Faith is active and visible, not something that just occures "in your heart".

Outline:I. IntroductionII. Validity of the BibleIII. The Law of Thermodynamics vs EvolutionIV. Prebiotic Molecules and Abiotic SynthesisV. ConclusionVI. SourcesI. Introduction"I have never seen the slightest scientific proof of the religious theories of heaven and hell, or future life for individuals, or of a personal God." -Thomas EdisonReligion and faith is and always has been the lack of an understanding of our environment; the question of how we were made, and to what purpose we are to serve; the belief that our existence was no accident. The Greeks used mythology and Gods to explain the origins of mankind, and to provide some reason towards why things happened, that could not be explained otherwise (S1). Zeus, God of the Sky, was believed to have controlled the weather, destiny, fate and kingship. Ares, God of War, was believed to inspire violence, battlelust and courage (S2). Though regarded as nothing but fairytales in this day and age, Greek mythology was used to explain how the world worked; why wars started; why the weather changed the way it did; why people were either moral or immoral. II. Validity of the BibleSimilarly, the Bible is used to explain man's origins and the world. As claimed in the tale of Genesis, God made man from clay, and a woman from the man's rib. However, these tales of living, breathing human beings being formed from clay or a fragment of a person's bone, a suggestion that alchemy is plausible, or the belief that the world is a meager six thousand years old as opposed to four billion years, or the entire Earth being flooded, the belief that a man, such as Noah, could surpass over two hundred years of age, when put into perspective, does seem "off," if not impossible. For example, the Bible claims that the Earth is relatively six thousand years old. However, trees such as the Old Tjikko have surpassed six thousand years. It's estimated to be approximately 9,550 years old (S3). This fact alone should put to rest that the Bible can make accurate statements on the world. Another example of the Bible's inaccuracies is the story of Noah's Ark. According to the Bible, he, his two sons, and his wife managed to make a boat capable of housing two of every creature on this Earth. It would be an estimated around 510 feet long and 51 feet tall capable of sailing for around 150 days (S4). This also means that Noah would have to travel to find the the emus in Australia, the wild boars in Europe and the Canadian Geese in North America. However, during the time of Noah, the "New World," or North and South America, were not even discovered yet, and the voyages to successfully retrieve every animal on this world would take lifetimes. Bill Nye, a prominent speaker regarding religion, bashed the Biblical belief of Earth being 6,000 years old in a debate against Ken Ham, saying "My scientific colleagues go to places like Greenland, the Arctic, they go to Antarctica and they drill into the ice with hollow drill bits; it's not that extraordinary, and many have probably done it yourselves, like with hole saws to put locks in doors, for example. And we pull out long cylinders of ice, long ice rods. And these are made of snow and ice. It's called snow ice. Snow ice forms over the winter, and snow flakes fall, and are crushed down by subsequent layers. They're crushed together, and are entrapping little bubbles. The bubbles must needs be [from] ancient atmospheres; there's nobody running around with a hypodermic needle squirting ancient atmosphere into the bubbles. And we find certain of the cylinders to have 680,000 layers. 680,000 snow winter/summer cycles. How could it be that just 4000 years ago, all of this ice formed? We can just run some numbers. Let's see we have 680,000 layers of snow ice, and 4000 years since the great flood, that means we need 170 winter/summer cycles every year. For the last 4000 years. Wouldn't someone have noticed that? Wouldn't someone have notice there's been winter/summer, winter/summer for 170 times in one year?" (S5).My opponent fails to provide any evidence towards God and the validity of the Bible, instead making baseless statements such as "[this debate] assumes the validity of the Bible, the sovereignty of God," and "We were created by One all-powerful, all-knowing, always present God." III. The Law of Thermodynamics vs EvolutionMy opponent explains the impossibility of evolution by presenting the Second Law of Thermodynamics. To those who may not know, the Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the quality of matter/energy deteriorates gradually over time (S6). My opponent fails to clarify the reasoning behind why the Second Law of Thermodynamics deems evolution impossible. However, regardless, I will rebut this claim.According to Biologos, a website that publishes articles on modern science, "a common argument against biological evolution is that the theory contradicts the second law of thermodynamics. The second law says that disorder, or entropy, always increases or stays the same over time. How then can evolution produce more complex life forms over time? The answer is that the second law is only valid in closed systems with no external sources of energy. Since the Earth receives continual energy from the Sun, the second law does not apply," (S7). Therefore, because evolution is not some sort of process which takes place in a closed area, the Second Law of Thermodynamics does not apply.IV. Prebiotic Molecules and Abiotic SynthesisPrebiotic Molecules: molecules believed to be the chemical and environmental precursors of organic lifeAbiotic Synthesis: making compounds using non-living molecules (S8)It is believed that prebiotic molecules were responsible for the creation of life on Earth, being the raw materials from which living cells were formed. Prebiotic molecules are found in meteorites (S9). Assuming that the Earth was hit by meterorites millions, even billions, of years ago, we can assume that some prebiotic molecules landed on Earth. Molecules containing the four elements, nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen, can synthesize amino acids, carbohydrates, nucleic acids and other key compounds for life (S10). Prebiotic molecules can create organic molecules such as cells and amino acids through abiotic synthesis. Abiotic synthesis can be demonstrated through the famous Miller-Urey Experiment. The Miller-Urey Experiment was an experiment conducted by biochemists, Stanley Miller and Harold Urey. The experiment showed that several organic compounds could be formed spontaneously by simulating the conditions of Earth's early atmosphere. In the website, Windows to the Universe, the experiment is described as "an apparatus which held a mix of gasses similar to those found in Earth's early atmosphere over a pool of water, representing Earth's early ocean. Electrodes delivered an electric current, simulating lightning, into the gas-filled chamber. After allowing the experiment to run for one week, they analyzed the contents of the liquid pool. They found that several organic amino acids had formed spontaneously from inorganic raw materials. These molecules collected together in the pool of water to form coacervates," (S11). The Miller-Urey Experiment demonstrated that substances, such as prebiotic molecules, had the potential to create organic life, given the conditions on Earth's early atmosphere.V. ConclusionConfident that my argument has demonstrated that the Bible is inaccurate, and therefore not a "sacred" text or one from a divine being, I can conclude that faith is no more than a belief or assumption that the Bible is correct, not by any sort of Divine influence.VI. Sources:S1) https://www.ancient.eu...S2) http://www.theoi.com...S3) http://mentalfloss.com...S4) https://answersingenesis.org...S5) http://www.youngearth.org...S6) http://www.allaboutscience.org...S7) http://curious.astro.cornell.edu...S8) http://study.com...S9) https://www.merriam-webster.com...S10) http://www.agenciasinc.es...S11) http://www.windows2universe.org...;