In Which I Reveal Myself To Be A Young-Earth Creationist

NASA Chicxulub painting — This painting, by Donald E. Davis, depicts the Chicxulub asteroid slamming into tropical, shallow seas of the sulfur-rich Yucatan Peninsula in what is today southeast Mexico. The aftermath of this immense asteroid collision, which occurred approximately 65 million years ago, is believed by some (though, I’m told, not by me) to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and many other species on Earth. The impact spewed hundreds of billions of tons of sulfur into the atmosphere, producing a worldwide blackout as well as freezing temperatures that persisted for at least a decade. Shown in this painting are pterodactyls, flying reptiles with wingspans of up to 50 feet, gliding above low tropical clouds.
(A public domain image from NASA)

As a person who, I’m reliably informed, believes in young-Earth creationism and who teaches at a school that, I’ve also been told, is committed to the belief that Earth was created only a few thousand years ago, I confess that I’m utterly mystified by the following items, and that, as always and as on every other subject, I’m seething with virtually uncontrollable rage concerning them.

Here’s the new story:

“Rare triassic pterosaur discovered by BYU paleontologists”

I append, also, a few earlier pieces, all of them (like the link just above) involving a BYU paleontologist by the name of Brooks Britt:

2014: “One giant dino nose to rule them all”

2010: “Abydosaurus: New dinosaur discovered head-first, for a change”

2008: “Dinosaur bones reveal ancient bug bites”

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I strongly recommend the following article, which illustrates the very human side of science alongside an absolutely fascinating and substantive debate that has been marred by acrimony, name-calling, and ad hominems — the very things that I’m supposed to absolutely love and to exemplify in my own daily vicious behavior. “This dispute,” says the author, “illuminates the messy way that science progresses, and how this idealized process, ostensibly guided by objective reason and the search for truth, is shaped by ego, power, and politics.”

“The Nastiest Feud in Science: A Princeton geologist has endured decades of ridicule for arguing that the fifth extinction was caused not by an asteroid but by a series of colossal volcanic eruptions. But she’s reopened that debate.”

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For Latter-day Saints and others who might wonder what the position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is with regard to the question of the age of the Earth, I recommend the following, on the FairMormon website:

https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Mormonism_and_science/Age_of_the_Earth

My own personal position? I am, indeed, a young-Earth creationist. As per the scriptures, I believe that there was intelligent divine agency involved. And I accept current scientific estimates that Earth is approximately 4.543 billion years old — which, when compared with the estimated age of the universe as a whole (about 13.8 billion years), makes it quite young.

In which I reveal myself to be a young-Earth creationist