Ray Comfort & The Talking Snake

Ray Comfort posted this on his Facebook page:

"This isn't a Jungle Book. Snakes don't talk.” Nick Murray

Do animals have a language? Do they communicate (talk) to each other? My dog shows me that he understands English when he obeys me, when I speak English. He also tells me (in his own language) when he wants something to eat or drink. Every night, at around 6:00 PM, he goes into the back yard and speaks with another dog a couple of doors down (in the language of dogese). The dog he speaks to him always answers. Do elephants or dolphins have a language in which they speak to each other? How about whales? Of course they do. Parrots manage to talk without vocal cords.
How ironic, that people who believe that they are animals mock the thought that any animal could talk.

The post is referring to the story in Genesis 3.1 which describes the events in the Garden of Eden which led to the Fall of Man. For Christians, especially fundamentalists who believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, the story is of special significance. It justifies their belief in Original Sin and the need for atonement.

We have come across Ray Comfort before. He espouses a particularly aggressive form of creationism and constantly rails against atheism and evolution which he sees as responsible for all the evils in the world. Inevitably he takes up ridiculous positions as evidenced by his statement above.

• Do animals have language?  - No they don't.
• Do they communicate (talk) to each other? - Some communicate with each other but they do not talk.
• My dog shows me that he understands English when he obeys me, when I speak English. - No he doesn't. He recognises the sound of your voice.
• Do elephants or dolphins have a language in which they speak to each other? - No, they can't speak but they can communicate.
• Parrots manage to talk without vocal cords. - Parrots are mimics. They can't talk.

Is Ray Comfort ignorant or is he stupid? Animal communication is a complex area of study. Ray Comfort claims expertise in a scientific field because he has read the bible. Not for the first time - or the last.