Monday, July 8

To: Brian Micklethwait
Re: Where I agree with the Creationists

Brian,

You are spot-on in your analysis of the conflict between the claims of orthodox Christianity and the claims of Darwinism. Any Christian Church and any Christian person that believes orthodox Christianity and Darwinism can peacefully co-exist is deluded.

But I wonder why someone who posts to a "critically rational" blog would claim to believe that "creationism is bunkum".

Is it because you are already a committed materialist and Darwinism is the only theory of origins which supports your beliefs? Is it because so many so-called "creationists" are such obvious idiots? Is it because the prevailing weight of public opinion is biased towards Darwinism? Is it because anyone who claims that creationism is a better scientific model is reviled as a bible-thumping fundamentalist, and you cannot bear to be lumped in with those folks?

Surely it's not because you have carefully weighed the evidence and decided Darwinism is a better model. I have yet to find anyone who, after carefully reviewing the data, concludes that the evidence supports the Darwinian model and contradicts the creationist model.

Are the implications of creationism a little scary? Certainly. But are scary implications any reason to avoid studying anything? Only for the uncritical and the irrational.

Respectfully,

Jack Heald
London