From: George Murphy (gmurphy@raex.com)
Date: Thu Jan 30 2003 - 17:44:48 EST
Glenn Morton wrote:
>
> Michael wrote:
> >Glenn always remeber that YECs make more noise than others and are
> noticeable because of their absurdity so we always think there are more than
> there are.
> >Even Mortenson agrees with me that YEC were a minority in the early 19Cent
> and declined by 1855.
>
> I have absolutely no doubt that the visible publishing people were not YEC.
> Indeed, I would go so far as to say that it was rare for a YEC to get
> published unless he published it. But like the church today, most clergyin
> the US aren't YEC, yet a large chunk of their parishoners are. Otherwise
> how does one explain the polls in the US where nearly 50% of the people
> think man was created in his present form within the past 10,000 years? .....................................
Glenn -
You're right about popular American notions concerning the dating of human
origins. I think it's worth noting though that that's not just a religious view. It
should be seen as part of the general climate of scientific illiteracy - as shown, e.g.
in a recent NSF study. E.g., only a bit more than half (54%) of Americans know that the
earth goes around the sun once a year & fewer than that (48%) know that humans &
dinosaurs weren't contemporaries (which of course is closely related to your point).
Significant numbers believe in astrology & think that genes are found only in
genetically modified organisms.
Shalom,
George
-- George L. Murphy gmurphy@raex.com http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
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