Before my name gets associated with such an oncology effort, let me agree
with what George Murphy said yesterday. The young-Earth view itself
(while I believe it to be incorrect) is not nearly as much of a problem
as the view of many who hold it that it is the *only* acceptable
Christian view.
My draft (which again I'm not necessarily advocating for an official ASA
statement) tried to go at it from that perspective -- reserving the
denouncement for those who make YEC (or the falsity of evolutionary
science) essential to the Gospel. In fact, on further reflection, I'd
want to change my lead paragraph from saying "the evidence ... clearly
testifies [to an old Earth]" to something like "there is strong
evidence", just to be more inclusive. So I only agree with the "cancer"
remark if we take "YEC" to refer specifically to the movement in which
some believers in a young Earth try to add their interpretation to the Gospel.
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| Dr. Allan H. Harvey | aharvey@boulder.nist.gov |
| Physical and Chemical Properties Division | "Don't blame the |
| National Institute of Standards & Technology | government for what I |
| 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303 | say, or vice versa." |
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