Theories and Laws

In science there are "laws" and "theories." Laws are provable and unquestionably true. The "Law of Gravity" for instance. Theories are tested may be found true enough in most instances to be widely accepted as fact but they fall short of the invariable nature of laws. The "Theory of Evolution" for instance.

Law: A statement describing a relationship observed to be invariable between or among phenomena for all cases in which the specified conditions are met
Theory: A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena.
Source: Dictionary.com

In scientific testing there is also condition known as confirmation bias. This is where a scientist will tend to lean towards the testing results that confirm his theory. That's why we have "double-blind" testing. It seperates the scientist from the test subjects and removes the influence of confirmation bias on the results.

So why the science lesson today? Well, I've always thought that in the case of the theory of evolution scientists have always had a bad case of confirmation bias. But if I were a school teacher I couldn't say so. Because, if a government agency or official criticized evolution then that would be an unconstitutional establishment of a religion. Or at least that is the interpretation of one Atlanta judge who ruled that Cobb County must take their stickers off of all their science text books. Here's what those stickers say:

"This text book contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered."
Source: MSNBC

One of the parent's suing over the stickers called them religious dogma. Huh? I think the bickering over the stickers is silly but what they say is true. Evolution is a theory, and in no way does the sticker indicate a preference for any alternative theory.

The bottom line is that it takes faith to claim evolution or creationism as fact. Neither one can be completely proven true. But my personal experience with God has proven His scripture true enough that I'll take His word on the origins of life.