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From: eklhad@ihnet.UUCP (K. A. Dahlke)
Newsgroups: net.origins
Subject: Re: Isolation and Unique Species
Message-ID: <227@ihnet.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 9-May-85 10:25:07 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihnet.227
Posted: Thu May  9 10:25:07 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 10-May-85 03:24:25 EDT
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Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
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> >How could new species appear in isolated regions if they didn't evolve?

Dan's response:
>   This is really not a very big problem for creationists. Animals have
>   been known to migrate over very long distances. "The Migration of Animals",
>   L.H. Mathews.
>   As a creationist who believes in catastrophist geology (The Flood), I would
>   suggest that after leaving the Ark, many animals migrated into different
>   parts of the world into places that were better suited for them
>   to live. Or, many animals may have migrated because of an over abundance
>   in one particular area.

	I (and others) have been accused of presenting "strawman"
creationist explanations for isolated speciation.
Clearly, we do not fabricate these explanations.  I ask you, what choice
do we have  (judging from the above)?
At least Paul (and others) give *some* thought to their arguments
before posting them to the net.
Could someone more knowledgeable than I do me a favor,
and compute a rough lower bound for the number of species that have lived
in the last 10,000 years.  Since species never evolve :-),
they must have *all* been present on the ark.  Including, of course,
enough food for 40 days, isolation chambers so they don't eat each other,
isles providing access to the animals, etc.  350 cubits just won't make it.
Of course, Noah really should take 1,000 of each animal, to insure
a sufficient gene pool for the success of each species.
Oh but I keep forgetting, the animals have devolved, and they
didn't have genetic imperfections 10,000 years ago :-).
So we will give your "scientific" theory the benefit of the doubt, and allow
two from each species.  Would someone calculate how
big the ship has to be to hold all the animals,
and how long it would take to construct such a vessel, given the technology
of the day?  Of course I haven't mentioned the other problems:
where did the water come from, where did it go, how did the animals reach
their geographically distant isolated regions, did Noah take plants as well,
how did he collect all the species, how can an animal travel half way around
the world without leaving a trace or offspring, etc etc etc.

This is almost as bad as the "speed of light is decreasing over time"
argument presented at a recent creationist talk here at ATT-BL.
It was an attempt to reconcile a young world with astronomical observations.
I shall not even respond to the "evidence of design" garbage.
Come on people, God won't send you to hell for using your brains.
I know you have them, they pop up now and then.
Please, give us something worth reading.
If you don't like strawmen, try a different construction material.

	In defense of creationists, this message does not apply to all.
Every field has its crackpots who unintentionally discredit
possibly valid theories.  My thanks to those of you who present
rational arguments, and do not speak solely from religious mysticism.
-- 

Karl Dahlke    ihnp4!ihnet!eklhad