ETs

[Mattevt]

I'm not sure if this is a repost, I couldn't find anything using the search tool.
I'm curious to here peoples thoughts on life out side of our earth. I feel like the general consensus of Christians is that there is no life outside of our own world. However, conversely non-Christians have said that it's ignorant to think that we are the only life-forms in this vast universe. Since we have no hard proof of life outside our own, is this a point for Christianity and creationism?

[AmerSdlbrd]

How would moving, thinking organism survive with out these? If the point of evolution is to weed out the weaker organisms then why is it neccessary for variety and diversity? Why doesn't one set of species continue to make itself better and better and better.

Because once a species finds that it can flourish (or at least survive) in an ecological niche, that is often enough in and of itself. Look at the many flightless birds on islands (such as the Dodo) or just look at the many flightless birds found (or now extinct) that live(d) in New Zealand http://www.terranature.org/flightlessBirds.htm

My favorite on that list:

The kakapo is one of the world's most critically endangered birds, living dangerously close to extinction for more than half a century. It is the world's heaviest parrot, and the only flightless and nocturnal parrot. After years of holding on with just a few females in New Zealand's most extensive breeding management program, the future looks a little better for kakapo since 22 chicks hatched in 2002, bringing the total number up to 84 birds

Another example of evolution not yielding a higher or more versatile organism and instead filling an ecological niche are the many river dolphins around the world.

They have broad, short flippers, with visible "fingers" -- an obvious evolutionary holdover. They also have very small dorsal fins, often only a couple of centimeters tall. As the waters they navigate are so muddy, they have little need for vision, and as a result they are almost blind. The Indus and Ganges river dolphins have lost their lenses altogether.

An interesting factoid about the Indus and Ganges river dolphins:

They are the only living members of the family Platanistidae.

It seems that you clearly view evolution within the created kinds as quite possible, where do the river dolphins fit? What kind are they?
The interesting (but unfortunately devoid of pictures) river dolphin site:
http://library.thinkquest.org/17963/sup ... oidae.html
Wikipedia's entry on the Indus and Ganges River Dolphins
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platanistidae

A comprehensive population census of the Indus Dolphin that was completed in 2001 by WWF-Pakistan concluded that there are approximately 1,100 individuals alive today.

It is really sad to see what havoc mankind causes, are there any really interesting creatures that mankind isn't pushing to extinction? If 99.9 percent of all species that ever existed on earth are extinct, where is the intelligent design?

Here is the 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, if this is God's idea of Dominion you can count me out.http://www.iucnredlist.org/