No, this is not so. There are vast numbers of Christians and Jews working in genetics and petroleum engineer for example, as well as other science and engineering disciplines who believe that the Lord created the universe. Typically, these people believe that the Genesis chapter does not give a definitive description of the process, and the findings of modern science are accurate. The theological position of mainstream Christianity and Judaism is that the Lord exists beyond scientific scruitiny.
I am not objecting to religion, or Christianity. What I am objecting to is the pig-headedness and assholery of a vocal contingent of science-deniers on this site. The anti-science people I am referring to typically are not simply advocating a belief in the Genesis chapter. As I wrote up thread, there is a contingent of people who are stumping for the false Christ Sun Myung Moon, there are people who say the moon landings were faked by the government, that alien abduction and crop circles are real, that surgery is sinful and doctors are unable to actually cure disease, that dinosaurs walked with man, that petroleum does not come from fossils. I find all of these ideas rather silly by themselves. But taken together there is a pernicious anti-science culture growing on FreeRepublic. They are giving FreeRepublic, and the conservative movement, a bad name.
I am somewhat dismayed to see the forum's founder give creedence to the anti-science crowd. He just handed science-deniers ammunition with which to call me a liar and a marxist -- one of the things I have complained about to the moderators in the first place.
Disagreement with the interpretation of the fossil record is not a blanket rejection of science as a whole.
I disagree with this assessment. You are welcome to disagree with the interpretation of the fossil record, but you actually do run the risk of utterly rejecting the rest of modern science in the process. Disagreement with the interpretation of a particular fossil in the record, or dating of strata is not a blanket rejection of science as a whole. There is debate about the length of time that it took the dinosaurs to go extinct. However, the vast majority of scientists accept evolutionary theory (meaning the modern synthesis theory comprised of Darwin's theory of natural selection, Mendel's theory of inheritance, and subsequent discoveries in molecular biology since the description of the DNA molecule by Watson, Crick, Wilkins, and others) as valid science. The reason the vast majority of scientists accept evolutionary theory because it produces real world results. This is something the science-deniers refuse to accept.
I have posted this to anti-science posters a number of times. The reaction I have received universally amounts to "too long didn't read." The anti-science crowd does not want to learn, they put their fingers in their ears and go "lalala".
Micropaleontology is the study of microscopic fossils. It is the largest discipline in paleontology, just as microfossils are by far the most abundant of all fossils. Although nearly invisible, micro-organisms at the base of the food chain make up nearly 90 per cent of the biomass in oceans and lakes. The variety of life forms at this level is almost incomprehensible, and while only a few kinds leave solid remains that fossilize, even these few can be so abundant that in places they form mountains of pure fossil remains. The limestone of the plateau from which the Sphinx and Pyramids are carved is actually a mass of foraminifera, preserved in a vast offshore formation that, 40 million years ago, extended from France to Burma. The Chalk Cliffs of Dover, another microfossil marvel, is a layer hundreds of feet thick all across western Europe that consists of nothing but sub-microscopic coccoliths. In other parts of the world, solidly packed remains of diatoms make up formations of thin-layered diatomite hundreds of feet thick that are quarried for industrial uses.
The abyssal floor of the ocean, which occupies more than half of the earth's surface, is buried under a carpet of microfossils that slowly piles up like layers of dust over the millenia. Changes in the abundance and types of microfossils from year to year, over millions of years of undisturbed accumulation, makes an exquisitely detailed record of climate change, plate tectonics, and biological evolution. Each time a new species of free-floating marine micro-organism evolves, it quickly spreads throughout the oceans in countless billions, forming a worldwide marker in the fossil record. Such marker horizons allow geological events in different parts of the world to be related in a global earth history. For instance,it was the microfossil "tape recorder" that proved that reversals of the polarity of the earth's magnetism were worldwide events. Microfossil data also revealed that changes in sea levels, temperature, and glacial advances were synchronous worldwide, proving the reality of global climate changes more accurately than geochemical dating methods.Recently, micropaleontology has shown how oscillations in the earth's orbit and tilt lead to cycles in global climate, including the Ice Ages.
Microfossils are vital to oil exploration. Because of their tiny size and great abundance, they occur unbroken in the rock fragments brought up by drilling into the deeply buried ocean formations and lake beds where oil is found. By comparing the characteristic fossils from each formation as they are penetrated by the exploratory drills, geologists can unravel the geometry of the strata far beneath the surface and locate the domes and traps that may hold oil. The condition of the fossils, as well, indicates whether the petroleum source rocks have been buried and heated sufficiently to generate oil from trapped organic matter. Most importantly of all, the organic matter itself is almost entirely from ancient micro-organisms that make up the ocean's biomass.
Just because someone voted differently does not mean they are anti-science. I have seen people with science degrees be told they don't even know what a theory is because they were a creationist. The minute a person states they are a creationist, they are lumped into the YEC category and called a bunch of Luddites who want to take us back the the Dark Ages and a Taliban style of living. Not so. There are extremes on both sides of the issue, but to automatically label one as being in the extreme no matter what they say and then basically accuse them of lying when they deny it, is wrong.
I am a creationist amd I am NOT anti-science. I know how science works, I have a degree in it. My kids are all creationists and excel in science in school; they're in the top of their classes. In spite of the mockery and scorn of some evos, one can reject the ToE as it stands and NOT reject the science that supports it, and, yes, love science.
As I wrote up thread, there is a contingent of people who are stumping for the false Christ Sun Myung Moon, there are people who say the moon landings were faked by the government, that alien abduction and crop circles are real, that surgery is sinful and doctors are unable to actually cure disease,
A contingent but not the mainstream. I also don't see what some of that even has to do with the ToE and one's acceptance of it or being pro or anti science. SOme of it's just sheer whackiness. But call a spade a spade. Don't label the whole group based on the actions of a few who are either not really part of the group or could just plain be trolls coming in from DU on "suicide runs" just to stir things up and make real Christians and creationists look bad.