Evolution vs. Creationism

The age old argument between evolution and creationism has still yet to be determined. The dispute is over “the Earth, humanity, life, and the universe” (Wikipedia.org). One side claims that God, a divine power created the world and essentially the universe. The other claims that the Big Bang theory created the universe and that each organism on Earth evolved from a single celled organism. In other words, the argument is between religion and science. The dispute exists prevalently in the United States but has branched out to other nations.

While both sides have good and bad arguments, I believe in science. While I have my own beliefs, I do respect people who believe in creationism. However, there is significant evidence that the Earth and the universe were created by scientific events. In 1859, Charles Darwin published “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”. This publication is said to have “… brought scientific credibility to evolution, and made it [evolution] more respectable.” Evolution has been proven through numerous studies of fossils and existing organisms on the planet. There are, however, some gaps in between species that are unexplainable.

Creationism, the other side of the argument, claims that a divine power created the world as well as the universe. Many religions believe in some way or another that things were created by a higher being. This “being”, whether it be God, Allah, or any other mythical god, is responsible for everything that exists on Earth. While many religions have this theory written in their bibles or other religious texts, there is no evidence supporting this claim.

The most controversy over this argument is what side to teach in public schools. There have been many cases in the past such as the Daniel vs. Waters case that suggest that there should be equal time devoted to both sides of the argument in school. In today’s public schools, only the evolution theory is taught. The separation of church and state makes it unfair to teach the theory of creationism in school because not all children are raised in a religious home. I believe that the decision to teach only evolution is fair. If parents want their children to learn creationism instead, they can have their child attend a religion-based private school.

Recycle

Ever since the human race began, we have been a species of recyclers. We used to use anything and everything that was available to us. Now we have ten year olds asking their parents for the latest and greatest cell phone because their old one isn't "in" anymore. We exchange VHS for DVD and now DVD for BluRay or whatever new fangled disc they have available. We get a new cell phone every time a "cooler" one comes out. We buy a new car every year because our old one didn't have a pre-installed navigation system when we only drive our kids to school everyday. What happened to the age old rule of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle"? Fortunately, there are businesses out there that are aware of the diminishing ozone and have decided to change the way they run things. "Patagonia and Act2 turn old plastic bottles (and their own old garments) into clothing and consumer goods" according to TheGoodHuman.com. Farmers have always practiced some form of recycling by growing crops to feed both themselves and their animals. The animals eat the crops, digest it and leave manure. The manure can be made into compost to re-grow the crops that then feed the animals and so on. The bottom line is that our society needs to revert back to our old ways.

We need to practice better habits such as buying more durable items that will last rather than cheap, plastic products. As a society, the world can be helped by just making a few small changes every day. As mentioned in a previous post (Reducing Your Carbon Footprint), making a difference can mean changing the light bulbs in your house. I believe we should instill new guidelines for businesses to follow. Companies that can recycle their waste should be rewarded for bettering the environment. Toyota has been able to make eight of their plants zero landfill targets. Those plants don't send any waste to landfills! Can you imagine if every company in the world could do that? Well, that's a little unrealistic but if every car company could manage to do something similar, the environment would be in much better shape. We have the power to change the world. So why not start now?

The Truth About "Protected" Land

When it comes to the environment, people are making huge leaps and bounds on finding alternative energy resources. However, the undisturbed ecosystems existing on Earth have gotten pushed to the back burner amongst all the chaos based around global warming. On November 4^th the UK Times reported that the Scottish government has accepted Donald Trump’s $1.5 billion plan for a golf resort along the Aberdeenshire coastline. The land that the golf resort will be built on was previously allocated as a “Site of Special Scientific Interest” (SSSI). Despite environmentalists’ pleas, the government did not attempt to compromise with Mr. Trump. Many hoped that the golf resort could be built with the environment in mind but “the government has essentially given Trump free reign to do what he’d like with the land with little-to-no environmental supervision” (PlanetSave.com). Reasons for the government allowing this could include the $100 million in revenues generated from the resort. A portion of the money is said to be “… for the Aberdeenshire community” (PlanetSave.com). Many residents including Michael Forbes, who owns a farm in the middle of the proposed area, are outraged at Trump’s plans. He downright refused the money Trump offered to him earlier this year. Protests and attempted lawsuits are expected throughout the two year project.

If an area is deemed the “Site of Special Scientific Interest”, wouldn’t you expect people to respect that designation? I can understand what the Scottish environmentalists are going through at this point. All Trump had to do to keep everyone happy was accept some environmental supervision during the construction of the project. The worst thing that could happen is he would have to find a new place to dump the waste from the construction. It’s ridiculous that he can’t simply make a little compromise so that everyone can get what they want. The Earth has been running out of undisturbed wildlife ever since the Industrial Revolution. To build in one of the last preserved lands is outrageous. It’s not like Trump really needs another source of income in the first place. Hopefully he will rethink his environmental decision and learn to compromise at some point in the construction process. The Earth is a sacred thing that we should learn to protect, not take advantage of.