Tammy Duncan's Persuasive Speech Question of Fact: Topical Title: Fossils Contradict Evolution General Purpose: To persuade Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that the fossil evidence commonly used to support evolution does not support it. Thesis: The fossil record, and discoveries of fossils of transitional forms, that were once cosidered as evidence for evolution, do not support the theory. Rehersal Time: 7 Minutes, 48 seconds I. Introduction A. Good morning. B. Imagine this, you are in a class asnd the instructor is disucssing an important and controversial issue. 1. How would you feel if the instructor only presents one side of the issue and you are not allowed to hear the case against the issue? a. If you were in a court of law and the same thing happened, where only one side of the case was allowed to be heard, would you call it a fair trial? Of course not. 2. The issue I will discuss today, many people believe there is only one valid and scientific side to the issue, but most people don't know there are two sides to this issue. 3. What is this issue? The issue is evolution and most people are not aware that much of the debate is not evolution verses religion, but the theory of evolution verses scientific evidence. 1. Acording to Phillip E. Johnson, a Berkely law professor who wrote the book Darwin On Trial, the mose threatening adversaries to Darwin's theory of evolution, in his day, were not members of clergy, but fossil experts (Johnson, 45). C. The fossil record, and discoveries of fossils of transitional forms, that were once considered as evidence for evolution, do not support the theory. [Now, let's examine the fossil record] II. Evolutionists have often referred to the fossil record as the biggest evidence for their theory, but the record is the biggest case against evolution. A. The biggest problem with the fossil record is the many gaps in the fossil record. 1. These gaps exist in the most important places in the fossil record, where, according to the theory of evolution, the transitional forms, or intermediate species should be. a. Charles Dawin asked in his own book, The Origin of Species, "Innumberable transitional forms must have existed, why do we not find them embedded in countless numbers in the crust of the earth?" (Darwin, 168) 2. Dr. Henry M. Morris, a former Virginia Tech professor, mentions in his book, The Troubled Waters of Evolution, that if evolution is true, the evidence should be in the fossil record and there should be a good sample of these transitional species in the record (Morris, 89) 3. Dr. Morris also points out in his book that fossils are never found with half of a characteristic of one species and half of another, such as half of a wing. a. He points out that there should be plenty of them in the fossil record if evolution is true. (Morris, 91-92) B. Another problem with the fossil record is the sudden appearance of new species. 1. In the article "Evolution's Erratic Pace," in the May 1977 issue of Natural History, Stephen J. Gould notes that fossils in any local area show sudden appearances of species, not slow changes. (Gould, 14) 2. Morris also mentions this in his book by quoting Paul Moody, who basically said the same thing and also mentions that transitional species are rare to find. (Morris, 90) C. Evolutionists do admit that the fossil record is very flawed. 1. In the textbook, Biology: Discovering Life, by Levine and Miller, which is used at this college, they admit that Darwin had an explanation for the imperfect fossil record. a. They said that Darwin suggests that organisms needed special conditions in order to fossilize. They had to be buried and fossilized before they could be destroyed or decomposed. (Levine, 167) 2. This is a good explanation, but think about it. a. Even with the millions of fossils found, there should be more than just a few transitional species. b. If evolution is true, the gaps in the fossil record should be small and randomly spread throughout the record, not big gaps between species. [Now that we've seen problems with the fossil record, let's look at the transitional forms.] III. Another problem with the fossil record is fossils of transitional forms are being dismissed. A. Some of the transitional forms that are being dismissed are the links between fish and amphibians and the links between amphibians and reptiles. 1. For example, the coelacanth is considered to be a close relative to a group of fish that are the link between fish and amphibians. a. Phillip E. Johnson, in his book Darwin on Trial mentions the fish was considered to be extinct for 70 million years until one was caught alive in the ocean. b. When the fish was dissected, it organs did not give any clues on how a fish could evolve into an amphibian. (Johnson, 74-75) c. Johnson suggests that if its close relative could be alive and examined today, it could probably disappoint evolutionists also. (Johnson, 75) 2. And speaking of amphibians, there is no adequate link between amphibians and reptiles. a. Johnson notes that there are a group of amphibians called Seymouria, that were considered links between amphibians and reptiles, but they appear too late in the fossil record and evidence now suggests that Seymouria amphibians are really amphibians. (Johnson, 75) i. Geologist might arbue that it's no concern that fossils are in the wrong order because events like earthquakes can cause older layers to move on top of younger layers. ii. Since this is the case, why are they using the fossil record anyway? B. The last group of transitional species that I would like to mention are the hominids, or what people refer to as the links between ape and man. 1. Doug LaPointe, in his article called "Top Evidences Against the Theory of Evolution," on the Creation Science Internet site, mentions that many of these hominid finds were based on small pieces of evidence, such as one bone and some discoveries have turned out to be from other animals, such as a pig, or from a hoax. (LaPointe, Evidence #4) a. One example of a hoaz is the Piltdown Man, where someone placed an ape's jaw with a human skull and fooled paleontologist for 45 years. (LaPointe, Evidence #4) 2. LaPointe also notes that skulls of humans can vary and casn be affected by diseases. a. One example he gives is the Neanderthal Man, who was considered a link between humans and apes until medical experts found out he was a modern person with a skull deformed by arthritis. (LaPointe, Evidence #6) b. Another example is the Homo Erectus, who was considered a link between humans and apes because the skull seemed too small for a person, but is almost the same size as a European's. (LaPointe, Evidence #6) [Now that I have mentioned these evidences against evolution, I will give you this handout at the end of this speech, the article "Top Evidences Against the Theory of Evolution."] VI. Conclusion A. In closing, remember the fossil problems with evolution: 1. Remember the problems with the fossil record. 2. Remember that fossils that were considered transitional forms are now being dismissed with more information. B. As one can see, the fossil record, and discoveries of fossils of transitiona forms, that were once considered as evidence for evolution, do not support the theory. C. In the words of an article called "Darwin Was Wrong" on the Interactive Bible internet site, "If a fair maiden kisses a frog which instantly changes into a handsome prince, we would call it a fairy tale. But if the frog takes 40 million years to turn into a prince, we call it evolution. Time is the evolutionist's magic wand." D. Thank you! SOURCES CONSULTED "Darwin Was Wrong" The Interactive Bible. http:www.bible.ca/C- Darwin-Wrong.html (18 Oct. 1996) Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species. First Collier Books ed. New York: Crowell-Collier Publishing Co., 1962. 168. Gould, Stephen J. "Evolution's Erratic Pace," Natural History. May 1977, pp. 12-16. Johnson, Phillip E. Darwin on Trial. Washington, DC: Regnery Gateway, 1991. LaPointe, Doug. "Top Evidences Against the Theory of Evolution," Creation Science. http://emporium.turnpike.net/C/cs/top.html Levine, Joseph S. and Kenneth R. Miller. Biology: Discovering Life. 2nd ed. Lexington, MA: Heath, 1994. Morris, Henry M., Ph.D. The Troubled Waters of Evolution. San Diego, CA: Creation-Life Publishers, 1974. NOTE: This speech was orginially written with the titles of the sources underlined. Because this speech is saved and available to you as only a text file, all underlining is omited.