Ben Stein to take on Darwinism on April 18

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Retrasado said:

1) what is "life"? what makes a bunch of carbon-based molecules "alive"?

2) why can't any scientific method we know of make something "alive", even if all the correct materials are present and in the correct molecular sequence?

3) why, if evolution is true, does anything reproduce? I mean, the resources that are devoted toward reproducing (and caring for young in the case of some "higher-level" animals) could be much better expended by, for example, gathering food or whatever. (And btw, the notion of an entire species having a "consciousness", which is what would be required to allow an evolved reproduction system, is pure BS)

4) Also, the First Law of Thermodynamics is bothersome if evolution is true. (ie. if you can't create or destroy mass-energy, how is it that ANY mass-energy exists?) Based on these and some other flaws in the theory of evolution, I am absolutely convinced that it is NOT true.

5) I'm not 100% sure what IS true, but I am sure that evolution is not.

 I've broken your post up into parts for a responce:

1) A citing from wikipedia should suffice here, if this doesn't cover it I or someone else would be glad to help you grasp it better:

Conventional definition: Often scientists say that life is a characteristic of organisms that exhibit the following phenomena:

1. Homeostasis: Regulation of the internal environment to maintain a constant state; for example, sweating to reduce temperature.
2. Organization: Being composed of one or more cells, which are the basic units of life.
3. Metabolism: Consumption of energy by converting nonliving material into cellular components (anabolism) and decomposing organic matter (catabolism). Living things require energy to maintain internal organization (homeostasis) and to produce the other phenomena associated with life.
4. Growth: Maintenance of a higher rate of synthesis than catalysis. A growing organism increases in size in all of its parts, rather than simply accumulating matter. The particular species begins to multiply and expand as the evolution continues to flourish.
5. Adaptation: The ability to change over a period of time in response to the environment. This ability is fundamental to the process of evolution and is determined by the organism's heredity as well as the composition of metabolized substances, and external factors present.
6. Response to stimuli: A response can take many forms, from the contraction of a unicellular organism when touched to complex reactions involving all the senses of higher animals. A response is often expressed by motion, for example, the leaves of a plant turning toward the sun or an animal chasing its prey.
7. Reproduction: The ability to produce new organisms. Reproduction can be the division of one cell to form two new cells. Usually the term is applied to the production of a new individual (either asexually, from a single parent organism, or sexually, from at least two differing parent organisms), although strictly speaking it also describes the production of new cells in the process of growth.

2) Creating life from no life is not evolution, and thus doesn't apply to this discussion. You're thinking of abiogensis.

3) A species that doesn't expend the energy to reproduce dies out after one generation and thus only species with a strong drive to reproduce will survive many generations.  Quite simple really.

4) Evolution doesn't try to explain the existance of mass or energy, you have the wrong theory and as such it doesn't apply.

5) Your reasons for declaring evolution false are ill-concieved, you can choose to educate yourself and re-examine the situation or you can stick to your current view of evolution which is born out of ignorance of what it actually is. Last point I will make is that nobody is 100% sure what is correct but I think if you take the time to learn about evolution and what it is saying you will find it is far and away the most reasonable scientific explaination.