0000bowl_n7y8 }}
* {{cite book | last = Butterfield | first = Nicholas J. | year = 2001 | chapter = Ecology and evolution of Cambrian plankton | editor1-last = Zhuravlev | editor1-first = Andrey Yu. | editor2-last = Riding | editor2-first = Robert | title = The Ecology of the Cambrian Radiation | series = Critical Moments in Paleobiology and Earth History Series; Perspectives in Paleobiology and Earth History Series | location = New York | publisher = Columbia University Press | isbn = 978-0-231-10613-9 | lccn = 00063901 | oclc = 44869047}}
* {{cite book | last = Darwin | first = Charles |  year = 1859 | title = On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life | edition = 1st | location = London | publisher = John Murray | lccn = 06017473 | oclc = 741260650| title-link = On the Origin of Species }} The book is available from [http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?pageseq=1&itemID=F373&viewtype=side The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online]. Retrieved 2015-03-30.
* {{cite book | last = Darwin | first = Charles | year = 1866 | title = On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life | url = http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?pageseq=1&itemID=F385&viewtype=side | edition = 4th | location = London | publisher = John Murray | oclc = 44636697}}
* {{cite book | last = Dawkins | first = Richard |  year = 2006 | title = The God Delusion | location = Boston, MA | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Company | isbn = 978-0-618-68000-9 | lccn = 2006015506 | oclc = 68965666| title-link = The God Delusion }}
* {{cite book | last = Dawkins | first = Richard | year = 2010 | orig-year = First published in Great Britain in 2009 by Bantam Press | title = The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution | edition = First Free Press trade pbk. | location = New York | publisher = Free Press | isbn = 978-1-4165-9479-6 | lccn = 2010655116 | oclc = 685121521| title-link = The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution }}
* {{cite book | last = Dembski | first = William A. |  year = 1998 | title = The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance through Small Probabilities | location = Cambridge; New York | publisher = {{wipe|Cambridge University Press}} | isbn = 978-0-521-62387-2 | lccn = 98003020 | oclc = 38551103| title-link = The Design Inference }}
* {{cite book | last = Fowler | first = Thomas | year = 2007 | title = The Evolution Controversy: A Survey of Competing Theories | location = Grand Rapids, MI | publisher = Baker Academic | isbn = 978-0-8010-3174-8 | lccn = 2007011459 | oclc = 122291332}}
* {{cite book | last = Fry | first = Iris | year = 2000 | title = Emergence of Life on Earth: A Historical and Scientific Overview | location = New Brunswick, NJ | publisher = Rutgers University Press | isbn = 978-0-8135-2740-6 | lccn = 99023153 | oclc = 41090659}}
* {{cite book | last = Gould | first = Stephen J. |  year = 1983 | title = Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes | edition = 1st | location = New York | publisher = W. W. Norton & Company | isbn = 978-0-393-01716-8 | lccn = 82022259 | oclc = 8954357| title-link = Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes }}
* {{cite book | last = Ham | first = Ken |  year = 1987 | title = The Lie: Evolution | location = Green Forest, AR | publisher = [[Organization:Institute for Creation Research#Master Books|Master Books]] | isbn = 978-0-89051-158-9 | lccn = 00108776 | oclc = 50574665| url = https://archive.org/details/lie00kenh_0 }}
* {{cite book | last = Hempel | first = Carl Gustav |  year = 1965 | orig-year = Essay originally published 1950 in ''Revue Internationale de Philosophie'', '''41''' (11): 41–63 | chapter = Problems and Changes in the Empiricist Criterion of Meaning | chapter-url = https://www.ualberta.ca/~francisp/NewPhil448/HempelEmpiricistsMeaning1950.pdf | title = Aspects of Scientific Explanation and other Essays in the Philosophy of Science | location = Glencoe, IL | publisher = Free Press | lccn = 65015441 | oclc = 522395| title-link = Aspects of Scientific Explanation and other Essays in the Philosophy of Science }}
