There is an article on young-Earth creationist geology in the latest American
Scientist, March-April 1998. Unfortunately, the article perpetuates what Johnson
calls "the `official caricature' of the creation-evolution debate":
"...a distortion that is either explicit or implicit in nearly all media and textbook
treatments of the subject. According to the caricature, `evolution' is
a simple, unitary process that one can see in operation today and that
is also supported unequivocally by all the fossil evidence. Everyone
accepts the truth of evolution except a disturbingly large group of
biblical fundamentalists, who insist that the earth is no more than ten
thousand years old and the fossil beds were laid down in Noah's
flood." (Johnson P.E., "Reason in the Balance", 1995, p73).
The American Scientist's bias can be seen from it's "Links to Other
Points of Interest" on the web page summary (see below) being only
"The National Center for Science Education" and "The Talk.Origins
Archive"!
Nevertheless, I found the article useful as it documents many YEC
claims and provides a scientific response to them.
Here is a summary of the article (the full article is not online)
from:
http://www.amsci.org/amsci/articles/98articles/Wise.html
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Creationism's Geologic Time Scale Donald U. Wise
Keywords earth history, "creation science," pseudo-science,
geologists, creationists, fundamentalists, geologic time scale,
Noachian flood, plate tectonics, Grand Canyon Abstract Few
scientists have read the literature of the "creation science" movement.
Donald Wise, in an attempt to understand the alternative models of
earth history proposed by creationists, has managed to piece together
a geologic time scale based on the literature. Only by understanding
the underlying ideas, history and assumptions of "creation science,"
Wise argues, can scientists effectively maintain the distinctions
between science and religion and counteract efforts by
fundamentalists to bring the Bible into public schools as a science
textbook.
Figure 7. Creationists offer a cartooned view of science that is often
hard to address in public debate. Creationism itself, meanwhile, has
tempted a few cartoonists to take up their pens. John Holden, a
paleontologist by training (and co-author with R. S. Dietz of a
cartoon commentary, Creation/Evolution Satiricon), has pondered the
implications of Henry Morris's explantation of lunar craters as the
result of cosmic battles between Satan's angels and those of the
Archangel Michael.
Links to Other Points of Interest
The National Center for Science Education
http://www.natcenscied.org/
The Talk.Origins Archive http://www.talkorigins.org/
(c) American Scientist 1998
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Steve
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Stephen E (Steve) Jones ,--_|\ sejones@ibm.net
3 Hawker Avenue / Oz \ Steve.Jones@health.wa.gov.au
Warwick 6024 ->*_,--\_/ Phone +61 8 9448 7439
Perth, West Australia v "Test everything." (1Thess 5:21)
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