Anti-Creationist Bullying in the Worldview Debate
by Cowboy Bob Sorensen
The creation-evolution controversy has been kicking up dust like a cavalry charge out on the plains. There's a great deal of noise, and all the dust makes it hard to see what's really going on. Atheists and anti-creationists use the confusion to try to sway people to their way of thinking. Much of this involves manipulation of emotions with name calling (labeling), blatant misrepresentation and outright falsehoods about what creationists actually believe and teach, and presenting bad evolutionary "science" as facts. The whole thing has been intensifying, which can be seen after the Ken Ham-Bill Nye debate on February 4, 2014, where Nye used bad science, dreadful logic, and sneaky debate tactics — much to the delight of his adoring fans.
The origins controversy is not restricted to academic interests. There are people who will insist that their leftist, materialist worldview is the only one that is rational, and if someone is running for public office who dares to deny evolution, s/he must be a fool. Most portrayals of Christians and creationists in the media are extremely negative, so that material is used to influence people. Just keep your eyes open, you'll see that someone's view of origins somehow becomes all-important. Yet, this view has no bearing on someone's ability to do science, use or build technology, function in public office, or go about daily life. What many people don't realize is that atheistic and evolutionary worldviews make science impossible; they are self-refuting and inadvertently affirm the biblical worldview, which makes sense of the necessary preconditions of human experience. They're standing on our rational worldview because theirs is incoherent!
The issues are not about evidence. Rather, they are about worldviews. Facts are facts, and evidence does not "speak for itself" (fallacy of reification), evidence must be interpreted. One of the most common fallacies to watch for is equivocation. For instance, evolution is put forth as science, and then biblical creationists are accused of being anti-science. Also, there's an article entitled, "The Bill Nye-Ken Ham Debate Was a Nightmare for Science". For science, not evolution. Sneaky, huh? Hey, ever notice how Bill Nye and his fans do not promote the video of the debate, which still can be watched for free? You'd think that if he won as handily as his fans claim, Nye would be promoting it every chance he can. Not hardly.
What follows are four links (yes, four, not including the link above) from Answers In Genesis on this theme. They mention AiG specifically, but much of the information is applicable to the tactics of anti-creationists in general. Meanwhile, we put forward this information to help people discern how they are being tricked, manipulated and even lied to. Do you want to find out what creationists actually believe and teach? Well, don't be going to atheist and evolutionist sites, for crying out loud! Go to the sources. Here are the links to the articles, and if you don't read them all, I hope you'll at least read the first two:
The creation-evolution controversy has been kicking up dust like a cavalry charge out on the plains. There's a great deal of noise, and all the dust makes it hard to see what's really going on. Atheists and anti-creationists use the confusion to try to sway people to their way of thinking. Much of this involves manipulation of emotions with name calling (labeling), blatant misrepresentation and outright falsehoods about what creationists actually believe and teach, and presenting bad evolutionary "science" as facts. The whole thing has been intensifying, which can be seen after the Ken Ham-Bill Nye debate on February 4, 2014, where Nye used bad science, dreadful logic, and sneaky debate tactics — much to the delight of his adoring fans.
The origins controversy is not restricted to academic interests. There are people who will insist that their leftist, materialist worldview is the only one that is rational, and if someone is running for public office who dares to deny evolution, s/he must be a fool. Most portrayals of Christians and creationists in the media are extremely negative, so that material is used to influence people. Just keep your eyes open, you'll see that someone's view of origins somehow becomes all-important. Yet, this view has no bearing on someone's ability to do science, use or build technology, function in public office, or go about daily life. What many people don't realize is that atheistic and evolutionary worldviews make science impossible; they are self-refuting and inadvertently affirm the biblical worldview, which makes sense of the necessary preconditions of human experience. They're standing on our rational worldview because theirs is incoherent!
The issues are not about evidence. Rather, they are about worldviews. Facts are facts, and evidence does not "speak for itself" (fallacy of reification), evidence must be interpreted. One of the most common fallacies to watch for is equivocation. For instance, evolution is put forth as science, and then biblical creationists are accused of being anti-science. Also, there's an article entitled, "The Bill Nye-Ken Ham Debate Was a Nightmare for Science". For science, not evolution. Sneaky, huh? Hey, ever notice how Bill Nye and his fans do not promote the video of the debate, which still can be watched for free? You'd think that if he won as handily as his fans claim, Nye would be promoting it every chance he can. Not hardly.
What follows are four links (yes, four, not including the link above) from Answers In Genesis on this theme. They mention AiG specifically, but much of the information is applicable to the tactics of anti-creationists in general. Meanwhile, we put forward this information to help people discern how they are being tricked, manipulated and even lied to. Do you want to find out what creationists actually believe and teach? Well, don't be going to atheist and evolutionist sites, for crying out loud! Go to the sources. Here are the links to the articles, and if you don't read them all, I hope you'll at least read the first two:
- National Geographic Accuses AiG of Doubting Science
- Political Bullying and Intimidation Over Evolution
- Feedback: Did Ken Ham Lose the Debate?
- Bill Nye Program (Unwittingly) Praises Creationist Research