Claim CA221:
(In response to any claim about the history of life) Were you there?
Source:
Response:
- Yes, because "there" is here. Events in the past leave traces that
last into the present, and we can and do look at that evidence today.
- If this response were a valid challenge to evolution, it would equally
invalidate creationism and Christianity, since they are based on events
that nobody alive today has witnessed.
- A more useful and more general question is, "How do you know?" If the
person making a claim can not answer that question, you may consider the
claim baseless (tentatively, as someone else may be able to answer).
If the answer is subjective -- for example, if it rests on the person's
religious convictions -- you know that the claim does not necessarily
apply to anyone but that person. If you can not understand the answer,
you probably have some studying to do. If you get a good answer, you
know to take the claim seriously.
created 2003-4-21, modified 2004-5-10
