It finally happened -- I can no longer accept that the earth does not show, in great detail, the history of the evolution of life.
I still believe that the God of the Bible created "life, the universe, and everything," but not in seven days: instead, that life came into being by God's guidance of an age-long lineage of organisms -- from simple lipid bubbles and RNA to the wondrously diverse life covering the world today.
I sincerely thank the people who spent many hours conversing with me -- not only have you convinced me about evolution, but about wanting to become a scientist. Because of our discourse, I am now pursuing a career in molecular biology/genetics (instead of mechanical engineering) -- I have been accepted into a good university program, and am working as an intern in an actual research lab.
I also offer my apologies for having stalled the threads in which I most recently participated (the telomerase thread, and "Evolution Must Happen, it is Logical). School (and now my internship) and "real life" have been a huge drain on my time, leaving me little to no time for the computer. In retrospect, however, it was good to step back from arguing about the subject so I could think clearly about it. Unfortunately, I am still pressed for time, and can't yet return to active posting. Someday...
Sincerely,
JT
P.S. I also want to thank the administration (especially Percy, for creating the standard) for keeping the quality of this board incredibly high, and for impartial, respectful, and kind treatment of someone with crackpot ideas.
Thanks again,
JT