This is in response to letter on Intelligent Design of Feb. 21. I have some serious misgivings about Mr. Holley's argument. First of all, the only directly cited source of any kind was a poll taken by CBS stating that 51 percent of Americans believed that God created man in his present form. Polls are not proof of anything.
Mr. Holley points to the lack of transitional species in the fossil record. There are many explanations for this. For one, evolution typically seems to occur in a process called "punctuated equilibrium." There are periods of little or no overall change in a species, followed by a small population branching off into a new climate, or some other selective pressure causing the species to "evolve" at a faster rate. This phenomenon coupled with the fact that the conditions under which any single animal will be preserved in fossil form are very difficult to meet, hence the incomplete fossil record of billions of years.
In addition, evolution is not based on faith. It is a sound scientific theory. It fits the data very, very well. Aspects of evolutionary theory are being confirmed almost yearly. Evolution has also been observed on a very regular basis in the wild. The scientific definition of evolution is "the change in allele frequency over time." An allele is a particular version of a gene. This actually does occur whether you "believe" it or not. Whether you have faith in it or not. The process of natural selection paired with a predictable rate of genetic mutation is proof positive that evolution occurs everywhere.
As for there being no "continuing creation," paleontologists have fairly definitive proof of a number of mass extinctions throughout the history of life on Earth. After those extinctions, many an ecological niche was left vacant. That is why after each of those mass extinctions, a number of new species begin to crop up in the fossil record.
Lastly, when the claim is made that evolution is "just a theory," they are dramatically misunderstanding the scientific definition of "theory." In science, when you have a theory, you have the best explanation that fits the data. That is a good thing. That is what you want. Special relativity is "just a theory," and it is the fundamental idea behind such things as nuclear power plants and the atomic bomb.
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Eric Kuha
Bemidji
