Pastor’s horse ride supports creationism in schools

[kdet]

Jeff Smith, 43-year-old pastor of Young Memorial Baptist Church, is on a 400-mile journey -- by horse -- in an effort to encourage debate over Darwin's evolutionary theories and academic freedom in U.S. classrooms.

According to an article in the AgapePress, in Concord, Smith embarked on his "Creation Quest Journey for Academic Freedom," a three-week, 400-mile horseback ride that he hopes will encourage people nationwide to reconsider the prevalence of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution in modern science education.

Smith believes creationism should be taught alongside the theory of evolution. "I'm not saying they should kick evolution out," Smith said in the article. "What they need to do is teach the scientific facts. If they do that, evolution will fall by the wayside."

The pastor-activist says the public schools' exclusion of creationism from America's science classrooms is a form of discrimination. He said public education in America is ruled by "a philosophy that presupposes that there is no God, and we need to change that."

Throughout his journey, Smith is stopping at churches and preaching his Creation Quest message. He will conclude his journey in Washington, D.C.


http://www.churchcentral.com/nw/s/template/Article.html/id/17097

 

[armed2010]

I should do a 400 mile horseback ride to teach Flat Earth in schools. It has as much proof as Creationism does, so if they teach Creationism, why not Flat Earth?

 

[Pete Harcoff]

Smith believes creationism should be taught alongside the theory of evolution. "I'm not saying they should kick evolution out," Smith said in the article. "What they need to do is teach the scientific facts. If they do that, evolution will fall by the wayside."

You mean like how creationism was falsified about 200 years ago?

The pastor-activist says the public schools' exclusion of creationism from America's science classrooms is a form of discrimination. He said public education in America is ruled by "a philosophy that presupposes that there is no God, and we need to change that."

As soon as this guy can tell scientists how to get God into a test tube, then we'll talk.

 

[Mechanical Bliss]

Teaching creationism as a valid scientific theory is not promoting "academic freedom." It's lying.


It's always funny when people who clearly know very little about science say things like this, though:

What they need to do is teach the scientific facts. If they do that, evolution will fall by the wayside.

 

[burrow_owl]

Personally, I think creationism is garbage science, but I think it's very important to make sure kids understand the difference between truth and theory. The current science fetish (that it can tell us everything, it's the best - or only - way to truth [and i don't mean that as in Truth, I mean little-t truth]). In other words, there needs to be more scepticism about science and more discernment about what it can and can't do.

Inasmuch as teaching creationism alongside evolution accomplishes that by highlighting the disjunction between truth and theory, I think it can only be a good thing.

 

[Nathan Poe]

I'll probably get banned for this.... but here goes...


Pastor Jeff Smith went to town,
Riding on a pony,
Says creationism's fact,
I think it's pure baloney.

Pastor Jeff Smith, knock it off!
it's so undignified,
Your debate ended so long ago,
your side was falsified.

Whew.... Man, I had to get that out of my system or else I'd explode.

Now, seriously. Does Smith have anything new to add to the C/E "debate," or is this just a publicity stunt?

If, as he says, he wants to encourage a scientific debate, what's going to keep those students from reaching the same conclusions that have been reached for over 200 years?

 

[notto]

what's going to keep those students from reaching the same conclusions that have been reached for over 200 years?

But . . . but . . . but he's on a horse man, let's see an actual scientist do something like that! This publicity stunt should be an embarrassment. Surely if creation 'scientists' want to be taken seriously, this isn't going to help their cause.

 

[Paul12]

Well I have a valid question: Is he trying to get a literal version of the Book of Genesis taught (i.e. that the world is 6000 years old), or is he trying to just say that the universe was created by a God? I laugh at the former, but the latter I don't have a problem with being taught in school alongside evolution.

 

[the_malevolent_milk_man]

Perhaps the most pointless stunt ever. If he wanted to help his cause he'd get off the horse, start digging in the ground, and prays he finds something that could actually be considered evidence against evolution.


LOL nathan, yes, you should be banned for that!

 

[Pete Harcoff]

laugh at the former, but the latter I don't have a problem with being taught in school alongside evolution.

Not in science class. How could you scientifically test whether or not God (let alone which god) made everything? That's why God is kept out of the science class. Not because of some atheistic conspiracy, but because science cannot test the supernatural.

