faith v credulity

Originally posted by DBT9 ↑

''This however is denied by other authorities on the matter. Evolutionist Hitching says of this foremost evolutionary model

An authority on evolution? now that is really funny:

''Research on Hitching turned up the following: Hitching is basically a sensational TV script writer and has no scientific credentials. In The Neck of the Giraffe he claimed to be a member of the Royal Archaeological Institute, but an inquiry to that institute said he was not. He implied in the "Acknowledgements" of The Neck of the Giraffe that paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould had helped in the writing of the book, but upon inquiry Gould said he did not know him and had no information about him. Hitching also implied that his book had been endorsed by Richard Dawkins, but upon inquiry Dawkins stated: "I know nothing at all about Francis Hitching. If you are uncovering the fact that he is a charlatan, good for you. His book, The Neck of the Giraffe, is one of the silliest and most ignorant I have read for years."

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hitching.html

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Gould said he did not know him and had no information about him.
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Ok DBT9, what about one Gould does acknowledge.
Gould extols Theodosius Dobzhansky as “the greatest evolutionist of our century.” Gould cites as “direct evidence” for evolution the small-scale changes within species of moths, fruit flies, and bacteria.
Concerning the fruit flies of Gould’s argument, Dobzhansky says mutations “usually show deterioration, breakdown, or disappearance of some organs. . . . Many mutations are, in fact, lethal to their possessors. Mutants which equal the normal fly in vigor are a minority, and mutants that would make a major improvement of the normal organization in the normal environments are unknown.”
Such variations within species are irrelevant to evolution. Evolution’s problem is to change one species into another species.
Science, the official magazine for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, also spiked Gould’s argument: “Species do indeed have a capacity to undergo minor modifications in the physical and other characteristics, but this is limited and with a longer perspective it is reflected in an oscillation about a mean [a position about midway between extremes].” In both plants and animals, variations within a species will oscillate or move about like pellets shaken in a glass jar—the variations are held within the boundaries of the species just as the pellets are confined within the jar. Just as the Bible’s account of creation says, a plant or an animal may vary, yet it is restricted to reproduce “according to its kind.”—Genesis 1:12, 21, 24, 25.