From: Walter Hicks (wallyshoes@mindspring.com)
Date: Thu Nov 06 2003 - 10:18:54 EST
John W Burgeson wrote:
> Walt wrote, in part: "There are 2 competing world views and two competing
> notions of the consequences
> of "the other guy's" world view. Am I the only one who can sympathize
> with both sides?"
>
> I think I can sympathize with both sides. But that is not really the
> issue.
>
> If I have a friend who believes the YEC position, and does so without
> making a "scientific case" for it, IOW he holds that view, as Paul Nelson
> apparently does, on scriptural grounds without claiming scientific
> grounds, then I have respect for that position, and would not spend much,
> if any time, opposing it.
>
> But the issue is that almost every YEC spokesperson I know claims that
> the YEC position is supported with arguments from science, and in every
> case I have looked at closely, the arguments are bogus. Selective
> selection of observational evidence, arguments from ignorance (God of the
> Gaps), construction of elaborate alternative universe models, etc. It is
> this line of arguments I find unprofessional, and, yes, unchristian. When
> bogus argumentation is combined with direct inferences that to reject the
> YEC claim is to be, at best, a 2nd class Christian, when this
> argumentation includes direct statements that scientists who report data
> inconsistent with the YEC view are liars trying to protect their
> professional reputations, then it becomes not only impossible to respect
> the YEC position but terribly difficult to respect the persons espousing
> those views.
Nobody can expect to change a spokesperson. They are militant by definition
and have a vested interest in promoting their ideas. However it is the those
who are taken in by pseudo science or those like your first friend who
should be reached. With them, there is a reasonable probability of dialog. If
not, then the "Creative Evolution" was a waste of good trees and the
environmentalists would have a valid complaint.
I am promoting the book in my church starting at the top. I think everyone on
this list should do the same (if YEC has any foothold whatsoever in their
church).
Walt
-- =================================== Walt Hicks <wallyshoes@mindspring.com>In any consistent theory, there must exist true but not provable statements. (Godel's Theorem)
You can only find the truth with logic If you have already found the truth without it. (G.K. Chesterton) ===================================
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