The Australian
Jul 7 2017
One of several articles on Dr. Snelling’s settlement with the National Park Service over the issuing of a rock gathering research proposal permit in Grand Canyon National Park. Dr. Snelling had previous been issued several permits by the NPS but this particular request was denied at the urging of anti-creationist geologists affiliated with secular universities.

This article in The Australian is noteworthy because it appeared on the front cover!

Andrew Snelling, a Christian who has a PhD in geology from the University of Sydney, told The Australian he had been trying since 2013 to get a permit to collect rock samples for a peerreviewed, scientific research project within the Grand Canyon that would challenge the idea that the rock layers are millions of years old.

Dr Snelling lodged his lawsuit against park administrators with the US District Court in Arizona just days after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order promising protection of religious freedoms “from undue interference by the federal government”.

“The Grand Canyon is the gold standard for geologists,” Dr Snelling said.

“It’s important because it’s the largest and deepest canyon in the world. It’s accessible, not surrounded by jungle. The walls are stacked like pancakes: shale, sandstone, limestone, mud. There are more rock layers exposed there than anywhere else.”

While most geologists believe that the Grand Canyon supports the theory that the earth is millions of years old, Dr Snelling believes that evidence for the Bible story of creation may be found in those stacked layers. In 2013, he applied to collect 40 to 60 samples, each fist-sized, for a research project. “They turned me down because they didn’t like the question I was asking,” he said.

In emails obtained under Freedom of Information legislation, park officials criticised his Grand Canyon project as “inappropriate” and “outlandish”. One said it was “dead end creationist”.

Dr Snelling is employed by Answers in Genesis, a US-based Christian think tank established by fellow Australian Ken Ham, who has built a replica ark in Kentucky.

“What I’m saying, as a geologist, is that there are folds in those rocks, so were they still soft when they were laid down?” Dr Snelling said. “Because if it looks like it was still soft when it was formed, that implies there was a short period of time between the layering, not millions of years.”

When his application for a research permit was dismissed, he put in a Freedom of Information request. “The way they referred to me, and my beliefs, it was defamatory,” he said. “My methodology was sound, but I was a Christian who had alternative views.”

Dr Snelling said he had withdrawn his lawsuit, after administrators agreed to grant the permit. Under the rules, the data he collects must be made available to other scientists.

“That’s fair enough,” he said. “I will provide the data to the park, to the public, and publish the results in scientific journals. Even if I don’t find the evidence I think I will find, it wouldn’t assault my core beliefs. We already have evidence that is consistent with a great flood that swept the world.

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My read of Nye is that he has a heavily stereotyped image of creationists and creationism. This may very well blind him to the fact that we have something to say about science.  (ID’ers are also publicly dismissive of creationists, ignoring virtually all that we’ve done in the area of research.  Nye exhibits the same attitude.)

History suggests that Nye will play the religious angle, but he will need to be careful about coming across as too antagonistic towards religious people. He may very well use the “creation is religion, evolution is science” tactic. That’s worked throughout the history of science: Galileo, Scopes, Louisiana, Arkansas, Dover, and countless cases of discrimination against those in education who accept creation and Biblical authority.

In the many interviews he’s conducted since the debate was announced, Nye has yapped on about the sorry state of science education and funding in America.  He borders on saying it will be the end of civilization if we teach creation in public schools.  He says we need to “save the children” from those big bad creationists!

Unless Bill Nye is much more clever than even evolutionists give him credit for, I’d be surprised if he presents anything more than superficial evidences.

There’s also a good chance that Nye will bring up climate change as a guilty by association tactic!

For more information about the debate, visit the Debate Live website.

CP

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CP

Noah’s Ark focus of theme park
Las Vegas Review-Journal, page 8B.
by Dylan T. Lovan
August 20, 2011

Tucked away in a nondescript office park in northern Kentucky, Noah’s followers are rebuilding his ark. The biblical wooden ship built to weather a worldwide flood was 500 feet long and about 80 feet high, according to Answers in Genesis, a Christian ministry devoted to a literal telling of the Old Testament.

This modern ark, to be nestled on a plot of 800 acres of rolling Kentucky farmland, isn’t designed to rescue the world’s creatures from a coming deluge. It’s to tell the world that the Bible’s legendary flood story was not a fable, but a part of human history.