* {{cite book | last = Hoyle | first = Fred |  year = 1982 | title = Evolution From Space (The Omni Lecture) and Other Papers on the Origin of Life | location = Hillside, NJ | publisher = Enslow Publishers | isbn = 978-0-89490-083-9 | lccn = 82008856 | oclc = 8495145}}
* {{cite book | last1 = Hoyle | first1 = Fred | last2 = Wickramasinghe | first2 = Chandra |  year = 1982 | orig-year = Originally published 1981; London: J. M. Dent & Sons | title = Evolution from Space: A Theory of Cosmic Creationism | edition = Reprint | location = New York | publisher = Simon & Schuster | isbn = 978-0-671-45031-1 | lccn = 82005622 | oclc = 8430789| url = https://archive.org/details/evolutionfromspa00hoyl_0 }}
* {{cite book | last1 = Hoyle | first1 = Fred | last2 = Wickramasinghe | first2 = Chandra | year = 1986 | title = Archaeopteryx, the Primordial Bird: A Case of Fossil Forgery | location = Swansea, Wales | publisher = Christopher Davies | isbn = 978-0-7154-0665-6 | oclc = 17768215| url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/archaeopteryxpri0000hoyl }}
* {{cite book | last1 = Hoyle | first1 = Fred | last2 = Wickramasinghe | first2 = Chandra | year = 1993 | title = Our Place in the Cosmos: The Unfinished Revolution | location = London | publisher = J. M. Dent & Sons | isbn = 978-0-460-86084-0 | lccn = 94130735 | oclc = 30817228}}
* {{cite book | last = Isaak | first = Mark | title = The Counter-Creationism Handbook | year = 2007 | location = Berkeley, CA | publisher = University of California Press | isbn = 978-0-520-24926-4 | lccn = 2006047492 | oclc = 69241583| url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/countercreationi0000isaa }}
* {{cite book | last = Kehoe | first = Alice B. |  year = 1984 | orig-year = Originally published 1983 | chapter = The Word of God | editor-last = Godfrey | editor-first = Laurie R. | title = Scientists Confront Creationism | edition = Later prt. | location = New York | publisher = W. W. Norton & Company | isbn = 978-0-393-30154-0 | lccn = 82012500 | oclc = 12399341| chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/scientistsconfro00godf | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/scientistsconfro00godf }}
* {{cite book | last = Kellogg | first = Vernon |  year = 1917 | title = Headquarters Nights: A Record of Conversations and Experiences at the Headquarters of the German Army in France and Belgium | url = https://archive.org/details/headquartersnigh01kell | location = Boston | publisher = The Atlantic Monthly Press | lccn = 17025619 | oclc = 1171749}} The book is available from the [https://archive.org/details/headquarters00kell Internet Archive]. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
* {{cite book | last = Kitcher | first = Philip |  year = 1982 | title = Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism | url = https://archive.org/details/abusingscience00phil | url-access = registration | location = Cambridge, MA | publisher = MIT Press | isbn=978-0-262-11085-3 | lccn = 82009912 | oclc = 8477616}}
* {{cite book | last1 = Klyce | first1 = Brig | last2 = Wickramasinghe | first2 = Chandra | year = 2003 | chapter = Creationism versus Darwinism: A Third Alternative | chapter-url = http://www.panspermia.org/thirdalt.htm | editor1-last = Campbell | editor1-first = John Angus | editor1-link = John Angus Campbell | editor2-last = Meyer | editor2-first = Stephen C. | editor2-link = Stephen C. Meyer | title = Darwinism, Design and Public Education | location = East Lansing, MI | publisher = Michigan State University Press | isbn = 978-0-87013-675-7 | lccn = 2003020507 | oclc = 53145654| title-link = Darwinism, Design and Public Education }}
