The War is Over

David H. Bailey has posted a wonderful blog entry which makes an analogy between Hiroo Onoda, who continued holding his ground according to the commands he had been given during WWII for almost 30 years after the war ended, and young-earth creationists. Here’s a taste:

Unlike the history of World War II, the last holdouts in the battle over the age of the earth and evolution have not yet given up. Even in 2013, numerous groups are proposing state laws that would require “equal time” for creationist or intelligent design precepts, or would require that “all sides” be taught on “controversial” topics such as evolution.

This is in spite of the fact that all such laws have been struck down by court decision, which have uniformly ruled that such material and requirements are tantamount to specifying that unscientific religious dogma be taught in public schools (see Court cases).

This is also in spite of the fact that the scientific evidence is unequivocal — the earth is many millions of years old; biological species on earth today did arise through a long evolutionary process that is largely, if not exclusively, the result of natural processes (see Evolution).

But don’t we admire “heroes” in this war, just as some admired Onoda’s tenacity? Perhaps. But think for a moment over what is lost in the wake of this long-lost war. Millions of persons are confused over the increasingly nasty public rhetoric between holdout creationists and certain leading scientists. And the U.S. is increasingly is falling behind tenacious international competitors in training its youth in the latest scientific research and technology.

Time for a graceful surrender

Indeed, now is the time for the holdout creationists to gracefully concede defeat: acknowledge that the world of science won the war over the technical details of the creation many decades ago, and it is time to move forward.

After all, true religion is not about technical details — there is not a single verse in the Bible or any other revered work of religious scripture that is even remotely in the style of the precise, quantitative, data-driven style of a modern scientific research paper…Great religion is about grander themes. Leave the technical details to science.

I would add that many young-earth creationists show every indication of being unlike Hiroo Onoda. Even though Christians who work in the fields of biology, geology, astronomy, and other relevant areas tell them they are wrong, that they have lost the war, they refuse to stop fighting.

And the potential result is that they will continue to inflict harm on both other Christians whom they accuse of compromising by accepting that the war is over, as well as others who are driven away from the Christian faith by their insane behavior.

But let us hope that, even if there may be some who hold out, increasing numbers will come to understand. The war against science is over. It is time to move on.