“The message here is, God’s word is true,” said Mike Zovath, project manager of the ark. “There’s a lot of doubt: ‘Could Noah have built a boat this big, could he have put all the animals on the boat?’ Those are questions people all over the country ask.”

read more…

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AIG’s latest project is indeed the Ark Encounter theme park, with a life-sized model of Noah’s Ark as the centerpiece.

What do I think? Personally, I don’t really care. I can easily think of dozens hundreds thousands of more important projects to spend $150 million on, but it’s not my money. What is curious though is why they think they ought to do this. Clearly the governor and the investors are excited about the economic impact. But what’s in it for the rest of creationism? We still don’t have a comprehensive model to understand Flood geology, a topic that creationists often bitterly and angrily debate. We’re also deeply divided in our approach to biological problems (witness the tempest over hominid baraminology), and we don’t have a generally-accepted (among creationists) young-age creationist cosmogony. So what should we do? Let’s build a theme park!

In all seriousness, I do hope that these endeavors of AIG (both the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter) will be used by God to inspire a new generation of creationist researchers. I also hope that God will bless the endeavors of those of us trying to make a place in academia for these up-and-comers.

Perhaps Wood’s view of Christianity and the creationist movement is too narrow. Perhaps he doesn’t really understand, or believe, that Answers in Genesis is also about the Gospel, not just creation “science” research. Implicit in Wood’s short posting is that no research is done at Answers in Genesis–the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter are distractions at the very least.  (That seems to be the impression he wishes to leave his readers…)

Yes, Todd, the various Answers in Genesis projects and programs will (and does) inspire and encourage a new generation…of researchers, pastors, teachers, parents, Sunday school teachers, laypeople, and professionals.    The Ark Encounter project is more than a theme park!

Thank God for the vision of AiG leaders! 

Where there is no vision, the people perish… Proverbs 29:18

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The post Dissing the Answers in Genesis Ark Encounter Project appeared first on Creation and Science Chronicle.

Good job, Ian!

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Galway’s letter skillfully avoided scientific evidence
Letter to the Editor by Ian Juby & Deano R. Young
The Compass (Canada), p. 5
November 16, 2010

Dear editor,

I write in response to a letter written by Dennis Galway, which was published in the Nov. 9, 2010 edition of The Compass, and headlined “Creationism short on facts, says writer.”

Mr. Galway’s letter to the editor skillfully avoided any discussion of the scientific evidence, except in stating the “ fact” that there have been intermediate fossils found.

Actually, the only fact is that fossils have been found. The intermediate appearance of said fossils is an interpretation, not a fact. Last year, Scientific American published a wonderful piece of propaganda depicting (in a two-page spread) the alleged intermediate fossils connecting humans and apes.

I went down this list one-by-one, showing that the fossils in question are either completely ape, completely human, or completely fraud. The dinosaur-to-bird connection is hotly contested, even within the evolutionary community. There are huge issues with the dino-to-bird connection, such as evolutionary reversals.

…read more…

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Also in the same issue of the newspaper was a letter from a reader critical of Ian’s lecture at a local church. Oddly enough (perhaps not!) is that the letter was much longer than is typical found in a newspaper. In fact, it took up 3 columns with no other letters printed that issue.

I suppose the editorial page editor couldn’t allow a rather favorable write-up of the talk and Juby’s ministry to go unchallenged!

More information about Ian and his activities can be found at his website, The Creation Ministries of Ian Juby.

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Questioning evolution
by Andrew Robinson
The Compass (Canada), p. B3
November 9, 2010

In the world of academia, evolutionary biology is accepted as an important scientific field. From grade school in public institutions to graduate studies at the most prestigious universities and colleges in the world, the subject, which focuses on changes in inherited traits through different generations of species over time, is a widely studied topic.

Within pockets of the evangelical Christian community, however, there are concerns about evolution supporting the existence of Earth for millions and millions of years. At the Calvary Pentecostal Church in Carbonear on Tuesday, Oct. 26, one of those doubters was on hand to present an alternative view of the world’s past.

Ian Juby calls himself a creation science speaker who has been conducting research to support creationism for over 15 years. Creationism is the belief Earth and all that inhabits it is the creation of a supernatural being. Creation science aims to collect evidence supporting the Genesis narrative, which says the Earth was created in seven days.

read more…

Creationism short on facts, says writer
The Compass (Canada), p. 4
November 9, 2010

Dear editor,
The great debate featuring creationist versus evolutionist finally made a rather late appearance in our small town, courtesy of the Pentecostal Assembly of Carbonear. There was a rehash of the same old “evidence” that to the “ believers,” especially the children in attendance, left no doubt that the earth is 6,000 years-old and that humans and dinosaurs co-existed.

