Yes, Ray Comfort has a new video out which will "shatter the faith of the average believer in evolution."
Really, Banana Man? Like how you proved 'God' based on how perfect a domesticated fruit is? You see, Ray Comfort is so ignorant about science he didn't even realize that the wild banana is not what you find in your grocery stores.
But this is the guy who's going to disprove evolution? I'm sure the Nobel Prize Committee is paying close attention. :)
From the Christian News Network:
A major evangelistic ministry is preparing to launch a 30-minute documentary that Christian leaders say will offer a “devastating,” “lights out” challenge to the evolutionary worldview. ...
The main premise behind “Evolution vs. God” is that top evolutionary scientists cannot convincingly support their theory, and instead rely heavily on unfounded assumptions. Even when Comfort personally interviews influential evolutionists from major universities in the film (such as well-known atheist PZ Myers), they are unable to satisfyingly answer Comfort’s prodding questions.
“As you will see on “Evolution vs. God,”” Comfort stated, “not one of the experts could give me a whisper of evidence for Darwinian evolution. The movie is going to shatter the faith of the average believer in evolution, and strengthen the faith of every Christian.”
There's a reason why this talks about the opinions of Christian leaders, rather than biologists, because biologists actually know something about evolution.
Here, for example, is "well-known atheist" - and biology professor - PZ Myers:
I was one of those scientists. NO, I did not disagree with Dawkins about evolution or the evidence for evolution; NO, nothing I said provided any support to creationist claims; NO, there is not a lack of evidence for evolution.
What actually happened is that I briefly discussed the evidence for evolution — genetics and molecular biology of fish, transitional fossils, known phylogenies relating extant groups, and experimental work done on bacterial evolution in the lab, and Ray Comfort simply denied it all — the bacteria were still bacteria, the fish were still fish. I suspect the other scientists did likewise: we provided the evidence, Ray Comfort simply closed his eyes and denied it all.
And, of course, Comfort took those interviews, selected a few sentences out of context, and put them in his video to back up what he already believed - and has been trying to convince others his entire adult life.
Why would you listen to a religious leader about science, anyway? Why wouldn't you listen to scientists? Scientists at least know something - generally, a lot - about their own fields of expertise.
Western scientists were also overwhelmingly Christian when Darwin first proposed natural selection as the mechanism for an evolution they already could see in the fossil record. Christian churches, of course, all opposed it. Would 'God' choose such a horrible, bloodthirsty, wasteful process for his creation?
But scientists were convinced by the evidence, which has just gotten more and more overwhelming in the 150 years since then. How overwhelming? Well, overwhelming enough that most mainstream Christian denominations officially accept Darwinian evolution now, too.
Sure, they weasel around it. They claim that human evolution must have been "guided" by their god, despite the lack of evidence for that - and plenty of evidence against it.
But just as they were forced to accept that the Earth revolved around the Sun, despite what the Bible says (since arresting Galileo and threatening him with death didn't stop the progress of science), they were forced to accept the reality of evolution, too - though they don't like it much.
So you can accept science without giving up superstition, though you might have to modify your beliefs a bit. You'd also have to ignore the implications of evolution, and you'll certainly have to ignore the successes of evidence-based thinking, compared to the continuing failures of faith-based thinking, but you can do it.
But the really funny thing about all this is that, even if Ray Comfort could disprove evolution - and win a Nobel Prize, and become the most famous scientist since Einstein - that would do nothing to advance any belief in gods.
Evolution could be completely wrong, despite the abundant evidence, and it still wouldn't be evidence for a god. If evolution were proved wrong, the very best you could say is, "we don't know." In order to demonstrate that a god did it, you'd have to provide evidence backing up your claim. Disproving other claims - even if you could do it - wouldn't get you even one step closer to that.
But, despite what he says, Ray Comfort's video isn't designed to convince people who currently accept science. It's just designed to make believers feel better. And to get more donations from the faithful, no doubt.
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