What do I mean by the word "won?"

Randy wrote: " I have to weigh in with George on this one. Without
appropriate
qualification, the headline "The YEC's have won" is incorrect, conveys
the
wrong impression, and fails to motivate us. To be sure, your specific
clarifications help somewhat (though even those, I believe, might be
overstatements), and I agree that in certain segments of society and in
some
aspects the YEC's have, so to speak, "won."

Two things.

1. I meant to spark rebuttals -- there fore I did not define the word
"won" in my original posts. I quite agree with your "appropriate
qualifications" comment.

2. I am, myself, quite convinced that the YECs have "won," although I
will admit I am not sure exactly how to define this.

Let me try.

The Flat earthers did not "win." They have disappeared, for all intents
and purposes.

The worshippers of Zeus did not "win."

The followers of Joseph Smith "won." That is, although their historical
base is nonsense at least as silly as that of the YECs, they have,
nonetheless, established themselves as not only a viable enterprise, but
one which is growing and shows no sign of ever fading away.

At one time, I though seriously that the YECs would, in time, fade away
like the flat earthers and the Zeus worshippers. Then I thought that, at
east, they would plateau into a small, nagging, irritating sect But that
has not happened. They have been growing in size, and more importantly in
influence, over the 20 some years I have been following their antics.
Therefore, I say that they have "won." They have now established
themselves, like he Mormons, as a viable enterprise, one that shows no
sign of decay.

Will YEC nonsense get taught in public schools (George's worry)?
Probably, at least in the ID form (wink -- we all know who the designer
is). Will public schools themselves fade away -- or at least diminish in
population as the privates take over? Almost certainly. What will be
taught in the privates? You guessed it.

Well, that's my take on it, anyway. Oh yes, I don't take this dialog all
that seriously. Too much of it is "off the top of the head. Me,
particularly. Perhaps that is why George is always so sure he knows what
I am talking about. And why he is so often incorrect in that assumption.

Burgy
Received on Sat Mar 26 16:25:55 2005