The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #67470   Message #1134841
Posted By: Bill D
12-Mar-04 - 12:14 PM
Thread Name: BS: Faith
Subject: RE: BS: Faith
"I am through with this debate with you; no matter what else you post."
ok...I post this, then, merely for others who might be following the discussion.
"Although genuine dinosaur tracks are abundant in Texas, claims of human tracks have not withstood close scientific scrutiny, and in recent years have been largely abandoned even by most creationists. Alleged Paluxy "man tracks" involve a variety of spurious phenomena, including erosional features, metatarsal dinosaur tracks, indistinct markings of unknown origin, and a few loose carvings. "

(I was asked why I was willing to take the word of 'scientists' and not do my own research. Well, I am not ABLE to travel to Texas and examine those track myself, nor am I trained to do analysis of sediments and weathering patterns and the differences between dinosaur tracks and purported human tracks...but when the articles SAYS that even the creationists have given up on this, I have a pretty good idea which seems most likely. If other 'evidence' is found later, will I reconsider? sure!)

one other point (for others, not Two Bears, as he is convinced my mind is closed)

"Your beloved science states no animal weighing more than 100 pounds survived the incident that killed the dinosaurs."

I hadn't seen that precise claim, but it seems reasonable...65 million years can do a lot, and more & more data is confirming that approximate time in new research. I have not seen any new research that supports man & dinosaurs existing at the same time. (This line of thinking 'seems' to want to assert that the dinosaurs were a much more recent thing...in the thousands of years past, rather than millions...but no real, solid evidence for this seems to be forthcoming.)

daylia..you state...
"I'd much rather "know" I'm Divinely Created
Than try to "believe" I was randomly mutated!"

I can see why that would feel better, and I see why you and many others feel that " ...to accept something like the theory of random mutation would take a GIANT leap of faith..." It's very much like those in Copernicus' day being told that Ptolemy was wrong and the Earth was not the center of the universe. They could look up and SEE the stars revolving around them! Galileo got in deep trouble for espousing the theories of Copernicus. Galileo's career was ruined....so what happened?

" On 31 October 1992, 350 years after Galileo's death, Pope John Paul II gave an address on behalf of the Catholic Church in which he admitted that errors had been made by the theological advisors in the case of Galileo. He declared the Galileo case closed, but he did not admit that the Church was wrong to convict Galileo on a charge of heresy because of his belief that the Earth rotates round the sun. "

Is the Galileo stuff irrelevant to what we were discussing? Not to me, as it illustrates the natural reluctance of people to give up believing what 'feels' better. To some believers these days, it is easier to simply give a divine creator credit for designing and setting in motion the 'evolution' that seems so pervasive. You have to make you own peace with all the stuff ....It wont affect how you live and how you care for others if you NEVER believe those startling claims of science, but some of us (like me) feel like we MUST accept the best evidence we can glean, no matter how hard it is to wrap our heads around.

To me, imagining a Supreme Creator is just as hard as visualizing 4-5 billion years of evolution, and I have simply come to terms with it. I care---very much-- about others and the state of civilization, and feel that IF there is Spiritual Conciousness to the universe, it will, if it cares at all, understand why I feel like I do. If I ever get to meet a 'creator' on some plane above this, I hope I get to ask a few pointed questions...*smile*