[asa] Denver RATE Conference (Thousands ? Not Billions)_Part 1

On Saturday, September 15, 2007, I attended the "Thousands ... not
Billions" Radioisotopes and the Age of The Earth (RATE) Conference held at
the Colorado Community Church in Denver. The following summary was
compiled from my hand written notes of the event.

I arrived at the church at about 8:00 to get a ticket ($25) and a seat. In
the foyer of the church were two long tables with Institute of Creation
Research (ICR) literature for sale. The material ranged from Duane Gish's
"Are You Brainwashed" (a cartoon pamphlet in the style of Chick
publications) to a variety of DVDs (Grand Canyon, Mt. St. Helens,
Starlight & Time, etc.); from "Darwin's Black Box" by Michael Behe to
prepackaged sets of books by Henry Morris. There was also a large
selection of RATE publications - the RATE I technical volume ($35), the
RATE II technical volume ($80), and the layman's summary book, a DVD, and
a study guide all entitled, "Thousands ... Not Billions."

In addition to the official ICR "bookstore", there was also some
information from other local Creationist groups and ministries. There was
a table with newsletters from the local "Rocky Mountain Christian
Fellowship" (www.youngearth.org). And there was another display from a
local pastor and editor of "Discovery News: A Publication of Significant
Archeological Discoveries" (www.DiscoveryNews.us). I picked up a free
copy of the Discovery News. It trumpeted the news about discoveries of
human footprints with dinosaur tracks along the Paluxy River near Glen
Rose, Texas; showed pictures of decaying plesiosaurus carcasses snagged by
a Japanese trawler or washed up on shore; and touted the archeological
discovery of Noah's Ark by Ron Wyatt. This pastor was also advertising
their weekly Awana Boys & Girls Club with a Poster Coloring Contest
called, "Why do we find dinosaur and human footprints together in the same
rock formation?"

Once in the sanctuary, we found more "free" literature set out on our
seats for every attendee: the two most recent ICR Acts & Facts magazines
plus the last book written by the late Henry Morris - a small 48-page
booklet entitled "Some Call It Science: The Religion of Evolution." The
sanctuary was semi-circular with a raised dais in front on which there was
a small lectern and a table with four chairs. High above the dais were
two projection screens set at opposite angles so that at least one screen
was visible from anywhere in the sanctuary.

The attendance or registration numbers for the conference were not
announced. Estimates that I have heard range from 750-800 people. The
conference had been advertised nationally in ICR publications and locally
on Christian radio stations, in flyers at churches, and by young-earth
creationist (YEC) organizations. It appeared to me that a large number of
the audience came because of the local advertising. However, there were a
significant number of people from outside of the Denver area and even from
the surrounding states.

At 8:30 a.m., Lawrence Ford, Director of ??? [I missed his full title] at
ICR, began by outlining the schedule of events and pushing literature at
the book tables. He recommended that we purchase several copies of the
RATE Thousands ... not Billions book so that we could spread the word of
the RATE successes because the "science community is suppressing the RATE
studies." Lawrence asked that we not videotape the conference since RATE
DVDs were available at the book tables. (Therefore I do not have a
recording or transcript of this specific conference; only my hastily
scribbled notes.)

We were also introduced to Brian Catalucci, president of the local Rocky
Mountain Creation Fellowship (RMCF). Brian shared with us details of the
monthly RMCF meetings (Kurt Wise will be the featured speaker in October)
and then wished us "Happy Adam's Birthday." The RMCF has started or
become involved in a project to declare the weekend following Rosh
Hashana, the Jewish New Year, as Creation Weekend (in contrast to Darwin
Sunday in February). More details can be found at
www.creationweekend.com.

**Dr. Gary Parker - Introduction of RATE Team/Research Summary**

Finally at almost 9:00 a.m., after opening prayer by the pastor of
Colorado Community Church, we were introduced to our first RATE speaker,
Dr. Gary Parker. Dr. Parker has been with ICR for 31 years and lives in
Arcadia, Florida where he runs the Creation Adventures Museum
(CreationAdventuresMuseum.org). He also is a featured speaker and
consultant for Answers in Genesis and their museum.

The purpose of this first talk was to set the stage for why a Young Earth
was such a critical doctrine for Christians and how RATE science was
taking the offensive against secular science. Parker started with his
testimony. Originally he was a biology professor at a Christian college
and an evolutionist that delighted in attacking Christian students in his
classes. For Parker, struggle and death made it impossible to be a
evolutionist and a Christian. It was at a bible study led by a fellow
Chemistry professor, that Parker found the Lord, YEC, the Genesis flood,
and a literal Bible.

Dr. Gary Parker was personable speaker with a big smile and a chuckle
(picture available at
http://www.answersingenesis.org/events/bio.aspx?Speaker_ID=29). He was
enthusiastic and humorous - usually at the expense of scientists,
evolutionists, and compromisers (old-earth creationists, ID theorists,
theistic evolutionists). His talk was a series of stories. I did not
take notes on his stories but simply noted some of his main points.
Therefore the following paraphrased quotes may not seem like a coherent
argument.

 "We live in a corrupted Creation. According to the Bible, there's a
perfect start and a perfect end - but we live in the middle."

 "Live by God's Word, not man's opinion. The biggest temptation is the
one used on Eve in the Garden of Eden: God gave you a brain - use it."

 "The creation/evolution issue is not a side issue; it is a fundamental
salvation issue. Evolution is an enormous stumbling block and
'millions-of-years' is a big part of the problem."

 "The lawyer-geologist Lyell was responsible for starting to stretch the
time frame and generating disrespect for God's Word. Darwin would never
have published his book if Lyell hadn't given him all that time."

 "Time is a characteristic of God. He does things instantly."

 "I was saved from the vagaries of man's opinion."

 "Our job is not to interpret the Bible - we take it as it is.
Interpretation means to take the words and make them mean something
different."

 "Radioisotope dating has problems. In the Grand Canyon there is a sill,
Bass Sill, in the bottom of that canyon that evolutionists say is old. Yet
there are lava flows on the rim and spilling into the canyon with
radioisotope dates older than Bass Sill. So, according to evolutionists,
the Grand Canyon formed upside down!"

 "When I was an evolutionist, my biggest objection to the Flood and a
Young Earth was radioactive dating. The RATE program began in 1997 to
answer these objections."

 "Evolutionary Radioisotopic Dating: The faith the facts have failed. The
Bible: The faith that fits the facts."

----
**Stay tuned for the next installment (sometime next week) - featuring Dr. 
John Baumgardner: Coal & Diamonds Contain Evidence for Recent Formation**
Steve
(Disclaimer: Opinions expressed herein are my own and are not to be 
attributed to my employer or anyone else.)
_____________
 Steven M. Smith, Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey
 Box 25046, M.S. 973, DFC, Denver, CO  80225
 Office: (303)236-1192, Fax: (303)236-3200
 Email: smsmith@usgs.gov
 -USGS Nat'l Geochem. Database NURE HSSR Web Site-
  http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/ofr-97-0492/
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