Religions > Atheism > Christian dinosaur hunters dig for signs of Biblical dragons
| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Fredric L. Rice" |
| Date: |
29 Jun 2004 12:55:25 AM |
| Object: |
Christian dinosaur hunters dig for signs of Biblical dragons |
Christian dinosaur hunters dig for signs of Biblical dragons
By Marcus Warren in Keldron, South Dakota
(Filed: 19/06/2004)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/06/19/wdino19.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/06/19/ixworld..html
Countless dinosaur bones lie buried in the rocks of South Dakota but the
Christians excavating one remote cliff-face were digging not just for
reptilian vertebrae but for the hand of God.
With screwdrivers, hammers and shaving brushes for tools, the group was
seeking and, as far as it was concerned, unearthed proof that the animals
perished not millions of years ago but in Noah's Flood circa 2300 BC.
To these believers in the Bible's literal truth, they are not dinosaurs but
"missionary lizards", which are powerful weapons in the battle for young
American hearts and minds.
Those certain that God made all living things, dinosaurs included, on Day
Six of the Creation, are deploying ever more imaginative tactics in their
struggle against schools and universities teaching Darwin's theory of
evolution.
Boldest of all is a trend for believers, young and old, to dig for fossils
and dinosaur remains as witness to God's handiwork.
Lecturing to a rapt audience of 20 like-minded Christians after a hard day
in the field, Russ McGlenn, a self-styled amateur archaeologist and
palaeontologist and head of Adventure Safaris, said: "Heavenly Father, we
thank You for the evidence of a catastrophic flood event. We thank You for
the time to study Your creation. Heavenly Father, we thank You for the
evidence of a catastrophic flood event."
Mr McGlenn was admittedly preaching to the converted but his success at
strengthening their beliefs and faith was undeniable.
"It's just dumb to believe that everything came from one kind of bang or
fish or something," said Katy Carlson, 13, one of the youngest on the dig.
Her companions included a 74-year-old Californian woman who spends two
weeks digging for dinosaurs every year, the mother of three teenagers who
brought them there "as a Christmas present" and a group of Christian
children from Wisconsin.
Camping outdoors, riding and simply marvelling at the emptiness of "Big Sky
country" are all part of the fun but the main draw is the chance to get
down on hands and knees and quarry for dinosaur remains.
South Dakota is one big open-air dinosaur cemetery. "Sue", the world's best
preserved tyrannosaurus rex skeleton was discovered in the area and, in
some locations, bones are easily spotted, poking through the soil. Just as
evident, depending on who is looking, is "proof" that the creatures died in
a flood. Evidence is seen in geological strata and the animals' sudden
deaths.
The afternoon's work yielded a rich crop of bones, from a group of
Edmontosauruses known to be buried in the hillside. The remains join
similar exhibits, including a triceratops skull, at a museum opened by the
land's owner to spread the word that Darwin was wrong.
"Dinosaur fossils are not proof of evolution but rather extinction," a
poster tells visitors to the museum. The war between Darwinian science and
Christian fundamentalists has raged for decades but the battleground has
lately shifted from courtrooms and lecture halls to small-scale museums,
churches and even a Creationist theme park called "Dinosaur Adventure
Land".
According to the most recent poll, nearly half of all Americans, 48 per
cent, believe in the Book of Genesis's version of our origins. The
Creationists fervently hope that number may even be rising.
Evolution is "the dumbest and most dangerous idea in the history of
humanity", said Kent Hovind, a vocal enthusiast for the cause who also runs
the theme park in Florida. Explaining his Creationist creed, he said: "We
think dinosaurs were part of the normal Creation and were just big lizards.
Noah took some of them on the Ark, probably babies, when the floods came.
"Throughout history, there are stories of people killing the animals that
survived but they called them dragons."
Passions aroused by the debate occasionally spill over into politics,
usually into the charged sphere of education, sometimes involving national
figures such as the former president Jimmy Carter and President George W
Bush.