* {{cite book | last = Moore | first = James R. |  year = 1979 | title = The Post-Darwinian Controversies: A Study of the Protestant Struggle to Come to Terms with Darwin in Great Britain and America, 1870–1900 | location = Cambridge; New York | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn = 978-0-521-21989-1 | lccn = 77094372 | oclc = 4037223}}
* {{cite book | editor-last = Morris | editor-first = Henry M. |  year = 1974 | title = Scientific Creationism | others = Prepared by the technical staff and consultants of the [[Organization:Institute for Creation Research|Institute for Creation Research]] | location = San Diego, CA | publisher = Creation-Life Publishers | isbn = 978-0-89051-003-2 | lccn = 74014160 | oclc = 1556752| url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/scientificcreati00inst }}
* {{cite book | last = Morris | first = Henry M. | year = 1982 | title = The Troubled Waters of Evolution | edition = 2nd | location = San Diego, CA | publisher = Creation-Life Publishers | isbn = 978-0-89051-087-2 | lccn = 82083647 | oclc = 10143785}}
* {{cite book | last = Morris | first = Henry M. | year = 1989 | title = The Long War Against God: The History and Impact of the Creation/Evolution Conflict | location = Grand Rapids, MI | publisher = Baker Book House | isbn = 978-0-8010-6257-5 | lccn = 89039261 | oclc = 20296637}}
* {{cite book | last = Patterson | first = John W. | year = 1984 | orig-year = Originally published 1983 | chapter = Thermodynamics and Evolution | editor-last = Godfrey | editor-first = Laurie R. | title = Scientists Confront Creationism | edition = Later prt. | location = New York | publisher = W. W. Norton & Company | isbn = 978-0-393-30154-0 | lccn = 82012500 | oclc = 12399341| chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/scientistsconfro00godf | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/scientistsconfro00godf }}
* {{cite book | last = Pennock | first = Robert T. |  year = 1999 | title = Tower of Babel: The Evidence against the New Creationism | location = Cambridge, MA | publisher = MIT Press | isbn = 978-0-262-16180-0 | lccn = 98027286 | oclc = 44966044| url = https://archive.org/details/towerofbabelevid00penn }}
* {{cite book | last1 = Perry | first1 = Marvin | last2 = Chase | first2 = Myrna | last3 = Jacob | first3 = Margaret | last4 = Jacob | first4 = James | last5 = Daly | first5 = Jonathan W. | last6 = Von Laue | first6 = Theodore H. | year = 2014 | title = Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society | volume = II: Since 1600 | edition = 11th | location = Boston, MA | publisher = Cengage Learning | isbn = 978-1-305-09142-9 | lccn = 2014943347 | oclc = 898154349}}
* {{cite book | last = Plantinga | first = Alvin |  year = 1993 | title = Warrant and Proper Function | location = New York | publisher = [[Organization:Oxford University Press|Oxford University Press]] | doi = 10.1093/0195078640.001.0001 | isbn = 978-0-19-507864-0 | lccn = 92000408 | oclc = 25628862}}
* {{cite book | last = Popper | first = Karl |  year = 1985 | orig-year = Originally published 1976 | title = Unended Quest: An Intellectual Autobiography | location = La Salle, IL | publisher = [[Company:Open Court Publishing Company|Open Court]] | isbn = 978-0-08-758343-6 | lccn = 85011430 | oclc = 12103887| title-link = Unended Quest }}
* {{cite book | last = Quine | first = Willard Van Orman |  year = 1953 | orig-year = Essay originally published 1951 in ''The Philosophical Review'', '''60''' (1): 20–43 | chapter = Two Dogmas of Empiricism | chapter-url = http://www.ditext.com/quine/quine.html | title = From a Logical Point of View: Nine Logico-Philosophical Essays | location = Cambridge, MA | publisher = Harvard University Press | lccn = 53005074 | oclc = 1470269}}
* {{cite book | last = Ridley | first = Mark |  year = 2004 | title = Evolution | edition = 3rd | location = Malden, MA | publisher = [[Company:Wiley-Blackwell|Blackwell Publishing]] | isbn = 978-1-4051-0345-9 | lccn = 2003000140 | oclc = 51330593}}
