Re: [asa] YEC--What can we offer them?

Thank you Jim and Randy for your posts. Indeed, the
process of changing one's mind is important on this
topic. Likewise, there are for all of us 'moments of
acceptance' that define the new views that we hold in
contrast to the old views. In my case, the record
speaks pretty clearly. Though I read YEC views and
found some credible scholarship sometimes apparent
there, it took me just getting away from the topic
altogether and then returning to it several months
later to realize in which position I would land. The
evidence speaks for itself and the truth will
eventually out if trust is placed in the hands of
careful, even-handed assessment of facts from various
viewpoints.

In Canada, it seems to me that being a non-literalist
is not as difficult as it appears to be in the U.S.,
where there is more stress place on the written word.
On one hand, as Ian Barbour and many others have
noted, biblical literalism is problematic, on the
other scientific materialism is a great threat to
persons of faith. It is of course wrong to suggest
that natural scientists do not fight against
scientific materialism, but through the dependence of
their fields on study of material things they are not
in a position to criticize scientific materialism like
they can criticize biblical literalism. Thus, some
especially in controversial topics like evolution that
involve multiple disciplines across natural sciences,
social sciences and humanities, hearing only a natural
scientific voice creates imbalance.

The new "Explore Evolution" book (Hill House
publishers) provides arguments for and against
neo-Darwinism. Though there seem to be few arguments
from a geological perspective, yet from other
disciplinary fields, there are many arguments that
make it a lively discussion. When speaking with YEC's
strictly about geology, the discussion may be limited
and appears to be rather hard-headed - 'Did not, Did
too!'

I agree with Jim's energy argument and try to spend
little time disputing what is already disputed in
unproductive ways. Why not search for new ways? Why
not invite and hear new voices that have alternatives
to arguments both YE's and OE's have heard? It makes
sense to facilitate conversation in group formats that
can be constructive...unfortunately, when literalists
and materialists dominate the discussion table, not
much can be accomplished.

Gregory

--- Jim Armstrong <jarmstro@qwest.net> wrote:

> Let me just add a little to round out what I said in
> my earlier post.
> If the energy one has available for engagement of an
> issue like YE vs OE
> is dissipated in contentious defense, that works
> vigorously and directly
> against being able to invest any of those
> mental/emotional/spiritual
> resources in reflection of the sort that is a
> prerequisite to making any
> significant adjustments to one's belief system. The
> emotional content is
> particularly counterproductive. Now respectful
> conversation, that is
> another matter entirely. It seems to me that somehow
> this sort of
> conversation, in whatever ways we can facilitate,
> even (or perhaps
> especially) in group formats are about as pregnant
> with real possiblity
> as it gets. My mantra is, "Inform, not persuade".
> Sometimes I can even
> comply with that ideal!
>
> JimA
>
>
>
> Randy Isaac wrote:
>
> > Well said. Many of us went through the "change of
> mind" process from
> > YEC to something else. Each of our experiences was
> different so
> > there's no fixed recipe. I doubt if any of us had
> an instantaneous
> > change. It took me almost 10 years, at least to
> the point of feeling
> > comfortable about it.
> >
> > Logic and scientific explanation are limited in
> effectiveness, though
> > they must be present. Other factors that
> influenced me:
> >
> > --knowing respected Christians who were not YEC
> > --seeing how Christian faculty I trusted were
> misrepresented and
> > maligned (e.g. in the film "Footprints in Stone")
> > --as Jim points out, ruminating slowly over a long
> period of time
> > about the various arguments.
> >
> > In particular, it took a long time to accept that
> so many devout
> > Christian YEC's could be wrong. Those not in the
> YEC camp could easily
> > be dismissed as liberals who had been deluded and
> deceived by the
> > world. Can't trust them. But the YEC's? That took
> time--and discovery
> > of their treatment of people and the facts.
> >
> > By the way, I was fascinated a few months ago when
> perusing the ASA
> > archives at Wheaton. I came across quite a few
> letters in the 60's between Gish and/or Morris and
other ASA leaders at that time. Quite a history!
Let's just say that the email format wasn't the only
enabler of personal attacks. Wonder how future
historians will be able to track email traffic to
trace the interactions.
> >
> > Randy

      Get news delivered with the All new Yahoo! Mail. Enjoy RSS feeds right on your Mail page. Start today at http://mrd.mail.yahoo.com/try_beta?.intl=ca

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Mon Jul 2 17:19:36 2007