I was recently in a disagreement with a writer to the local newspaper over whether one should call creationism a valid subset of science. He put forth the rather novel and difficult to support idea the Earth is only 6000 years old. Being educated in the Earth sciences and holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Geophysics, I found this to be a ludicrous proposition and told him so. While in church today I realized my mistake in arguing the facts with the gentleman. Since my local newspaper has seen fit to go to pay access, I am unable to reply directly to him. This blog entry is my reply.
I have realized that arguing the facts of science will never convince anyone of his error of interpretation. I make the statement that science is an unsuitable vehicle for creationism because science deals with the trivial human questions while creationism tries and fails to use the facts of science to build a scientific framework to support answers that faith alone can supply. Trying to use science to answer these questions is like using a diamond cutter to plow a field. Philosophy and Theology are the real tools that apply to the questions posed by creationism. God and evolution can co-exist. Though I am a secular humanist, I think I could make the transition to theist with little modification of my scientific beliefs. I also believe that modern religions need to be more dynamic. It is a stain on the Christian religion that the largest denomination is governed by a monarchy with a noble class while most of its adherents believe a democracy is a superior form of government. I also believe the main problem is the stubborn literal interpretations of the various sacred books of the various religions. Creationism is put forth as a validation of the Old Testament of the Bible. The people who believe in it are desperate for reassurance in their sacred text and are willing to believe the most unsupportable hypotheses in spite of a blizzard of data to the contrary. They are unwilling to accept the doubt which Kierkegaard said was a part of faith. It is faith overcoming doubt to yield belief that makes you a Christian, not sifting through scientific minutia in search of proof of the truth of the Old Testament of the Bible.