---
Where to find Fahrenheit 9/11: http://www.f911tix.com/
For activists: Not Ordered Text Server at http://www.notserver.com/
Baby Killer Bush: most unwelcome American ever to set foot on Irish soil:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0624/primetime/primetime56_1c.smil
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| User: "Phÿltêr" |
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| Title: Re: Christian dinosaur hunters dig for signs of Biblical dragons |
29 Jun 2004 08:03:03 AM |
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(Fredric L. Rice) astounded us with:
news:10e217j2fe3eaf4@corp.supernews.com:
According to the most recent poll, nearly half of all Americans, 48 per
cent, believe in the Book of Genesis's version of our origins. The
Creationists fervently hope that number may even be rising.
IOW, nigh on half of America are dumb fucks, yes?
--
Phÿltêr
AA#1938
Denizen of Darkness #44 & AFJC Antipodean Attaché
Remove "s" to respond
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| User: "Fredric L. Rice" |
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| Title: Re: Christian dinosaur hunters dig for signs of Biblical dragons |
29 Jun 2004 10:45:42 PM |
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"Phÿltêr" <Phÿltêr@hsotmail.com> wrote:
REMOVEFRice@SkepticTank.ORG (Fredric L. Rice) astounded us with:
news:10e217j2fe3eaf4@corp.supernews.com:
According to the most recent poll, nearly half of all Americans, 48 per
cent, believe in the Book of Genesis's version of our origins. The
Creationists fervently hope that number may even be rising.
IOW, nigh on half of America are dumb fucks, yes?
You may be too forgiving. }:-} A lot of people out there can't
tell you whether Mars or Venus is closer to the Sun and a disgusting
number of Americans have no idea where Earth is.
---
Where to find Fahrenheit 9/11: http://www.f911tix.com/
For activists: Not Ordered Text Server at http://www.notserver.com/
Baby Killer Bush: most unwelcome American ever to set foot on Irish soil:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0624/primetime/primetime56_1c.smil
.
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| User: "Chris L Peterson" |
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| Title: Re: Christian dinosaur hunters dig for signs of Biblical dragons |
29 Jun 2004 08:13:50 AM |
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On 29 Jun 2004 13:03:03 GMT, "Phÿltêr" <Phÿltêr@hsotmail.com> wrote:
According to the most recent poll, nearly half of all Americans, 48 per
cent, believe in the Book of Genesis's version of our origins. The
Creationists fervently hope that number may even be rising.
IOW, nigh on half of America are dumb fucks, yes?
Maybe, but not because they believe literally in the Book of Genesis. If at all,
because they don't know how to respond to polls intelligently. Polls (which are,
of course, usually constructed to produce certain results) regularly show that
most Americans believe in a god, most go to church, most believe in the literal
Bible, etc. I think the numbers greatly overstate the reality (although the
reality remains disturbingly high) because most people are simply conditioned to
say that they are Christians, that they go to church, etc. Many of those
respondents don't go to church (or maybe on Easter) and are Christians in name
only.
_________________________________________________
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com
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| User: "EjP" |
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| Title: Re: Christian dinosaur hunters dig for signs of Biblical dragons |
29 Jun 2004 09:19:34 AM |
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Chris L Peterson wrote:
On 29 Jun 2004 13:03:03 GMT, "Phÿltêr" <Phÿltêr@hsotmail.com> wrote:
According to the most recent poll, nearly half of all Americans, 48 per
cent, believe in the Book of Genesis's version of our origins. The
Creationists fervently hope that number may even be rising.
IOW, nigh on half of America are dumb fucks, yes?
Maybe, but not because they believe literally in the Book of Genesis. If at all,
because they don't know how to respond to polls intelligently. Polls (which are,
of course, usually constructed to produce certain results) regularly show that
most Americans believe in a god, most go to church, most believe in the literal
Bible, etc. I think the numbers greatly overstate the reality (although the
reality remains disturbingly high) because most people are simply conditioned to
say that they are Christians, that they go to church, etc.
The one statistic that I've never seen is how many
respondents claim to believe in literal Genesis AND evolution. My guess
is it's a pretty significant fraction of those that believe in Genesis.
