Evolution by natural processes and without a prime mover is an idea that is accepted on faith. There is no way to verify it as there are no time machines. All one can do is assume it as fact and make it the interpretive framework for all geological and paleontological endeavor.
Creation by Divine fiat through mechanisms we are not capable of understanding is an idea that is accepted on faith. There is no way to verify it as there are no time machines. All one can do is assume it as fact and make it the interpretive framework for all geological and paleontological endeavor.
Anyone who claims their theory as scientific fact or, worse, points to popular sentiment to back their assertion, is either lying, blind, or deluded.
I think what reasonable Creationists claim is that their Hypothesis, Theory, Speculation, whatever you want to call it, is indeed consistant with the evidence. If it wasn't consistant, it would not only be an issue of faith, but a laughably misplaced faith.
Then there is the SETI crowd that actually believes that there is intelligent life in outerspace. This is the same crowd that looks around and says everything we see is NOT the product of intelligent design, it can't possibly be - impossible! It must absolutely be a product of pure random chance! Then they gaze up into the screens of their employer's computer as it is busy processing SETI data knowing all along that their proof for life in the cosmos is finding order and intelligece rather than chaos.
What do you do with people who want it both ways?
If a weight is dropped it falls to the earth. This is a
fact. What best explains the fact is gravity. Likewise,
evolution is a fact and what best explains it is Darwin's
Theory of Natural Selection. All verified "theories" from
gravity to relativity describe certain phenomena that we
know reflect realities. As I've said before,the term
"theory", though useful, has become anachronistic and
terminology always lags behind scientific actuality.