Creationists
“Young Earth creationists,” as they are generally known, have come up with their own theories to explain how cosmic history could be condensed into mere thousands of years. They make this case in books, pamphlets and lectures, as well as on numerous web sites. Mainstream scientists consider their theories to be wildly out of line with reality, even though books describing them are often liberally sprinkled with references to authorities like Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.As a result, physical scientists find themselves in a fight in which they have seldom played a public role. They have responded with a mixture of disdain, disbelief and consternation. “It’s the denial of what understanding we have of the origin of the universe in terms of modern science,” said Jerome Friedman, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1990. Hume A. Feldman, a cosmologist at the University of Kansas who has worked at Princeton University and the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, called the matter “frightening.” Excerpted from a piece written by James Glanz for the N.Y. Times News Service
“It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal god and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it.” – Albert Einstein, August 25, 1954
When Charles Darwin introduced the theory of evolution through natural selection in 1859, the scientists of the day argued over it fiercely, but the mass of evidence from paleontology, genetics, zoology, molecular biology, and other fields gradually established evolution’s truth beyond reasonable doubt. Embarrassingly, in the 21st century, in the most scientifically advanced nation the world has ever known, creationists can still persuade politicians, judges, and ordinary citizens that evolution is a flawed, poorly supported fantasy. They lobby for creationist ideas such as “intelligent design” to be taught as alternatives to evolution in science classrooms. (Excerpted from Scientific American, July 2002)
“Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world’s data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don’t go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein’s theory of gravitation replaced Newton’s in this century, but apples didn’t suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape-like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin’s proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered.” – Stephen Jay Gould, Science and Creationism
Beyond Reasonable Doubt
The fact of evolution is proven beyond reasonable doubt. “To claim equal time for creation science in biology classes is about as sensible as to claim equal time for the flat-earth theory in astronomy classes. Or, as someone has pointed out, you might as well claim equal time in sex education classes for the stork theory. It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane.” – Richard Dawkins, professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University
Filed under: Earth and Life, global remedies, quality of life, religion
