Re: [asa] Ron Numbers on the persistence of creationism

meant this to be a public post...

To the extent that your [Ted's] appraisal is correct, the book would
make an excellent recommendation to those of YEC mindset who are
nevertheless willing to look at problems with their position. And
perhaps I sell my own colleagues short by assuming they wouldn't want to
consider his overall contribution to the issue. But it is all too easy
to become cynical on this when, along the lines of Iain's experience, I
so often see the 'pep rallyish' attitude prevailing over thoughtful
dialogue. I remember (though I don't have copy in hand and can't cite
page numbers) that Numbers did use the willing cooperation of many YEC
whom he interviewed for his work, though he also had to withstand some
pressure from certain ones (which he graciously left unnamed), to
present their situation in a less defaming light. It is encouraging,
though, to hear that YECs are known that break such generalizations.
Thanks for the correction.
--merv

Ted Davis wrote:
> I don't agree with Merv's general observation about YEC hostility to
> Ron's
> work. I know several of the YECs who are written about in the book,
> and all
> of them as far as I know agree that Ron was completely accurate and
> fair in
> his descriptions of their ideas, activities, and lives. Quite a few
> Adventists, however, are angry with Ron about a different book--his
> biography of Ellen White--for reasons Ron expresses in this interview.
>
> As for Ron's own loss of faith, brought about partly (as he discusses
> here
> and elsewhere) by his growing disillusionment with his YEC background, I
> myself would put more blame on the YECs for that one. As he says, he
> never
> saw another view presented fairly to him. That's the usual way things
> work
> in that community, IMO. It's yet one more reason why we at Messiah
> take a
> multiple models approach to origins issues. We don't tell our
> students what
> they have to believe; we respect what they believe (which varies a great
> deal from person to person), tell them what we think individually (we
> don't
> think anything specific collectively or officially), and show them
> various
> ways to relate science and Christian faith. We let them to the
> thinking and
> weighing; we do the providing of information, but much more broadly
> than Ham
> and company.
>
> Ted
>
>
>
>

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Received on Tue Jan 2 18:31:51 2007