G.C. Jackson of the East Tennessee Creation Science Association held up a computer CD Wednesday night at Pruis Hall and asked more than 250 students one question.
"What is information?" Jackson said.
Jackson, who earned his bachelor's degree in biology and his master's degrees in science education and environmental biology from George Mason University, compared information on a CD to the information in strands of DNA and challenged students to study its origin.
"Who put it there, and what's it doing there?" Jackson asked. "It always comes from a mind, from somebody else's mind."
Jackson, who became a creationist after years of being an evolutionist, said that DNA was a thought from the mind of God.
According to Nobel laureate David Baltimore, human genes are similar to those of fruit flies, worms and even plants, and humans descend from the same beginnings, Jackson said.
Jackson said many people believe in evolution because they don't believe in God and therefore criticize the view of creationism, or intelligent design.
"I don't expect to convert everyone here who believes in evolution to becoming intelligent design believers," Jackson said. "What I do expect is that you'll leave here thinking that we're not dumb anymore."
According to a 1999 Gallop Organization poll by the Religious News Service, 40 percent of American adults believe humans developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life but that God guided the process, Jackson said.
He said that 47 percent of adults believe God created life in its present form within the last 10,000 years.
"Only 9 percent, however, believe humans developed over millions of years from less-advanced life forms, even though many people think this is the majority," he said.
Jackson said he hoped he helped students to think more critically about evolution and intelligent design.
"Truth should be discovered, not determined, by us," he said.
Sophomore Trent Walker, a biology and genetics major, said he attended the presentation because he wanted to hear the other side of the argument concerning evolution.
"Unfortunately, I felt that the doctor was a little biased in his information," Walker said. "He kind of generalized biologists and scientists in singling them out (to believe in) the theory of evolution. I feel like he didn't give it a fair chance; there was too much unsupported evidence."
Junior Rachel Dewitt said that she enjoyed the presentation and found it to be very convincing.
"I'm a Christian and believe in creationism and wanted to have some scientific evidence to back that up to refute evolution," Dewitt said.
Junior James Hueston, program coordinator, said Jackson uses current science discoveries to explain the newest discoveries and theories of mainstream creation scientists. Campus Crusade for Christ sponsored the event so students could hear a different point of view regarding the creation-evolution theory, he said.
"Since the area of science is so influential in our lives, the scientific evidence will unveil another possibility other than evolution," Hueston said.
Students can visit www.pointsoforigins.com to e-mail Jackson or find out more information.
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