 

[revolutio]

Poor horse.

 

[ThePhoenix]

lol, they're reduced to cheap stunts, because nothing else has worked. Could they just give up and admit that creationism is falsified? Would it really destroy their belief in God?

 

[burrow_owl]

Creationism hasn't been falsified - more specifically, it's ex hypothesis incapable of falsification (unless God actually comes down and denies it), and that's a big weakness for it as a scientific theory.

 

[ThePhoenix]

Creationism hasn't been falsified - more specifically, it's ex hypothesis incapable of falsification (unless God actually comes down and denies it), and that's a big weakness for it as a scientific theory.

Creationism has been falsified. Creation has not.

 

[Pete Harcoff]

Creationism hasn't been falsified - more specifically, it's ex hypothesis incapable of falsification (unless God actually comes down and denies it), and that's a big weakness for it as a scientific theory.

Creationism is the specific "how" of creation, and because it makes testable claims (i.e. the world is only so many years old, all life was created at roughly the same time, a world-wide flood took place in recent history), those claims can be falsified. However, creation (that is the idea God created everything) is unfalsifiable, and hence, cannot qualify as a scientific hypothesis (since all hypotheses in science must be subject to falsification).

 

[burrow_owl]

yeah - i guess where i'm having analytic problems is that specific claims are falsifiable, but the creationists can then just tweak the theory here and there in ad hoc fashion to account for the new evidence. what i was thinking earlier re: its weakness is that because people have such personal stock in the theory for religious reasons, it's hard to imagine that the falsification of particular claims would ever render the larger theory unpalatable to its exponents.

that's the long-winded way of saying y'all were right.

 

[Nathan Poe]

Perhaps the most pointless stunt ever. If he wanted to help his cause he'd get off the horse, start digging in the ground, and prays he finds something that could actually be considered evidence against evolution.

Well, whatever "evidence" he does claim would probably come out of the horse anyway...

Either God talks to all of us directly, "Straight from the horse's mouth," so to speak,

Or just another PRATT list, coming from the other end of said horse...

LOL nathan, yes, you should be banned for that!

Perhaps, but admit it, you were singing along...

 

[JEREMY O'ROURKE]

Creationism is pure fact. Evolution can not be exactly proven either. Our kids are being brainwashed by people who have no grip of reality. Reality is a world where athiests and those who support evolution surely dont live. It is ashamed at how kids are lied to being told that they evolved from a monkey. I wonder why monkeys have not started talking yet and we do. It is amazing to me as well why we do not swing from trees. Evolution is one of the biggest frauds of our time. It truly is so sad how people are so far from reality. If you want to live in lala land then go ahead but there are some of us who choose to be in tune with reality. The reality is found in Genesis. Genesis is in the error free book that God gave us to live by. Read it sometime and believe it. It will do you some good if you just trust what it says as pure fact. Evolution comes from pure ignorance to the facts of how we got here.

 

[JEREMY O'ROURKE]

I commend this minister for what he is doing we need more like him. He is a defender of the truth. He is probably just as frustrated about lies being taught to students as well. Let me know when we start swinging from trees, grow tails, and can no longer talk.

 

[notto]

Creationism is pure fact. Evolution can not be exactly proven either. Our kids are being brainwashed by people who have no grip of reality. Reality is a world where athiests and those who support evolution surely dont live. It is ashamed at how kids are lied to being told that they evolved from a monkey. I wonder why monkeys have not started talking yet and we do. It is amazing to me as well why we do not swing from trees. Evolution is one of the biggest frauds of our time. It truly is so sad how people are so far from reality. If you want to live in lala land then go ahead but there are some of us who choose to be in tune with reality. The reality is found in Genesis. Genesis is in the error free book that God gave us to live by. Read it sometime and believe it. It will do you some good if you just trust what it says as pure fact. Evolution comes from pure ignorance to the facts of how we got here.

Can you give us a list of actual scientific studies, books, classes, etc. that you have read, taken, reviewed that would show that you are qualified to make this assessment?

Have you read Origin of a Species?

The best and brightest of our scientific minds disagree with you (both Christian and non-Christian). Why would that be if what you say is true?