Members of the Iowa Faith Leader Coalition have a special contempt for the scientific understanding of biological evolution through natural selection. Joshua Davis is pastor of the Davenport Wesleyan Nazarene Church in Davenport, Iowa. That church is a member of the Interchurch Holiness Convention, which describes biological science as a “delusion” because the Christian Bible is “the only authoritative source of information concerning human origin.” Cyril McKay, pastor of the Omega Church in Oskaloosa, Iowa is a board member of the Iowa Holiness Association, and like Joshua Davis, is a member of the Interchurch Holiness Convention. As a member of that organization, McKay asserts that scientific knowledge must be discarded when it conflicts with ancient Christian writings. “We possess a Book, believed by us to be the revealed Word of God and therefore the only authoritative source of information concerning human origin,” the Iowa Holiness Association writes. The organization insists that evolutionary biology is delusional. The organization insists that evolutionary biology is delusional. The group teaches that if people discover any facts that disagree with the Christian Bible, they are duty bound to ignore those facts. Adam Whitty is pastor of the Temple Baptist Church in Charles City, Iowa. He preaches that biological science is false, and that evolution through natural selection simply does not take place. Mark DeFord is pastor of the Leon Bible Church in Leon, Iowa. The Leon Bible Church promotes the work of the Institute for Creation Research, which declares that “there is no such thing as a ‘prehistoric’ time period—all history has been recorded!” Dan McCoy is pastor of the First Baptist Church of Urbandale in Urbandale, Iowa. He tells his followers that the Earth was created, exactly as we see it now, in just six days. These days, McCoy says, are not metaphors for long periods of time. He teaches his followers that the Earth was created by a great spirit in only six days. Like Cyril McKay, Dan McCoy also teaches that the knowledge of science must be rejected whenever it conflicts with ancient Christian doctrines, because science is “unscriptural”. These preachers represent the widespread consensus in Donald Trump’s Iowa Faith Leader Coalition that biological evolution through natural selection is a fraud. They say that evolution is fake because it doesn’t agree with what their holy book tells them. What does science have to say? Evidence for biological evolution of species through natural selection comes from many sources, including: - Fossils – huge numbers of meticulously documented physical remains of dead organisms that reflect coherent development over extremely long periods of time - Comparative anatomy – similar body parts seen in many different animals but adapted to different uses, in patterns that suggest lineages of adaptation over long periods of time - Molecular biology – the study of patterns in genetic diversity. These patterns support the relationships of descent between groups of organisms that have been established through fossils and comparative anatomy o Scientists are now able to do genetic engineering by directly editing genetic sequences that are linked to observable traits, such as bioluminescence - Geology – measuring the ages of rocks o Relative dating, using methods such as the related positions of different layers of rocks o Absolute dating, using techniques such as the measurement of ratios of different isotopes, measuring the amount of time it would take for these ratios to form given observed rates of radioactive decay § For very old rocks, Magnetostratigraphy measures the ancient polarity of the earth's magnetic field recorded in a stratigraphic succession - Ecology – observations of co-evolved relationships between species, such as pollinating moths and tubular night-flowering plants - Direct observation of evolution in animals, plants, and microbes that have short generations o Pesticide resistance in insects o Resistance to antibiotic medications in parasitic microbes o In 2008, scientists reported on the physical changes in a population of lizards of the species Podarcis sicula after they moved them from their natural habitat to a neighboring island. In only 36 years, the lizards evolved “striking differences in head size and shape, increased bite strength and the development of new structures in the lizard’s digestive tracts” along with “dramatic changes in population density and social structure”. On their original island, the lizards were insect eaters, but on their new island home, the lizards evolved to eat more plants.
