Young Earth creationism
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Young Earth [[Creationism]] (YEC) is the belief that the Earth and the universe were created in six days, approximately 6,000 years ago, by the God of the Abrahamic ([[Christianity]], [[Judaism]] and [[Islam]]) religions. | Young Earth [[Creationism]] (YEC) is the belief that the Earth and the universe were created in six days, approximately 6,000 years ago, by the God of the Abrahamic ([[Christianity]], [[Judaism]] and [[Islam]]) religions. | ||
| − | Adherents of young Earth creationism are known as "Young Earth Creationists", or simply YEC's. Alternatively, they are referred to as | + | Adherents of young Earth creationism are known as "Young Earth Creationists", or simply YEC's. Alternatively, they are referred to as morons. |
This belief derives from a literalist interpretation of a conflation of the two [[Creation Week|creation stories]] in the [[The Bible|Biblical]] book of [[Genesis]].<ref>Genesis <i>King James Bible version</i> [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/k/kjv/kjv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1477]</ref> | This belief derives from a literalist interpretation of a conflation of the two [[Creation Week|creation stories]] in the [[The Bible|Biblical]] book of [[Genesis]].<ref>Genesis <i>King James Bible version</i> [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/k/kjv/kjv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1477]</ref> | ||
Revision as of 20:09, 10 October 2007
This topic is a pseudoscience, and is not accepted by the scientific community as a valid discipline.
Although it may use scientific terminology, it does not use scientific methodology.
Remember: just because it sounds right doesn't mean it's actually right.
Young Earth Creationism (YEC) is the belief that the Earth and the universe were created in six days, approximately 6,000 years ago, by the God of the Abrahamic (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) religions. Adherents of young Earth creationism are known as "Young Earth Creationists", or simply YEC's. Alternatively, they are referred to as morons.
This belief derives from a literalist interpretation of a conflation of the two creation stories in the Biblical book of Genesis.[1] This means young Earth creationists believe the six days described in Genesis were standard 24 hour days. A firm belief in the biblical, worldwide flood and the story of Noah is also a cornerstone of young Earth creationism.
Contents |
Date of creation according to young Earth creationists
Interestingly the book of Genesis does not mention a creation date. The 4004 BCE date of creation upheld by young Earth creationists was calculated by the Anglican Archbishop by James Ussher[2] in 1658. He meticulously traced the biblical lineages back to this year and compared Middle Eastern, biblical and Mediterranean sources. He did however include Noah's supposed 900 year long life in his study.
Conflict with science
YEC obviously flies in the face of many fields of modern science, most notably biology (theory of evolution and paleontology), astronomy (starlight problem), geology (volcanic formation, sedimentation, plate tectonics), archeology (historic development of ancient civilizations) and physics (radiometric dating). (Not surprisingly, it also contradicts the creation myths of other religions and is in conflict with more evolved forms of Christianity.)
These scientific fields are backed by centuries of research by the scientific method, are falsifiable and have accumulated vast quantities of supportive evidence.
Young Earth creationists often reject scientific theories and discoveries that go against their ideas - but rather than presenting evidence for a young Earth, they resort to attacking modern science. Since their ideas are based on faith and dogma, they are not falsifiable.
Popular methods of discrediting modern science include:
- Claiming modern science is politicized and biased because most scientists are liberals or moderates.
- Pointing out the limits of a scientific theory.
- Pointing out science has been wrong before.
- Exploiting the existence of non-uniformitarian views.
- Invoking divine intervention to solve problems like the starlight problem and to explain why incest was not an issue for Adam and Eve's offspring as well as for those aboard Noah's Ark.
- Referring to obsolete sources.
- Creationist "scientists" writing outside of their field (for example: a physicist writing about DNA analysis)
- Referring to "the flood" to explain the presence of fossils and to explain why radiometric dating would be flawed.
Mainstream scientists classify young Earth creationism as a pseudoscience and compare it with astrology.
Young Earth creationism around the world
Young Earth creationism is directly correlated with a rejection of the theory of evolution, a 2006 poll[3] among adults in developed nations showed that at least 40% of adult Americans reject evolution, only Turkey has a lower acceptance rate (25%), while acceptance in Japan and Europe is typically higher than 60%.
Factors such as the level of devotion to a religion, as well as politics, and most importantly the education system of a nation, determine the percentage of young Earth creationists in a nation. This explains the high percentages of YEC's in Muslim countries and the United States as both regions have a significant fundamentalist population.
See also
- Intelligent Design
- The incontrovertible evidence of common descent
- The Bible
- Pseudoscience
- Lists of pseudosciences
- Quote mining
- Challenge: Falsifiability of Creationism
- Russell's Teapot
- Starlight problem
- Conservapedia:Dinosaur
References
- ↑ Genesis King James Bible version [1]
- ↑ James Ussher's Date of the Creation Ohio Sate University [2]
- ↑ U.S. Lags World in Grasp of Genetics and Acceptance of Evolution Live Science, 10 August 2006 [3]
Pro:
Creation Ministries International
Con: