Ron Lalonde has written two articles claiming that I have "missed the point on evolution". Before I address both of Ron's letters, let me give a brief report on the "Was Darwin Wrong?" seminar at McMaster university last weekend. McMaster's campus newspaper the Silhouette, reported the event with this opening line, "Darwinism was given a kick in the cranium in a recent lecture series." The gate count was about 1450 over three nights with about 1000 different people in attendance. There were 25 different evolutionist professors/educators in attendance. Initially some of these professors openly voiced their opinion that the crowd was nothing more than a church service being held on campus. But they soon learned it was a serious scientific challenge to the theory of evolution. Later another one complained to me that the crowd was overwhelmingly creationist. At the time I had to agree because my impression from the crowd's reaction was that they were 85% creationist. But I later documented from a survey taken at the door that about 34% of the crowd were opposed to creation and believed in evolution. The crowds appeared to favor the scientific evidence of creation because of what they saw and heard. Even some evolutionist professors admitted to me that it was a high quality scientific presentation. Another professor told me flat out that he just didn't have any answers to refute what Dr. Patton said. Many people came up to me and told me the presentation was absolutely spectacular. It was clear to a vast majority of the audience that the professors did not succeed in their attempt to challenge the scientific conclusions of Dr. Patton as he defended the creation model of origins.
Ron Lalonde knew about the seminar because it was advertised at the end of my last article he critiqued. Ron may be right that I have "missed the point on evolution". I never claimed to be a scientist. But Ron you see, missed the seminar altogether. I phoned Ron up and I asked him why he didn't attend the seminar. He replied, "I was busy". (We always make time for the things we deem important.) It is puzzling to me why Ron would expend so much energy writing two rebuttal letters to my evaluation of the evolutionary model of origins and then not attend what others told me was the single most significant event to occur on the subject in 10 years at McMaster University. Because Ron claims to know the creation science movement so well in his first letter to the editor, he must have known that creation seminars always provide a public question/answer period. Truth never has anything to hide! Nor is it afraid of cross-examination. I offered a whopping 1 1/2 hours of question time over three nights to any person that was willing to take the time to attend. I must admit I was disappointed not to see Ron's hand go up during one of the six question periods. It is easy to submit a letter to the editor and make scientifically unfounded claims. I think the readers of this paper are also disappointed that Ron didn't attend. You see, Ron stated that his evolutionary theory is so vastly superior to creation that he compared the scientific case of creation to believing that the earth is flat in his second letter. Not one of the 25 evolutionist professors that attended the "Was Darwin Wrong?" seminar could honestly be that bold. Of course the creationist professors at McMaster I talked to felt that Dr. Patton clearly prevailed. Maybe Ron knows more than all the professors at McMaster and that is why he didn't attend. The way Ron talks about how flimsy the case for creation is, you would think he could have simply skipped the lectures and merely shown up at the question period. He could have then asked his three fatal and unanswerable questions and lead the crowds out of the theater in triumphant victory. But Ron has obviously dealt with scientists who support creation before and knows that he can sound impressive in a public newspaper but be clearly refuted by an expert in a public forum at the University.
But to be fair to Ron, maybe he really was too busy to attend. So I then offered to sell him at cost ($40) a set of the videos which contain twice the information that Dr. Patton was able to present at the 6 lecture seminar. 70 other people that attended the lectures purchased the videos. How much more should Mr. Lalonde evaluate the material first hand since he was too busy to attend. Again Ron disappointed the readers of the Mountain News when he curtly replied, "I am not really interested, thank you good bye." And hung up. This unfortunately, is the mind-set of some evolutionists. They have faith in a theory and are unwilling to examine the opposing view. I might add that many churchgoers also cling to their religious views with equally blind faith without checking to see if their doctrine is found in the Bible.
I could now give a simple point by point rebuttle of Ron's "proofs" of evolution. But I know that anyone who attended the seminar could do as good a job as I. So rather than waste any more good space of this newspaper in refuting his unscientific claims, I will hereby offer the videos at cost ($40US) to anyone in the city who wants to hear Dr. Patton refute all evolutionists with scientific evidence. The set contains 12 thirty minute lectures. Call me at 905-575-8437.
Letter to Mountain News Steve Rudd 33 Highcliffe Ave Hamilton, Ont L9A 3L3