Rational conversation with irrational people

Young earth creationists are an animated lot. Of course not all of them are exactly the same as any other. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever found two Xtians with totally identical beliefs. Like all mythologies, Xtianism is a cafeteria system. Don’t like beets? Try the cabbage with bacon. Oh, and I’ll have a little of that mac and cheese too.

Anyway, as I was saying, the young earth lot appear more animated than your stodgy, run-of-the-mill creationist. It seems easier to offend a young-earther with even the simplest of logic.

Take science. Young-earthers deny most science. They especially deny anything remotely Darwinian in nature. Evolution is a direct threat to young earth myth, and bible thumpers do not like their simple minds to be threatened. They tend to react in remarkably un-christ like fashion.

Don’t you find that odd? Gandhi’s insightful words come to mind.

Anyway, I was talking about how young-earthers deny the scientific disciplines. But even this is like I said before… a cafeteria-like situation. They deny physical, biological, chemical and geological evidence of evolution, yet they are perfectly willing to use physics, biology, chemistry and geology when the product can be twisted to support the delusion of the day.

Take the Shroud of Turin. It was perfectly okay to accept carbon dating as evidence of the age of the shroud, but using the same method to determine the age of fossils is dismissed as god testing our faith. The results of the first are sound, those of the second somehow altered by the hand of god to see if we are on our toes.

Guess I flunked that test.

So, you might wonder, what exactly was the muse for this bit of musing…

Well, you see, when I got home today I found a book in a plastic bag hanging from my door. It was a book I had loaned a neighbor a few days ago.

We’ve had something going on in the neighborhood that has caused neighbor to visit neighbor a bit more frequently than in the past, and a few days ago this neighbor came by. We had coffee and a conversation that led to me deciding to loan him a book. The book was Carl Sagan’s, The Dragons of Eden.

Today I found it hanging from my door in a plastic bag, with a typed note stuffed between the pages. Oh, and I do mean typed. Like on an old fashioned manual Royal or Underwood.

This is what the note said, reproduced as accurately as I can manage.

Dear M. Breath,

I am returning your book “The Dragons of Eden” simply because I am not in agreement with this “Darwinian hogwash.” I read approximately one and a half pages and came to the conclusion; this book is totally the opposite of what I strongly believe. Whatsinaname?????

DRAGONS: Devils/ iniquity

EDEN: God’s creation

Each individual human being has been given free will. He or she has the freedom to choose what they want to believe. I choose to believe “In the beginning, God created man in his own image.” (GENESIS 1-1) The Earth is only 5790 years old!!! The fossil record was formed in the great flood of Noah’s day. Notwithstanding, this is my choice of what I’ve accepted to believe. If you want to believe this evolution crap, that’s your choice and I’ll respect your choice. Furthermore, I also believe that dinosaurs walked the earth with humans. (Why do you think there are so many dragon legends?) “Behold new, Behemeth…” (JOB 40:15)

     It is my opinion that Sagan’s book is what the Apostle Paul prophesied in his first epistle to Timothy 4:1 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in latter times some will fall away from faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.

     Respectfully,

     B. Thumper

This particular neighbor is one with whom I’ve been quite friendly, and have helped him out in the past when he fell on hard times. Over the past year or so he’s gotten involved with a new “cowboy” church that popped up a few miles away. Apparently he was in some sort of substance abuse situation and used the church as a crutch to heal himself. In the past months he has turned into quite the religious man. I guess I hadn’t correctly gauged just how religious.

The ignorance of this note is palpable, which doesn’t sound like him at all. I’m still digesting it all, but right now I’m leaning toward outside influence. I’m thinking my neighbor visited with his preacher, and Mr. Preacherman guided him to the good Xtian evaluation of a book that challenged Mr. Preacherman’s kingdom.

The rest of the story is yet to come. I’m sure I’ll learn more in days to come.

~~