Ugh, yeah, that statement about monkeys is particularly asinine.  It's wrong in both directions.  #1, it's wrong that we evolved from monkeys.

#2, even if we did evolve from monkeys, it's completely wrongheaded.  The classic counter-statement is, "If we came from Europeans, then why are there still Europeans?"  That isn't a perfect metaphor, but it gives you the idea of the real argument.  All you need is a huge geographic separation between two groups of monkeys.  One evolves, and one doesn't ... which is wrong, of course, since both groups evolved, just in different directions ... but still, even if their concept of monkeys staying the same while we evolved was correct, there would potentially be nothing wrong with the statement.

And ugh, I hate that fucking disclaimer.  Any true statement would contain the addendum, "And all of the competing models aren't even theories and aren't even up to debate.  They've been flat-out disproven."

If you want a good, solid foundation, go grab 'The Greatest Show on Earth' from a library or something.  It's a wonderful read.

Meh, that's kind of disturbing that they would do that for bio majors, too.

Reminds me of stuff that I've heard out of two of my coworkers, when someone brought up Evolution (might have been me; I don't remember).  One of them thought it had something to do with acquired traits (a giraffe stretches out its neck, and so its children have longer necks), which is looking at it ass-backwards.  The other didn't have as many aggressively backwards notions of it, but it was clear that he had no clue what the basics were.

This is why it needs to be taught in all schools.  As is the case with those two, people need to be taught Evolution by Evolutionary biologists, not Creationists.

Oh, just remembered one statement that the second guy made.  "Well, why don't we see monkeys evolving and using tools and weapons?"  Fortunately, three other people in the room (myself included) started laughing out loud and relayed the article about how scientists had discovered monkeys somewhere in Africa, I think it was, hunting with primitive spears.

"Dude, they are doing just that, what you thought was a silly statement to show how it can't be true!"

Heh, interesting combination.  An atheist going to a Methodist college.  Are they actually a mainstream college that teaches real science and is accredited ... was just started by Methodists?

For that matter, aren't Methodists some of the most laid back, liberal Christians out there?

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