This is just finding patterns in the noise, based on very unclear measurements. We do not know from the fossil records how animals diversified before they had hard parts to appear in the fossil record. Moreover, the molecular clock becomes less valid the father back we go in time.
This is not an argument against God’s action, but it is an argument against the notion that this actually suggests His action. It just does not. This is not a problem, unless we just ignore all the the things we do know, and the critical uncertainties.
That is right.
It is not evidence against evolution. Period. Of course, it is also consistent with special creation too, because special creation is consistent with any observation. The original question, to be clear, was about whether or not this is a “problem” for evolution. It is not a problem.
No, as I’ve explained, we have given several reasons why this not a problem. We do not expect non-calcified animals to leave their remains, and we have already discovered fossil evidence of their existence (e.g. burrows). Your argument is just missing the point.
That is a key point. All these problems go away when we look at human evolution from common ancestors with the great apes. This happens starting 6 million years ago, stretching to today, rather than just under 600 million years ago.
If God made humans with common descent, there is zero reason to object to him making other animals by common descent. There is precisely zero people arguing simultaneously that (1) Cambrian explosion was not be common descent, but (2) human evolution was by common descent. That would be a totally incoherent position. This is why it makes most sense to focus on human evolution, where the theological challenges are greatest, and the scientific evidence is strongest.