> It is what I call the Priesthood Fallacy. Here, the S uses his hard earned
> knowledge to wrap himself in the raiments of episcopacy and pronounce all
> the unordained as rabble or, worse, pagans. They chain their Scriptures
> (read: primary literature) to the pulpit and say, "The rabble cannot
> understand. Listen only to us."
A little melodramatic... What many in science get annoyed about is criticism
of science by people who clearly do not understand it and show no evidence of
ever reading anything other than ICR-type publications.
I don't think many on this list would come out and say "You can't criticize
evolution because you don't have a degree in a relevant field!" What they
will and do say, however, is that "Your criticism of [fill-in-the-blank] is
totally wrong and you obviously have never read any of the extensive
scientific literature about it."
If someone has an advanced degree in a field, from an accredited university,
then it can safely be assumed that they know a little about it. If someone
doesn't have a formal education in a subject, and speak authoritatively about
it, then I think it's fair to ask where they obtained their knowledge. What
types of books do they read? What types of journals? Many YECs clearly
obtain all of their scientific knowledge through ICR-type publications and
are essentially scientifically illiterate.
Finally, let's talk about arrogance. I'm reading Davis Young's new book
"The Biblical Flood" and he quotes a Pastor James B. Coffman of a Church of
Christ in Houston, Texas. Coffman claims, in speaking about the flood in his
"Commentary on Genesis" (1985, Abilene Christian University Press, p. 121),
that:
"A scientific community that has no explanation whatever for how
marine fossils are found at elevations above the snowline in the
Cordillera and the Himalayas are not at all convincing in their
shouted denials that what is recorded here is a record of what really
happened."
No explanation at all? Perhaps the good Pastor Coffman hasn't heard of
plate tectonics, the unifying theme of modern geology for the past quarter
century? This guy is either clueless or lying and totally arrogant about
it. I see this type of attitude from Christians far more than I see the
type you're talking about from Christian or atheistic scientists.
- Steve.
-- Steven H. Schimmrich Callsign KB9LCG s-schim@uiuc.edu Department of Geology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 245 Natural History Building, Urbana, IL 61801 (217) 244-1246 http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/s-schim Deus noster refugium