The Fishing Lures of Faith

Not to be outdone by Christian fundamentalists, Islamic fundamentalists have come out with their own anti-evolution treatises. Among the most prominent of these is the Atlas of Creation by Harun Yahya. It's a long work (and more is on the way) consisting primarily of page after page of examples showing that modern-day species can be found in the fossil record. This is supposed to demonstrate that evolution hasn't occurred.

Volume 1 contains the example of the Caddis Fly. The illustration in the book shows the modern-day fly in the foreground. Circled in red in the background is the fossil analogue, preserved in amber. (No, they don't look similar to me either).



But look again at the modern fly. Skeptics noticed it had a steel hook coming out the bottom of it. In fact, it's not a Caddis fly at all. It's a fishing lure created by Graham Owen. Harun Yahya lifted the image (right) from Owen's site, apparently not realizing it wasn't a living creature, and pasted it into his book. Other fishing lures by Owen are scattered throughout the Atlas of Creation.

You can download the entire text of the Atlas of Creation, free of charge, from Yahya's site. So I did, but I couldn't find the Caddis fly in there. (It's supposed to be in Vol 1, p 244). I'm assuming Yahya must have removed it. However, I did notice that in Part 2 of the pdf (page 282 of the text) the Mayfly has a steel hook coming out of its belly. (Thanks, Jona!)

Animals Photos Religion Science

Posted on Wed Jul 23, 2008


Comments

Never overestimate the ability of a fundamentalist to think logically when confronted by evidence contrary to the beliefs of said fundamentalist.

Notice that I do not qualify the fundamentalist as to type. By this I include all belief systems - religion, global warming, UFO visitation, hollow / flat earth, etc.
Posted by KDP  on  Thu Jul 24, 2008  at  09:01 AM
Although I have no inclination to defend Yahya, in my capacity as a defender of truth I should mention that the bug circled in red in actually not supposed to be the caddisfly. The caddisfly encased in amber is cropped out of the bloggified image, as is the supposed modern-day version of the circled midge.

"Caddis fly" is a mis-spelling that Yahya shares with the fly-tier, that's why his google search turned up lures and not actual insects. Caddisflies (order Trichoptera) are not flies (order Diptera), they're more closely related to moths.
Posted by Steve Lew  on  Thu Jul 24, 2008  at  01:24 PM
There's been some Muslim pareidolia recently, too - the name of Allah spelled out in holy gristle. Which proves that Islam is the one true religion.... I see a Clash of Civilizations looming here, with ardent Christians and Muslims brandishing their conflicting pareidoliae at each other.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7520149.stm
Posted by Mr Henderson  on  Thu Jul 24, 2008  at  05:10 PM
Alex, this is simply more evidence of Intelligent Design.
The main predators on caddisflies and mayflies are fish. These special insects (which benighted evolutionary biologists would not consider to be closely related) have each been gifted by their Creator with an extra appendage that so closely resembles a fishhook that no intelligent fish would ever take a bite.
Posted by Big Gary  on  Sat Jul 26, 2008  at  12:22 PM
crazey people are crazey people. I live in Pennsylvania and I see Christian fundamentalists everyday. Knowledge is all about access to new infomation. These people just dont have the access.
Posted by Pennsylvania Fishing  on  Mon Aug 11, 2008  at  04:25 PM
Caddis Fly is an excellent bait for trout!
Posted by Romuald  on  Tue Sep 08, 2009  at  10:34 AM
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.