Re: [asa] Former YEC's on ASA and Henry Morris - WAS Denver RATE Conference

Janice points out an important distinction that some of YEC/IDism can
be seen as error/misunderstanding but she is also correct to point out
that there may be "The lie" or "motivated stupidity" which can help
understand why YEC/IDers make the claims they do. How to deal with the
different flavors is important since they do call for different
approaches.
Some creationists believe the lies that Darwinism is a religion and
that evolutionary science is the underlying cause of immorality and
other evils in the world.
Correcting this is far more effective that showing that the many so
called 'scientific' claims of ID/YEC are flawed. Once people come to
understand that evolutionary science is neither opposing nor
supporting religious faith, can one hope to educate people as to the
other flaws involved in arguments against what most have come to
accept, based on solid evidence, as solid science.
In many instances, we see the same thread run across a variety of
issues. Whether it be evolutionary science or environmental sciences
related for instance to Global Warming, DDT or even the Ozone
depletion, some are quick to accept 'the lie' or what is more commonly
known as 'strawmen' rather than accepting that there exists solid
scientific foundations to support these causes.
Motivated stupidity, a somewhat rough but still accurate description
of what we observe so often. Much of our recent policies have been
guided by motivated stupidity and as Christians I believe we should be
motivated to expose it and communicate a message of love not hate.
Enough hate has been exchanged in the name of religion in the last
decades, and there must be something we can do. Reducing people's
ignorance about that which they oppose is a sure way to improve
understanding, communication and help people find common grounds.

What I find somewhat ironic is how the writer(s) of the message to
which Janice link seem to be largely unable to extrapolate their
messages.

Nevertheless, for us Christians there is a lesson to be learned here.
We are ultimate representatives of the Lord's message and our actions
and words will help spread or undermine His message. As such we should
avoid being seen as perpetuating that which has been clearly shown to
be unsupported by logic, and/or science.

I thank Janice for providing us with a useful reminder to all of this.

On 9/30/07, Janice Matchett <janmatch@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> At 05:13 PM 9/30/2007, Michael Roberts wrote:
>
>
> "...Of course, everyone of us makes mistakes, big or little in what we say
> or write. When a supposed error is brought to light how we deal with it is
> very important....Lastly on the comparative success of a combatative or
> softly-softly approach on YEC and ID, it has to be said that neither have
> worked as we are dealing with ideology rather than intellectual exploration
> from faith. ~ Michael
>
> @ There is error / misunderstanding and then there is "The Lie" aka
> "Motivated Stupidity".
> http://onecosmos.blogspot.com/2005/11/why-do-they-hate-us
> .html
>
> ~ Janice
>
>

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Received on Sun Sep 30 21:34:51 2007