In the creation/evolution wars, there is also a time for peace. One can certainly read my polemics against evolutionary theory in the past, and one may be surprised how different my tone is at YoungCosmos. Let us recall the words of Solomon:
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
….
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
That is how I view the saga of the creation/evolution war. There are also subtleties to this as well, particularly with the YEC issue because there are OECs who are allies of the YECs in the most major cause, and yet do not agree on the issue of the age of the Earth.
In the war against Darwinian evolution, there is lots of rhetoric, public relations, campaigning, one-upsman ship, public denigration of each other. There is a time and place for this, imho. The war metaphor for that discussion is appropriate. In my 4 years of debate with the pro-Darwin crowd, I have gained very little in the way of scientific information from the critics. What I have gained was having to learn scientific arguments to refute them. The reason for that is I maintain, the physical evidence is strongly against naturalistic evolution. It does not take a lot to realize life doesn’t emerge from lifeless chemicals spontaneously. This is scientific fact! The origin of life had to have emerged from process we don’t see in operation today. The arguments were mostly rhetoric and metaphysics and politics.
In contrast, with respect to the age of the Earth, the arguments are not so easy, and there are days I have thought the problems were insurmountable. Furthermore, unlike Darwinian evolution, the death sentence for YEC came from a YEC (in Maxwell), not from someone inherently opposed to the idea of special creation (as Darwin was). But as I said, even with the death sentence for YEC signed, sealed, and delivered, the executioner has not been quite able to deliver the fatal blow. Like in the movies, a hero comes at the last second as the fatal blow is about to fall!
With that in mind I wish to entertain ideas of how to foster a civil and welcoming environment where two parties can exchange information in such a way as they feel they are cooperating in the search for truth, rather than trying to tear each other down.
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
Some things I find helpful. If you really think your opponent is mistaken, it is best to try to:
1. restate his argument
2. recognize that from his perspective it can seem right
3. recognize you could be wrong
4. state the factual reasons why you disagree
Adding qualifiers like “bad” or “poor” probably starts to so seeds of discord. It would suffice to say to a fellow participant, “this seems incorrect because….”
And let us in this debate turn the other cheek as much as possible. There will be a time to fight, but imho, OECs and OE-ID are our beloved friends, we should treat them and the arguments they bring to the table with respect. Those who also come to the table who are not pro-ID, but have good Old Universe arguments are also welcome. The YEC cause will do well to cognizant of serious scientific difficulties of YEC theory….
So I invite readers to speak their mind….
Please Note:
ATTENTION! YOUNG COSMOS HAS MOVED!
Salvador