A partial response to my Christian friends who believe (among other things) that the earth is only 5,000 years old

Recent conversations at work have resulted in my being bombarded with the URLs to websites such as

http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v20/i2/magnetic.asp ,
http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v21/i4/oldearth.asp , and http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/young.asp .

This is not an uncommon response to my professed belief in Science as opposed to religious myth. Needless to say, my beliefs are not very popular in this part of the country, nor, in some cases, are they even well tolerated. More on that later.

As background, I am replying specifically to the article The earth's magnetic field: evidence that the earth is young by Jonathan Sarfati (see the first URL above).
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My friend,

I am not a scientist, but I do consider myself a fairly logical type. So, as I am unable to respond from the scientific perspective (at least not without a considerable degree of research which I don't have the time to do), I will respond from the rationalist one.

Belief in God does not preclude a belief in Science, so why do you persist in believing in such fictions? This article is based upon the work of (among others) "creationist physics professor Dr. Thomas Barnes" - Unfortunately, the very fact that Dr. Barnes is identified as a "creationist physics professor" undermines it's validity. It is obvious that the good Dr. 1) had already reached his conclusion and was searching for a theory to support it, and 2) is unwilling to be swayed from this conclusion.

True science arrives at a plausible conclusion that explains the phenomena in question only after research has been concluded, therefore leaving open the possibility that any one of many (or even several) explanations might be true. The evidence should lead to the facts, not the other way around.

A second principle of science is that any theory is only as good as the current state of knowledge. That allows the various beliefs of the Greeks, the Romans, Galileo, and today's physicists and astronomers each to be valid for their time, and each (hopefully) is closer and closer to a true and accurate description of a part of our universe. The door, however, is left open for the next theory which may be even closer to the truth - science isn't the answer, it's the on-going process of arriving at the answer. It is implied by the very fact that Dr. Barnes conclusion is based upon the scripture (and therefore upon the word of God), that his conclusions allow no others - in effect, after thousands of years, Dr Barnes has arrived at the body knowledge that signals the end of science. After all, who needs science if you already have the final answer. As a rational human being, I feel it would be the height of arrogance to believe that I alone (or my small band of cohorts) possessed the ultimate answers - but then again, that's what Christianity is about, isn't it?

I have already stated my final point, but will voice it here again: if Dr. Barnes, research, and that of his colleagues, were legitimate, it would be accepted as fact by a majority of the scientific community. There is no underground conspiracy to keep "Christian Science" under wraps - the only criteria for being accepted are the same criteria applied to every single other scientific theory. Unfortunately, Dr. Barnes falls somewhat short.

Allow me to close with a quote from the late Karl Sagan it dosen't deal directly with the Young Earth theory, but with in a larger sense with the legitimacy of a belief in God at all:

"If God is omnipotent and omniscient, why didn't he start the universe out in the first place so it would come out the way he wants? Why is he constantly repairing and complaining? No, there’s one thing the Bible makes clear: The biblical God is a sloppy manufacturer. He's not good at design, he's not good at execution. He'd be out of business if there was any competition.

The bad news for Scripture-based Science is that there is competition. I grow weary, but continue to look forward to the new year. And I remain, as always, your friend.

So why is it, as busy as I claim to be, I always seem to be able to cave out an hour to watch ER on Thursday nights? And it always makes me cry.

Dammit.

My Christmas Wish

Dear Santa,

For Christmas this year, I wish for one day in Iraq when nobody dies. Thank you.

M.L.

http://www.blogger.com/app/post.pyra?blogID=8978521

Anger

I am in an angry mood today. The headline reads "Shooting of Iraqi in Mosque angers Muslims." Do you want to know something? Hanging dead Americans from bridges makes me angry. Mortar shells landing in the middle of a crowded marketplace makes me angry. Some bastards in masks cutting the head off of some poor sod, bound and and foot, his body convulsing... makes me angry. Terrorists murdering innocent women who have worked thirty years to improve the lot of the average Iraqi... makes me angry. Watching the 3-year-old son of Sgt Carlos Riviera cry at his dad's funeral makes me especially angry. And I hope God, if he does exist, reserves a special place in hell just for Al Jezera. Get over it -

It's time we got over our supposed Western morality and fought this war the way it's being fought against us. I wonder how much damage a bunch of American terrorists running around Iraq could do? I mean real terrorists - unencumbered by the rules of war, or by the press, or by whatever anyone else thinks.

Ahh shit - the whole thing just makes me mad....

A couple of quotes I came across late one night...

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictator-ship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to great danger."

----HERMAN GORING at the Nuremberg Trials

"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt......If the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake."

----THOMAS JEFFERSON, in a letter from 1798

These quotes could apply to any number of things going on right now.

Reflections upon the great election of '04

Well, the election results are in and I am only slightly numb. I had suspected Kerry would have an uphill battle all along, but he probably didn’t help himself by acting so, well, Senatorial (if that’s even a word) for most of the campaign. Conversely, Bush made every effort to increase his appeal to Joseph Q. Everyman by showing that he was just a regular kind of guy. What can I say? People like other folks like themselves. It is one of the enduring paradoxes of democracy that the “will of the people” is so often placed upon a pedestal as some type of ideal, but that this will is often the result of nothing more than the coalescing of a collective fear of change, short term financial motivations, and blatant self-interest.

That said, I would suggest that the greatest tragedy of the 2004 elections isn’t that Kerry lost – it’s that the citizens of eleven (count ‘em, eleven!) states decided it was a good thing to codify their personal fears and prejudices by amending their state’s constitutions to outlaw Gay marriage. I often wonder what type of mass neurosis must be affecting so many of my fellow Americans that they actually think discrimination is allowable so long as it is legislated. I am, in fact, reminded of the fact that Adolph Hitler was legally elected, that his assumption of dictatorial powers was duly approved by the Reichstag, and that every single terrible thing that happened to the Jews in Germany was the direct result of statutes adapted by the government and enforced by the entire judicial apparatus of the nation.

Now don’t take this out of context and say that I am comparing our conservative Christian friends to the Nazis – the differences should be so abundantly clear that they need no elucidation here. I am merely voicing the opinion that just because something is legal, or even reflecting the will of a majority, doesn’t necessarily make it right. Considering our own country's recent history in the civil rights arena, I think this is a critical distinction, and one which should be in the forefront of every voters mind before they pull that lever. It has never been the proper place of government to legislate private morality, but to provide for the safety, rights and freedoms of all of its citizens. America’s greatest challenge is not Iraq, or terrorism, but whether we will allow ourselves to become the same type of insular and intolerant nation that distinguished us from the Old World two-hundred years ago.

I consider myself a patriotic American, and the times are very few indeed that I have been ashamed of my country. This is one of those times.

LePenseur