Ray Comfort posted a video on his YouTube channel, Living Waters, about 12 years ago titled, Evolution vs. God: Watch Darwin Get Destroyed. As I write this, the video has garnered more than 4 million views. It’s about 38 minutes long which is longer than a lot of people like to watch but I recommend it to anyone who wants to invest the time. For the sake of this post, though, I will just sum up what the video is about and everyone can watch it later at his leisure.
Comfort is on a college campus interviewing older and younger people (presumably professors and students) about their views on atheism, theism, and evolution. Comfort challenges them on what they believe, what evidence have they considered, and asks them to consider arguments for God.
After listening to Ray, several of the younger people softened their views about atheism and considered his points about God. The older people, though, were thoroughly entrenched in their godless dogma and closed-minded to any of his arguments. All things considered, I applaud Comfort’s efforts in the video and pray that the students later went on to accept Christ.
Progressive “Christian,” Tyler Franke, hosted a website called, God of Evolution where he attempted to use Scripture to support typical leftist causes like homosexuality. Many of his posts discussed evolution. In a since deleted article titled, “THE TOP 10 SIGNS THAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND EVOLUTION AT ALL”, (the original title was in all caps, sorry), he tried to explain why creationists were wrong about evolution and how they were misreading the Bible. Here is what he had to say about Ray Comfort’s video:
Another one that you may have heard from our friend, Banana Ray. In his film “EvG” (which is subtitled, “Shaking the Foundations of Faith”), he underscores this supposed parallel by asking his victims — oh, I mean, “interview subjects” — ridiculous questions like “Are you a strong believer in evolution?” and “When did you first start believing in evolution?” His point, as he goes on to explain, is that anyone who accepts the truth of evolution based on the testimony of expert scientists is relying on “blind faith” in the same way atheists accuse religious people of doing.
Franke seems to be making a straw man of Comfort in the video. To me, it sounds like Franke is accusing Comfort of saying something to the students like, “See, you have blind faith in evolution - so just have blind faith in God instead.” That’s not what Comfort is doing but you’ll have to watch the video for yourself because that’s not really the point I mean to discuss. It’s what Franke said next that really had me alarmed.
Don’t misunderstand me. I’m a big supporter of critical thought — and of an engaged populace that rationally considers the information it receives before accepting it. But there are far worse people one could open one’s mind to than those who are sharing their expertise within the fields they have risen to the top of — especially when their conclusions are based on mountains of hard evidence that are available to anyone who doesn’t willfully choose to ignore it.
Do I need to remind Franke that everyone in the video who professed to believe in evolution also claimed to be an atheist? Isn’t it weird that Franke seems to defend the evolutionists, claiming they are the experts whose conclusions are based on mountains of evidence? At the same time, he holds contempt for Ray Comfort, calling him, “Banana Ray.” Franke goes so far as to portray Comfort as a predator and even describes the people to whom he witnesses as “victims.”
The first person who appears in the video is P.Z. Myers; Is he the kind of person Franke believes these students should open their minds to? Myers is an outspoken, militant atheist. And when I say outspoke, I mean he goes out of his way to attack Christianity. Consider this quote:
FAITH. No one word personifies the absolute worst and most wicked properties of religion better than that. Faith is mind-rot. It’s the poison that destroys critical thinking, undermines evidence, and leads people into lives dedicated to absurdity. It’s a parasite regarded as a virtue. I speak as a representative of the scientific faction of atheism: it’s one thing we simply cannot compromise on. Faith is wrong.
Myers zealously preaches atheism and attacks Christianity – young earth creationists in particular. You see, the young people in the video have been sold a bill of goods. They have been taught that atheism is the default position of intellectuals. The students were quick to admit their atheism. Some seemed very smug, even proud of it. So I'm going to have to disagree with Franke’s comment above and say, no, there is nothing worse than rejecting the truth of Jesus. Romans 1 talks about people who reject the truth of God and willingly believe a lie. Romans 1:22 says, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”
I remember myself at their age. I thought I knew everything. These students were so smug and boldly touted their atheism as though they were enlightened. When challenged by Ray Comfort on what they believed, they began to soften their position and rethink what they had been taught. If any of them came to Christ as a result, Francke should be glad! Instead, he ridicules Comfort and defends rabid theophobes. This is why I cannot tolerate the false gospel of theistic evolution. I see far too many evolutionists who claim to be Christians, condemning brothers in Christ while praising unbelievers like Myers. Incredible!
Matthew 7:15-16, Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.
