daily nebraskan
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We are here creationist and evolutionist debate arrival
monday, march 5, 1979
By Mike Sweeney
Two professors debating the theories of 1
evolution and divine creation Friday night
at the Nebraska Union agreed that fossils
tell the story of . the origin of life, but in
terpreted the fossil story differently.
Dr. Duane T. Gisli, author of The
Fossils Say No, and associate director of
the Institute for Creation Research, said
gaps in the fossil record and the lack of fos
sil evidence of transitional life forms refute
the theory of evolution.
Disagreeing, Dr. Michael Voorhies, as
sociate curator of vertebrate paleontology
at the UNL museum, said the progression
of vertebrate fossils in stratified rock layers
make evolution obvious.
"Gish wrote a book saying the fossils
say no, but I listen quite carefully to my
fossils and I hear them saying something
else," Voorhies said as he flashed a color,
slide of an animal skull with "yes" drawn
next to its jaws.
Cheering favorites
The debate prompted some of the 950
listeners to cheer for their favorite theory
like convention delegates cheer for their
favorite candidate.
Sponsored by Creation Coalition, a
newly-formed campus group, the debate
preceded a special creation seminar Satur
day. Gish argued that there are no transition
al fossils bridging the gap between micro
scopic forms of life and the invertebrates,
and between the invertebrates and the
vertebrates.
Instead of a steady progression of life,
he said fossils indicate an explosion of
complex creatures in the Cambrian period,
"which is what you would, expect on the
basis of creation.
"Evolution requires intermediate forms
between species, and paleontologists do
not provide them " Gish said.
Voorhies said transitional forms of life
do exist, and pointed to the fossil remains
of the archaeopteryx, a small feathered
reptile, as a transition between dinosaurs
and birds. But Gish said the archaeopteryx
was clearly birdlike.
Fossil records
Voorhies also said the fossil record
shows how the horse changed from a small
multi-toed animal to a large single-toed
animal.
Gish said Voorhies was "dwelling in the
branches of the evolutionary tree.
"You can dwell in the branches, but
you can't have a tree without a trunk,"
Gish said.
The theory of evolution falls through
because of the gaps between the lower
forms of tife, he said.
In response, Voorhies said, "Creationists
say we just don't have all the gaps filled.
When I demonstrate the evolution of the
horse, it makes no sense to say the horse
evolved but the other animals were
created."
Voorhies said the modern horse carries
within its body traces of its multi-toed an
cestry. The horse has an extra bone which
was once used to carry an extra toe, he
said.
Check yourself
"You can check this yourself if you've
got an old dead horse lying around the
barn," he said.
. Gish said the horse has not evolved. He
agreed that different types and sizes of hor
ses existed, but said they were different
species, created separately.
He said the theory of creation is just as
valid as the theory of evolutidn, since evo
lutionists can't prove events that occurred
before humans were around to witness
them.
Neither evolution nor creation is
science, he said.
"No theory of origins can be science,"
he said. The theory may be correct, but
it can't be proven," because there were no
witnesses to the origin of life.
Belief in the unproven theory of evolu
tion is parallel' to the belief in creation,
Gish argued, and therefore the two should
be given equal treatment by public schools.
Evolution as religion
"Evolution is just as religious as crea
tion," Gish said.
But Voorhies said there were funda
mental differences between the theories.
Creation is a static concept, he said, and
cannot be studied, while evolution is an ac
tive way of understanding nature:
Giving creation equal time with evolu
tion in public schools would be "like giving
equal time to the flat earth theory," Voor
hies said. '' "
"Creation in biology isisnmsGundas;
the flat earth theory is to geology ,'he
said, "and I'd like to suggest that it is an
insult to intelligence that such nonsense
should be taught as science in public;
schools." ,
Gish countered that not a single
member of the creationist society is a
member of the Flat Earth Society.
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jT CEW iEOSl UNO
Water use to be discussed
A soil and water specalist with the coop
erative extension service of the University
of California, will, speak Wednesday at 3
pjn. in the Nebraska East Union.
Fallih Aljibury will speak at a water re
sources seminai sponsored by the Nebraska
Water Resources Center. The topic for the
seminar is "Water Conservation Facts and
Fantasy."
Aljibury is a recognized expert on water
conservation and was recently appointed as
water commissioner for the state of Cali
fornia. He will discuss the various ways that
California is dealing with water conservat
ion, including ideas which might be appli
cable to Nebraska.
For further information contact the;
Water ResourceCenter, 310 Ag Hall, East "
Campus.
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