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I will let you know where the conversation is posted on the blog once I get it up there\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was recently contacted on Facebook by someone I don\u2019t know, but with whom I share mutual Facebook friends. The individual is a young-earth creationist. Since I don\u2019t see it as appropriate or useful to have a conversation with a complete stranger privately on Facebook, I am inviting the individual to interact here if they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[3309,3642,14016],"class_list":["post-13608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-young-earth-creationism","tag-facebook","tag-friend","tag-young-earth-creationism"],"yoast_head":"\n
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I was recently contacted on Facebook by someone I don\u2019t know, but with whom I share mutual Facebook friends. The individual is a young-earth creationist. Since I don\u2019t see it as appropriate or useful to have a conversation with a complete stranger privately on Facebook, I am inviting the individual to interact here if they wish to. Below is the conversation thus far \u2013 I removed the individual\u2019s name and put his words in bold.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.getbentyogaandbellydancing.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/facebook-friend-500x500.jpg\")
James McGrath<\/a>:\u00a0<\/strong>What are your qualifications in one of the relevant scientific disciplines? I don\u2019t see that on your profile. Why should anyone in their right mind or who is concerned about truth listen to your views which you are seeking to peddle on Facebook, sowing dissension, making the world think that Christianity is only for liars and those who refuse to accept evidence, and setting up Christians to think that they must choose between reason and science on the one hand and their Christian faith on the other? Why would they not do better to listen to someone like Francis Collins, whose Christian character and scientific expertise are clear?<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thepersonalrevolution.ebsarver.com\/files\/2011\/01\/add-as-friend-facebook.jpg\")
James McGrath<\/a>:\u00a0<\/strong>I used to be a young-earth creationist, and I regret having fallen prey to the charlatans who peddle this stuff. It is precisely because I have looked into the subject in depth that I oppose young-earth creationism with every fiber of my being as a diabolical lie.<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n\nI\u2019ll read your stuff, but you\u2019re very wrong that I haven\u2019t delved into these issues. And for every person who turns from young earth to old, there are probably 10 who are of the opposite conversion. Old earth analysis simply fails when direct comparisons are made. If you\u2019d like to decline my friend request, go right ahead. But there are many well-read members on my forum who are highly credentialed scientists, so I know I have a lot of support. I find it amusing you think you\u2019re the only one who can make an informed judgment.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\nI\u2019ve just withdrawn my friend request, so I guess we\u2019re both happy. But I suspect you haven\u2019t really investigated the dating methods to intelligently arrive at your old earth stance.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\nJames McGrath<\/a>:\u00a0<\/strong>No, I am not happy that there is someone who genuinely believes that as an armchair critic he knows a field better than the people who work in it, and is associating the name of Jesus with the lies that he is helping to circulate because he has been duped by charlatans and has not learned enough science or Bible to see through their false teachings.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\nIt\u2019s amazing to me who you call charlatans. What are your own scientific degrees that you can call people like Newton, Gish, Bergman and Humphreys charlatans?<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\nIt sounds like you don\u2019t know much about the way of the world, and that\u2019s your real problem. You\u2019re willing to go with the herd without thinking and comparing things for yourself. With all the frauds that have occurred with evolution, from recapitulation to Piltdown Man to the ridiculous horse series, all rooted in pseudoscience, you can\u2019t distinguish the forest from the trees yet. Mainstream science is evolutionary. Hopefully, if you recognize that, you can see that that can extend to other arenas of faith, such as young earth and old earth, and that it is really an atheistic approach to Scripture to advocate for an old earth, as well as irresponsible and inconsistent with the literal text. You sound very gullible to me. There are many agendas promoted by science and scientists are as fallible as anybody else.<\/strong><\/div>\n