From: Mccarrick Alan D CRPH (MccarrickAD@nswccd.navy.mil)
Date: Thu Aug 29 2002 - 09:02:19 EDT
I usually find Cal Thomas interesting, amusing and thoughtful, but
not this time.
I found his allusion to the pro-evolution forces "jumped from their
trees..." to be an overboard attempt to be humorous. I do feel very
often that the evolution-only forces do "complaineth too much." They
interpret any desire to discuss various views of origins or even
admit that there are any issues worthy of discussion as equal to a
full blown presentation of YEC. They seem to love the slippery slope
argument too.
But Thomas also seems to see things only as black and white. Yes,
either God exists or He doesn't, but what is meant by "creation" is
so varied and comes with so many assumptions that it is an almost
useless term.
One should not say that "no reputable scientist believes creation."
Certainly there are well qualified scientists in the YEC camp, and
many more in other views. However, I do not think that one can
really say that there is "a wave of books..." or that it is "our
fastest growing controversial minorities" unless they are counting
the Discovery and Baylor people who are definitely OE.
To grab Kepler as your poster child for anti-evolution seems a
stretch, both for his time and field. His second hero is Von Braun -
again someone close to astronomy, the field where more theological
thought goes on than most others.
I find Thomas' desire to discuss the scientific evidences even for
"academically unsound and outrageously untrue" topics, to be patently
false. Do we discuss in detail astrology, witchcraft, anti-Holocaust
theories, etc. in secondary education ? Are they presented as
absolute equals, for the students to choose from ? No. I do not
wish to connect the doctrine of creation (assuming its largest
meaning) with astrology, but we just don't cover every idea in
schools as if they were all equal. It is a bad argument. The
question is rather "Is the evidence against atheistic evolution
worthy of presentation and discussion." The answer is probably
"yes", but the details must be fleshed out carefully.
Al McCarrick
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