Hymns for 28 September 2008, (Proper 21) 20th Sunday after Pentecost

All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name     TLH 339

Lord, as Thou Wilt, Deal Thou with Me       TLH 406

Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word  TLH 261

 

Hymns for Sunday, September 21, 2008 (Proper 20, 19th Sunday After Pentecost)

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing  LBW 499

Salvation unto Us Has Come    LBW 297

Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord LBW 163 (Distribution)

Lord of All Hopefulness LBW469

Son of God, Eternal Savior  LBW 364

Oh, Happy Day When We Shall Stand    LBW 351

 

Sermon Podcasts

Sermon September 14, 2008 -- How many times should I forgive my brother? Forgiveness is a gift of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of Christ's crucifixion. The Holy Spirit helps us to bury grudges in Christ's grave.

Sermon August 31, 2008 -- The Confession of St. Peter

Hymns for Sunday, 14 September 2008 (Proper 19, 18th Sunday after Pentecost)

Lord of glory, You have bought us  LBW 424

Where Charity and Love Prevail LBW 126 (Hymn of Praise in place of This is the Feast)

“Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive”   LBW 307

Jesus Sinners Will Receive    LBW 291

 

Darwinian Evolutionist Interpretations of Armored Stickleback fish Contradict each other

A genetic variation among freshwater stickleback fish has resulted in the appearance of two contradicting interpretations of the simple fact that some of the fish have "armor plating" and some do not.

An article appearing in Science Daily reports on experiments done on marine sticklebacks raised in freshwater ponds, to test the hypothesis that the majority of freshwater sticklebacks lack armor plating as an evolutionary advantage. Of course the article MUST end with the obligatory Darwin-worshiping throw away tag-on that says that this experiment proves another part of the whole neo-Darwinian system.

Celebrating its 150th anniversary this week, Darwin’s first publication of his natural selection theory proposed that challenging environments would lead to a struggle for existence, or “survival of the fittest.” Since then, scientists have advanced the theory by contributing an understanding of how genes affect evolution.

“This study provides further evidence for Darwin’s theory of natural selection by showing that environmental conditions can directly impact genes controlling physical traits that affect the survival of species,” says Barrett.

Never mind the fact that genetic selection came into Darwinian evolution much later, the clean-up article will "celebrate Darwin" as if the theory has never had any problems at all.

More to the point, the conclusions of the article state that:

Barrett and Rogers also found that offspring carrying the allele are significantly larger in size. “It leads us to believe that the genetic expression is also tied to increased growth rate,” says Barrett.

“If the fish aren’t expending resources growing bones – which may be significantly more difficult in freshwater due to its lack of ions – they can devote more energy to increasing biomass,” says Barrett. “This in turn allows them to breed earlier and improves over-winter survival rate.”

This is no surprise, and no proof of evolution. This sort of genetic variation within species is normal and natural. A Husky has an "evolutionary advantage" over a hairless Chihuahua in Alaska. This so-called evolutionary advantage is only variation in kind -- and not even natural variation, but designed variation by breeders. Yet, both remain dogs and can be bred back together. (Picture at left is a Siberian Husky - Chihuahua cross.) This kind of genetic variation exists in many species. It is similar to the finch beak size observed by Darwin that set his theory in motion. Of course, it has been later observed that the variation in beak size among Galapagos finches is something that changes cyclically with changes in the environment.

From an information centered perspective, however, what we see is not addition of new information, but suppression of the armor growing gene. This is a loss of genetic information. No new genetic data is added. No progress is made toward a new species.

Ironically this is shown by a near simultaneous story from the Seattle Times,

"Backward-evolving Lake Washington fish lends clues about genetics."

Just five decades ago, Lake Washington was notoriously polluted, full of murky water festering with blue-green algae that thrived on the millions of gallons of raw sewage the cities pumped into it.

Pollution cut visibility in the water to only about 30 inches. And that was great for the stickleback, a rugged looking customer with three sharp spines along its back, because it easily could hide in the murk from its primary predator, cutthroat trout.

Enter a $140 million cleanup of the lake, launched in the 1960s, at the time one of the biggest pollution-control efforts in the nation. Today, Lake Washington is swimmable again, and visibility reaches 25 feet....

But to their surprise, researchers have discovered that in the space of four decades, the stickleback evolved backward, to an earlier version of the species that had full-body plating. [Emphasis added]

(Isn't it always a surprise when anything does not square with their thousands of years framework for evolution?)

Researchers surmise that is because marine versions of the fish, with armored plates, invaded the lake anew when the fish ladder was put in, mixing their genes with the unplated fish.

So, when the water was cleaned up, the fish were able to tap those genes to zoom backward to their earlier, plated version, and armor themselves against the cut throat trout that suddenly could see — and eat them.

How did the fish adapt so quickly and easily? The researchers say it's because of their rich genetic variation.

That enabled them to cope with a range of environments and the changing conditions of the lake. In fact, they said, it looks like much of the change has happened in less than a decade.

This should be no surprise at all. There was never any evolution in the first place to roll back. A genetic variation within species temporarily favored one variety of a species over another. When the environment reverted, the lost information was no longer advantageous and the variety with the old design flourished.

This is similar to the genetic information loss that happens in antibiotic resistant bacteria. By loss of genetic information, the bacteria are less susceptible to certain antibiotics. When the environment is returned to normal, the amount of the antibiotic resistant strain in the population plummets as the bacteria reverts to its original form.

No change in species. No evolutionary steps. No new information. Just natural variation within a given population.

Hymns for Sunday, 7 September 2008

Come Thou Almighty King   TLH 238

I Trust, O Christ, in You Alone   TLH 319

I Come, O Savior, to Thy Table   TLH 315 (Distribution)

Praise the Almighty   TLH 26

Lord, Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing       TLH 50