The slick but rather disjointed presentation which included computer graphics and animations, fossils and what was claimed to be casts of fossils were presented as conclusive proof that Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is false.

Who could dispute a cast of a fossil that showed a dinosaur footprint overlaid by a human footprint? I approach ideas with a healthy skepticism, realizing that breakthroughs in science often come from radical thinkers; however, my mantra is that “extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.”

read more…

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I haven’t been following this story/trial very much, except to note the anti-creationist evolution bloggers at the Seed magazine science blog “ghetto” and Panda’s Thumb are all a twitter over the attacks on this Christian public school teacher.  They’ve been offering blow by blow commentary delighting in the attempts to fire the teacher and painting him as some evil, out-of-control teacher. It’s remarkable to watch them spin these contradictions about what actually happened!

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Attorney highlights contradictory story
by Dean Narciso
Columbus Dispatch, p. B3.
March 28, 2009

A former student of John Freshwater’s told investigators last year that his eighth-grade science teacher preached in class and burned crosses on his and other students’ arms.

But that’s not the story Ben Nielson gave during testimony Thursday.

The apparent contradiction was pointed out yesterday during cross-examination of an investigator hired by the school district.

On Thursday, Nielson said Freshwater never discussed creationism or intelligent design in class and that the teacher burned a small line, not a cross, on his friend’s arm with an electric lab instrument

read more…

The post Mt Vernon, Ohio Science Teacher Trial Takes Strange Twist appeared first on Creation and Science Chronicle.

I haven’t checked the Seed science blog ghetto yet, but suspect the chorus of angry and indignant pajama bloggers will be howling their protests and complaints.

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Peaceful coexistence at evolution HQ
by Steve Hendrix ( Washington Post)
Edmonton Journal (Canada) p. D8
March 15, 2009

Every winter, David DeWitt takes his biology class to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, but for a purpose far different from that of other professors.

DeWitt brings his Advanced Creation Studies class up from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., hoping to strengthen his students’ belief in a biblical view of natural history, even in the lion’s den of evolution.

His yearly visit is part of a wider movement by creationists to confront Darwinism in some of its most redoubtable secular strongholds. As scientists celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, his doubters are taking themselves on Genesis-based tours of natural history museums, aquariums, geologic sites and even dinosaur parks.

read more…

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Creationist Students Take Field Trip to Hotbed of Evolution: the Smithsonian
by Steve Hendrix
Washington Post, p. 1 & A12.
March 11, 2009

Every winter, David DeWitt takes his biology class to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, but for a purpose far different from that of other professors.

DeWitt brings his Advanced Creation Studies class (CRST 390, Origins) up from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., hoping to strengthen his students’ belief in a biblical view of natural history, even in the lion’s den of evolution.

His yearly visit to the Smithsonian is part of a wider movement by creationists to confront Darwinism in some of its most redoubtable secular strongholds. As scientists celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, his doubters are taking themselves on Genesis-based tours of natural history museums, aquariums, geologic sites and even dinosaur parks.

read more…

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Whew!  Good coverage and something to excite evolutionary activists!

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Defying Darwin
The Guardian, G2 supplement, (United Kingdom), pg. 1, 4-7
by Steven Moss
February 17, 2009

The ideas behind the theory of evolution have been scientific gospel for decades – and yet creationists refuse to go the way of the dinosaurs. Who are they? And what do they believe?

They do it differently in the US. The Creation Museum in Cincinnati (motto: “Prepare to believe!”) measures 70,000 sq ft, cost $27m to build, was designed by someone from Universal Studios, and promises “murals and realistic scenery, computer-generated visual effects, over 50 exotic animals, lifesized people and dinosaur animatronics, and a special-effects theater complete with misty sea breezes and rumbling seats”. The museum, opened in 2006 by creationist group Answers in Genesis to promote “true history”, looks Edenic on its website.

By contrast, Britain’s creation museum, Genesis Expo, is housed in a former bank next to the bus station on the harbour front in Portsmouth. It does not appear to have any connection with Hollywood, and is an animatronicfree zone. The sign stretching across the front of the building is peeling, an elderly volunteer from a local church is manning the front desk, and the museum is only slowly converting its stock of creationist videos to DVD. The upside is that Genesis Expo is free to enter.

read more…

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