If We Evolved From Apes – Why Do Apes Still Exist?

“If we evolved from apes, why do apes still exist?”

Recently a devout “creationist” joined one of my creation discussion forums with the proclaimed intention of finally unravelling the lie of “evolutionists”. After a full week of factless drivel I encouraged him to begin discussions on specific topics. I was very surprised that his first pick was “If we evolved from apes, why do apes still exist?”

The reasons were laid out – and here’s a simplified nutshell for you: First of all species still living are referred to as “extant”, which means still living. Second, the question is similiar to “If my cousins and I have the same great great great great great grandparents, why do I still have cousins?” or “If Americans descended from Europeans, why are there still Europeans?” Thirdly, evolution does not say we evolved from apes – Evolution states that apes and humans have a common ancestor.

The widely accepted website for evolution information is TalkOrigins.org – they have extensive archives, answers to all creationist debate points I have ever heard brought up, and the answer to this specific statement can be found here: Why Are Apes Still Alive?

Now I can understand a creationist not trusting information from talkorigins.org – after all it is essentially the “enemy” website with nothing but scientific answers to creationist debate points. I would say that to my knowledge if you are a creationist, spend a good chunk of time reading talkorigins.org and do not come away with some ideas changed – it would be fairly apparent there was no intended interest in learning.

But the problem lies here: Not only has this argument been long answered by “evolutionists” – it has now even been deprecated by the holy grail of creationist websites – AnswersInGenesis.org – Just as talkorigins.org is the widely accepted reference point for evolution information, answersingenesis.org is the widely accepted reference point for creationist information and debate points.

I have spent many hours on both websites and have come to my own conclusions based on the information presented.

Please go to the Answers In Genesis Creation Arguments Not To Use list to read it for yourself. Many of the arguments on this list I have had to suffer through in the past, with the ones stating the arguments saying I was blind to the truth and sometimes “blinded by Satan”. If your OWN TEAM says not to use an argument, then that should be pause for thought.

But the bigger point is, I have seen time and time again where the argument is not dropped until shown that the premiere creationist website says specifically the argument is flawed. The second biggest argument on the list of what NOT to use by creationists in debate is that Darwin recanted evolution on his deathbed. Again, I hear this time and time again – and when I bring up that the argument is deprecated and people can view it for themselves on their own creationist website; it seems few do.

The hesitation to look at the information clearly for what it is, and instead creating camps of “enemies” to be refuted – is a major red flag that should be examined. If you make claims that the scientific community as a whole is a coup bent on some mastermind plot – it is most likely you have adopted this belief as blanket protection for something you don’t want to look at openly.

Certainly that’s a choice individuals can make. But don’t think for a second that it is science.

FURTHER READING

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0504505.htmÂ

Excerpt:

LONDON (CNS) — The theory of evolution, rather than negating the need for God, helps believers understand that God’s relationship to the universe is that of a nurturing parent, said Jesuit Father George Coyne, director of the Vatican Observatory.

But there is a “nagging fear in the church” that evolution is incompatible with a divinely planned universe and this fear has historically created “murky waters” in the church’s relationship to science, he said in an Aug. 6 article in The Tablet, an independent Catholic weekly newspaper published in London.

2 thoughts on “If We Evolved From Apes – Why Do Apes Still Exist?

  1. ” the question is similiar to “If my cousins and I have the same great great great great great grandparents, why do I still have cousins?” or “If Americans descended from Europeans, why are there still Europeans?” ”

    The parallel is wrong. Your cousins are humans. In other words, your cousins are the exact same species. Europeans are human. Europeans are the same species. The argument dealing with evolution is much different. The argument is “if Apes were forced to evolve, why didn’t all apes evolve.” No one ever makes the argument that your cousins ‘evolved’ into you.

    Scientists utilize the unknown species in determining that apes and humans split from the unknown. You would be much wiser in simply stating that scientists do not believe that humans directly descended from present day apes. You error in making analogies that simply do not work.

  2. Response #1 – I think that the analogy is fine, except with maybe a minor difference. I’d put it like this:

    “If Americans descended from Europeans, why are there still Australians?”

    If the argument is: “if Apes were forced to evolve, why didn’t all apes evolve”, then they should make this argument, rather than the stupid “why are the still apes” argument.

    In either case, a better option is simply to point out that not only are other apes just as ‘evolved’ from the common ancestor as us, but only a small population in a small area encountered an environment that pushed them towards homo-sapiens.

    Response #2 – And no more do we say that humans evolved from modern apes. The shared ancestor of humans and chimps/bonobos was certainly an animal which we would classify as an ape, though, as Creationists (and some of us evolutionists) are fond of pointing out when someone tries to say “but we aren’t descended from apes, we share an ancestor with apes”. The analogy is perfectly valid.

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