* {{cite book | last1 = Sarfati | first1 = Jonathan |  last2 = Matthews | first2 = Mike | year = 2002 | title = Refuting Evolution 2 | location = Green Forest, AR | publisher = Master Books | isbn = 978-0-89051-387-3 | lccn = 2002113698 | oclc = 54206922| url = https://archive.org/details/refutingevolutio0000sarf }}
* {{cite book | last = Scott | first = Eugenie |  title = Evolution Vs. Creationism: An Introduction | year = 2005 | orig-year = Originally published 2004; Westport, CT: Greenwood Press | others = Foreword by [[Biography:Niles Eldredge|Niles Eldredge]] | edition = 1st pbk. | location = Berkeley, CA | publisher = University of California Press | isbn = 978-0-520-24650-8 | lccn = 2005048649 | oclc = 60420899| url = https://archive.org/details/evolutionvscreat00scot }}
* {{cite book | last = Strobel | first = Lee |  year = 2004 | title = The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God | location = Grand Rapids, MI | publisher = Zondervan | isbn = 978-0-310-24144-7 | lccn = 2003023566 | oclc = 53398125}}
* {{cite book | last = Temple | first = Frederick |  year = 1884 | title = The Relations Between Religion and Science. Eight Lectures Preached Before the University of Oxford in the Year 1884 on the Foundation of the Late Rev. John Bampton, M.A. | url = http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17194/17194-h/17194-h.htm | series = Bampton Lectures | location = London | publisher = Macmillan and Co. | isbn = 978-1-108-00027-7 | lccn = 38016289 | oclc = 556953}}
* {{cite book | last = Weikart | first = Richard |  year = 2004 | title = From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics, and Racism in Germany | edition = 1st | location = New York | publisher = [[Company:Palgrave Macmillan|Palgrave Macmillan]] | isbn = 978-1-4039-6502-8 | lccn = 2003065613 | oclc = 53485256}}
* {{cite book | last = Wells | first = Jonathan |  year = 2000 | title = Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? | location = Washington, D.C. | publisher = Regnery Publishing | isbn = 978-0-89526-276-9 | lccn = 00062544 | oclc = 44768911| title-link = Icons of Evolution }}
* {{cite book | last = Yahya | first = Harun |  year = 1999 | orig-year = Translated from the Turkish edition of 1997 | title = The Evolution Deceit: The Scientific Collapse of Darwinism and its Ideological Background | location = Istanbul, Turkey | publisher = Okur | isbn = 978-9758415007 | lccn = 2001336710 | oclc = 46701250}}
* {{cite book | last = Young | first = David A. | year = 1988 | orig-year = Originally published 1982; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan | title = Christianity and the Age of the Earth | location = Thousand Oak, CA | publisher = Artisan Publishers | isbn = 978-0-934666-27-5 | lccn = 81016266 | oclc = 20135091}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | editor1-last = Coleman | editor1-first = Simon | editor1-link = Simon Coleman (anthropologist) | editor2-last = Carlin | editor2-first = Leslie | year = 2004 | title = The Cultures of Creationism: Anti-Evolution in English-Speaking Countries | location = Aldershot, Hants, England; Burlington, VT | publisher = [[Company:Ashgate Publishing|Ashgate]] | isbn = 978-0-7546-0912-4 | lccn = 2003045172 | oclc = 51867865}}
* {{cite book | last = Denton | first = Michael |  year = 1986 | orig-year = Originally published in Great Britain in 1985 by Burnett Books Limited | title = Evolution: A Theory in Crisis | edition = 1st U.S. | location = Bethesda, MD | publisher = Adler & Adler | isbn = 978-0-917561-05-4 | lccn = 85013556 | oclc = 12214328| title-link = Evolution: A Theory in Crisis }}

==External links==
* {{youTube|i-GUYY4UZNc|Video (10:56) − ''"Raising Doubts About Evolution... in Science Class"''}} − (NYT / Retro Report; November 2017)


{{DEFAULTSORT:Objections To Evolution}}
[[Category:Creationism]]
[[Category:Creationist objections to evolution| ]]
[[Category:Biological evolution]]
[[Category:Criticism of science]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:Denialism]]

{{Sourceattribution|Objections to evolution}}