Of course, claiming to believe both at the same time is probably
more of an indictment of their intelligence than even being a
straight fundamentalist.
-E
Many of those
respondents don't go to church (or maybe on Easter) and are Christians in name
only.
_________________________________________________
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com
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| User: "Fletch F. Fletch" |
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| Title: Re: Christian dinosaur hunters dig for signs of Biblical dragons |
29 Jun 2004 09:30:25 AM |
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Chris L Peterson wrote:
On 29 Jun 2004 13:03:03 GMT, "Phÿltêr" <Phÿltêr@hsotmail.com> wrote:
According to the most recent poll, nearly half of all Americans, 48
per cent, believe in the Book of Genesis's version of our origins.
The Creationists fervently hope that number may even be rising.
IOW, nigh on half of America are dumb fucks, yes?
Maybe, but not because they believe literally in the Book of Genesis.
If at all, because they don't know how to respond to polls
intelligently. Polls (which are, of course, usually constructed to
produce certain results) regularly show that most Americans believe
in a god, most go to church, most believe in the literal Bible, etc.
I think the numbers greatly overstate the reality (although the
reality remains disturbingly high) because most people are simply
conditioned to say that they are Christians, that they go to church,
etc. Many of those respondents don't go to church (or maybe on
Easter) and are Christians in name only.
A clever pollster who really wanted to know how the country felt could
design a questioning process that removed the possibility of stigma
associated with being an atheist, etc. (e.g., flip coin, heads -- tell me
your an atheist, tails -- tell me what you really are, don't tell me how the
coin landed) Of course, as you say, many polls have predetermined results,
and the poll is done just to come up with a sampling error that the rest of
the world believes is a proxy for total error.
Slainte,
Fletch
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| User: "Chris L Peterson" |
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| Title: Re: Christian dinosaur hunters dig for signs of Biblical dragons |
29 Jun 2004 09:56:01 AM |
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On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 14:30:25 GMT, "Fletch F. Fletch" <notme31415@yahoo.com>
wrote:
A clever pollster who really wanted to know how the country felt could
design a questioning process that removed the possibility of stigma
associated with being an atheist, etc. (e.g., flip coin, heads -- tell me
your an atheist, tails -- tell me what you really are, don't tell me how the
coin landed) Of course, as you say, many polls have predetermined results,
and the poll is done just to come up with a sampling error that the rest of
the world believes is a proxy for total error.
Certainly, and there are many clever pollsters. But pollsters are paid by people
with agendas, and that usually results in a skewed result. Anyone who has ever
taken a political poll (in the U.S., at least) knows how difficult it is to
actually provide answers reflecting his true opinions.
A really nice, well constructed, academically honest poll to assess religious
and spiritual beliefs would be fascinating. But it would be expensive, and I
don't know where the money would come from.
In the meantime, I'll take all poll results purporting to provide that kind of
information with a very large grain of salt.
_________________________________________________
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com
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| User: "Fletch F. Fletch" |
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| Title: Re: Christian dinosaur hunters dig for signs of Biblical dragons |
29 Jun 2004 10:26:02 AM |
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Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 14:30:25 GMT, "Fletch F. Fletch"
<notme31415@yahoo.com> wrote:
A clever pollster who really wanted to know how the country felt
could design a questioning process that removed the possibility of
stigma associated with being an atheist, etc. (e.g., flip coin,
heads -- tell me your an atheist, tails -- tell me what you really
are, don't tell me how the coin landed) Of course, as you say, many
polls have predetermined results, and the poll is done just to come
up with a sampling error that the rest of the world believes is a
proxy for total error.
Certainly, and there are many clever pollsters. But pollsters are
paid by people with agendas, and that usually results in a skewed
result. Anyone who has ever taken a political poll (in the U.S., at
least) knows how difficult it is to actually provide answers
reflecting his true opinions.
A really nice, well constructed, academically honest poll to assess
religious and spiritual beliefs would be fascinating. But it would be
expensive, and I don't know where the money would come from.
In the meantime, I'll take all poll results purporting to provide
that kind of information with a very large grain of salt.
Me too.
Slainte,
Fletch
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