Kirk Cameron on Evolution (he's against it)

Dispatches from the Culture Wars points out a video available from Google's experimental video search, that features Kirk Cameron of "Growing Pains" arguing against atheism and evolution. The most entertaining argument in the video is the argument that the banana was clearly intelligently designed. Troy Britain quotes a more extensive list of banana features (several of which are used in this video):

The banana—the atheist's nightmare.

Note that the banana:

1. Is shaped for human hand

2. Has non-slip surface

3. Has outward indicators of inward content: Green—too early,Yellow—just right, Black—too late.

4. Has a tab for removal of wrapper

5. Is perforated on wrapper

6. Bio-degradable wrapper

7. Is shaped for human mouth

8. Has a point at top for ease of entry

9. Is pleasing to taste buds

10. Is curved towards the face to make eating process easy

To say that the banana happened by accident is even more unintelligent than to say that no one designed the Coca Cola can.

Troy's rebuttal: OK, now explain the pineapple.

There's also some amusing commentary on coconuts.

For more on Cavendish bananas (the particular variety Americans are familiar with), see this Popular Science article. They are seedless, sterile plants that are all clones of each other, and the variety familiar to us was, in fact, the product of human intervention (artificial selection).

The video is filled with the usual nonsense and misrepresentations--Darwin is quoted out-of-context about the eye, it's falsely claimed that Einstein wasn't an atheist, fails to recognize the differences between human artifacts and self-reproducing biological organisms, etc.

UPDATE (May 12, 2008): A 1954 letter from Einstein to philosopher Eric Gutkind says:

The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.
...
For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything 'chosen' about them.

UPDATE (June 25, 2008): Ray Comfort concedes that the banana argument is not a good one.

UPDATE (July 11, 2009): Ray Comfort has apologized for the bad argument, but is still completely clueless. Adding the Coke can back to the example doesn't improve the argument at all.