Posted on 06/25/2007 5:55:14 PM PDT by Alien Syndrome
In the United States the old but bitter debate between evolution and creationism is heating up again.
Three of the Republican presidential candidates do not believe in evolution and a high-tech creation museum recently opened in Kentucky.
Much of the debate has been fuelled by a book claiming the Grand Canyon, one of America's most well-known landmarks, was carved by Noah's flood rather than erosion.
Every national park has at least one gift shop - usually more - selling t-shirts, snow domes, mugs, postcards and books.
At the Grand Canyon you will find books on the canyon's history, the canyon's animals and even the canyon's deaths.
One book, Grand Canyon: A Different View, contains the following excerpt:
"Grand Canyon is not just an icon of beauty. It is a solemn witness to the mighty power of God who is not only the omnipotent creator of all things but also the avenging defender of his own holiness."
It is amazing to think a humble river was able to carve such a mighty canyon. Of course, a geologist will tell you that reflects the power of time rather than the power of the river - the canyon is millions of years old.
But Grand Canyon: A Different View presents a different perspective.
The book is compiled by Tom Vail, who has been guiding rafting trips down the Colorado River for 25 years.
He says for the first 15 years he was an evolutionist.
"In 1994 I became a Christian and started looking at the canyon as my book says, from a different view, and I started exploring the creationist model of the formation of the canyon," he said.
"What I found was all those little questions I had as an evolutionist had answers, and pretty logical answers as I looked at it."
Mr Vail's book is not some cheap pamphlet. It is a full colour coffee-table book, featuring expensive paper, sophisticated layout, spectacular photos, scientific language and lots of quotes from the Old Testament.
Not surprisingly, it is generating debate.
The gulf between creationists and mainstream scientists is as wide as the canyon itself.
The American Geological Institute and other groups demanded the book be removed from the national park.
The debate only fuelled sales of the book and Tom Vail says there is plenty of evidence inside the canyon to back his belief.
"We see some very large folding in the canyon where sedimentary layers, which are laid down horizontally, have been curved or carved in big bends, some of them 300 feet tall, and this is done without cracking the rock. How do you do that with hard rock?" he said.
"I'm definitely going against the tide here, but when you look at the evidence, there are major flaws in the dating methods, for example.
Much to the horror of mainstream scientists, creationism seems to be making a comeback in the United States.
A multi-million dollar creation museum recently opened, at least three of the Republicans running for President do not believe in evolution and Tom Vail's rafting trips are welcoming customers from as far away as Australia.
Opinion polls suggest 43 per cent of Americans believe God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years. Only 14 per cent believe humans evolved without divine involvement.
That's less than half. A nation that turns its back on God will not stand for long.
It happened to Rome after it turned its back on Jupiter.
For example?
When the world was finished, there were as yet no people, but the Bald Eagle was chief of the animals. He saw that the world was incomplete and decided to make some human beings. So he took some clay and modeled the figure of a man and laid him on the ground. At first he was very small but he grew rapidly until he reached normal size. But as yet he had no life; he was still asleep. Then the Bald Eagle stood and admired his work. "It is impossible," he said, "that he should be left alone; he must have a mate." So he pulled out a feather and laid it beside the sleeping man. Then he left them and went off a short distance, for he knew that a woman was being formed from the feather. But the man was still asleep and did not know what was happening. When the Bald Eagle decided that the woman was about completed, he returned, awoke the man by flapping his wings over him and flew away.The man opened his eyes and stared at the woman. "What does this mean?" he asked. "I thought I was alone!" Then the Bald Eagle returned and said with a smile, "I see you have a mate! Have you had intercourse with her?" "No," replied he man, for he and the woman knew nothing about each other. Then the Bald Eagle called to Coyote who happened to be going by and said to him, "Do you see that woman? Try her first!" Coyote was quite willing and complied, but immediately afterwards lay down and died. The Bald Eagle went away and left Coyote dead, but presently returned and revived him. "How did it work?" said the Bald Eagle. "Pretty well, but it nearly kills a man!" replied Coyote. "Will you try it again?" said the Bald Eagle. Coyote agreed, and tried again, and this time survived. Then the Bald Eagle turned to the man and said, "She is all right now; you and she are to live together.
California Indian creation story
There’s more scientific evidence behind creationism than “global warming.”
Wallace Muhammad, founder of the Black Muslims, taught that the white race was created by African scientists in a test tube 10,000 years ago. Why not teach that? Kind of combines creation science with intelligent design.
I shouldn’t, no I will, no I wont, ahhh go ahead..... feed the beast.....
You really think you are being cute but....you’re not.
43% is still a large number, more than what the left would want us to believe. And this number is large enough for us to take the schools back from the forces of evolution and political correctness.
We can convince more people to come back to God and the truth, especially when they see that evolution is nothing more than a scientific dead end.
The ignorance of this guy astounds me (and he's the author of a geology book?!). I know this is a complete waste of time because young-earth creationists are immune to reason, but rocks are folded when they're subjected to high stresses while buried down in the crust, not at the surface. Rock will indeed break if you try to bend it at the surface, but heat it up a bit, subject it to a few kilobars of confining pressure, and it's a different story.
Does this guy think God just randomly made folds in flood sediments (violating all known physical laws) in order to fool people? Oh, that's right, I forgot - it only fools those "godless" geologists (many who attend church every Sunday like myself) who don't interpret rock outcrops with a Bible in their hands.
OK, have at it. Quote 2 Peter 3:3 or a similar verse at me, call me a heretic, an atheist, or an evilutionist. Trust me on this, however, while you may convince people who couldn't tell a sandstone from a granite if it smacked them on the head, you're not making a dent in mainstream science.
If Creationism were taught, I suspect that the number of believers in Evolution would drop significantly.
The Evos don't want Creationism taught in school mostly because the Evos don't think they can make a truly compelling case for their theory. Faced with true competition, they fear they will lose badly.
C'mon guys -- have some Faith! ;)
Welcome Texas FReeper NOOB. I see you like to jump right in to the SBR. You rock.
Just as soon as you can find a school board willing to dump another two million dollars down a rathole.
Stupid Statement Alert!
Try was " was carved by erosion during Noah's flood."
Does not make it less stupid.
“A nation that turns its back on God will not stand for long.”
We turned our back on God a very long time ago and matters are only getting worse. And yes, we will not stand for long as these clowns in Congress sell this nation out if they approve the amnesty bill. It amazes me how patient God is with us.
If that butters your toast, have at it.
In fact, when I was in grade school, I read lots of creation stories. They were pretty interesting, although none quite as lurid as the one you just posted.
“..the white race was created by African scientists in a test tube 10,000 years ago.”
Who screwed around with a test tube to create African scientists?
Yes, but luckily we are using their own tactic of political correctness against them. The left always want to “fair”, so let’s show them fairness and teach all facts for a more comprehensive and truth based curriculum.
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