"Is Genesis History?" and an Atheistic Well-Poisoning Effort
by Cowboy Bob Sorensen
EDIT: Two encore showings, March 2 and March 7.
Certain details of this post will be out of date in less than a week. However, the principles contained herein will remain relevant — especially the second part of this article.
Corrected 2-19-2017, I mistakenly wrote that the writer/director/producer was Del Tackett. Those credits belong to Thomas Purifoy, Jr. Dr. Tackett is the host of the movie.
Is Genesis History? is a 2-hour documentary film that is scheduled to appear in American cinemas on Thursday, February 23. That's all the time we have. I hope the DVD release date in April is correct, or perhaps it will be available online. My online search for Is Genesis History? yielded many results, including show times, praise, and enthusiastic reviews from Christians (such as this one from Eric Hovind). The movie is the product of a great deal of work and includes interviews with many experts in their fields, and the primary focus is to equip Christian parents and youth. Click here to find out more, and you may want to get the free e-book as well as examine the other materials on the site. I am unfamiliar with Del Tackett's work (doctorate in Business Management) and The Truth Project as a whole, but this film is highly recommended, and I want to see it.
Atheists and evolutionists detest anything that portrays biblical creation science in a positive way. Material that does not easily lend itself to dismantling and ridicule seems to be hated most of all. Here is a furious atheist in the UK who has given me many examples of poor logic in the past, and this post illustrates several fallacies, many of which illustrate the poisoning the well fallacy. I used different colors to emphasize different areas, but I'll elaborate on certain aspects below the annotated screenshot (click for larger). The original post is here.
The title of the thread, "Online and movie attempted YEC indoctrination in America", is a strong indication that the writer is biased. He repeatedly uses the word indoctrination when referencing the fact that Christian parents educate their parents according to the Bible. The secular education systems are the ones who actually use indoctrination, but you'll be hard pressed to find instances of atheists objecting to this.
There are several snide comments that are actually well-poisoning opinions that are irrelevant to the subject. This one, "...director, producer and writer has NO relevant science background" is, in my opinion, a weak attempt to find something negative to say. It was also an ad hominem. If I was having a documentary made, I would want an experienced filmmaker who is would work the way Thomas Purifoy, Jr. and host Dr. Tackett did, including interviewing experts in their fields.
There was also a remark that Tackett's Weblog does not allow comments. Well, neither do Popular Science nor other major sites, so I consider it not only irrelevant, but another attempt to poison the well.
Finally, I'll address this:
In like manner, the comment implied racism on the part of the filmmakers (and possibly the experts themselves), but then the weak, "...which I suspect is not deliberate..." section seems to be an attempt at defaming the people, but not coming out and saying something. His "aside" did not need to be written at all, as he backpedaled on it. This is an extremely sneaky, manipulative attempt to poison the well.
The examples of several logical fallacies that work together to poison the well are examples of how extreme emotions, especially hatred and bigotry, will cloud the mind and bypass reasoning abilities. Many biblical creationists seek to encourage logical thinking and examination of evidence, as well as identifying logical fallacies. This not only assists us in avoiding duplicity and manipulation, but helps us keep our own apologetics efforts accurate and glorifying to God.
I hope Is Genesis History? will prove fruitful, and will educate many to stand up for the truth of Genesis and biblical creation science.
/
EDIT: Two encore showings, March 2 and March 7.
Certain details of this post will be out of date in less than a week. However, the principles contained herein will remain relevant — especially the second part of this article.
Corrected 2-19-2017, I mistakenly wrote that the writer/director/producer was Del Tackett. Those credits belong to Thomas Purifoy, Jr. Dr. Tackett is the host of the movie.
Is Genesis History? is a 2-hour documentary film that is scheduled to appear in American cinemas on Thursday, February 23. That's all the time we have. I hope the DVD release date in April is correct, or perhaps it will be available online. My online search for Is Genesis History? yielded many results, including show times, praise, and enthusiastic reviews from Christians (such as this one from Eric Hovind). The movie is the product of a great deal of work and includes interviews with many experts in their fields, and the primary focus is to equip Christian parents and youth. Click here to find out more, and you may want to get the free e-book as well as examine the other materials on the site. I am unfamiliar with Del Tackett's work (doctorate in Business Management) and The Truth Project as a whole, but this film is highly recommended, and I want to see it.
Atheists and evolutionists detest anything that portrays biblical creation science in a positive way. Material that does not easily lend itself to dismantling and ridicule seems to be hated most of all. Here is a furious atheist in the UK who has given me many examples of poor logic in the past, and this post illustrates several fallacies, many of which illustrate the poisoning the well fallacy. I used different colors to emphasize different areas, but I'll elaborate on certain aspects below the annotated screenshot (click for larger). The original post is here.
The title of the thread, "Online and movie attempted YEC indoctrination in America", is a strong indication that the writer is biased. He repeatedly uses the word indoctrination when referencing the fact that Christian parents educate their parents according to the Bible. The secular education systems are the ones who actually use indoctrination, but you'll be hard pressed to find instances of atheists objecting to this.
There are several snide comments that are actually well-poisoning opinions that are irrelevant to the subject. This one, "...director, producer and writer has NO relevant science background" is, in my opinion, a weak attempt to find something negative to say. It was also an ad hominem. If I was having a documentary made, I would want an experienced filmmaker who is would work the way Thomas Purifoy, Jr. and host Dr. Tackett did, including interviewing experts in their fields.
There was also a remark that Tackett's Weblog does not allow comments. Well, neither do Popular Science nor other major sites, so I consider it not only irrelevant, but another attempt to poison the well.
Finally, I'll address this:
As an aside, all 13 scientists or 'scientists' (and a couple of scholars) behind this religious indoctrination are middle aged white males (which I suspect is not deliberate but simply a fact of life). (Two YECs who normally are considered relatively honest in their statements - Wise and Wood - are among them.)Last thing first, this commenter has a habit of referring to professing Christians who reject biblical creation as "reasonable", "rational", and so forth, so he inserted an opinion as a means of influence. But more than that, the previous section was egregious. I think of when a prosecuting attorney will make a prejudicial comment and the judge says, "The jury will disregard that comment", but they did hear it anyway. Also, when someone makes a hurtful remark and adds, "I'm just saying", as if that somehow makes the remark acceptable, or even truthful.
In like manner, the comment implied racism on the part of the filmmakers (and possibly the experts themselves), but then the weak, "...which I suspect is not deliberate..." section seems to be an attempt at defaming the people, but not coming out and saying something. His "aside" did not need to be written at all, as he backpedaled on it. This is an extremely sneaky, manipulative attempt to poison the well.
The examples of several logical fallacies that work together to poison the well are examples of how extreme emotions, especially hatred and bigotry, will cloud the mind and bypass reasoning abilities. Many biblical creationists seek to encourage logical thinking and examination of evidence, as well as identifying logical fallacies. This not only assists us in avoiding duplicity and manipulation, but helps us keep our own apologetics efforts accurate and glorifying to God.
I hope Is Genesis History? will prove fruitful, and will educate many to stand up for the truth of Genesis and biblical creation science.