There is a town in Washington state which has built almost 30 dinosaur statues and installed them in parks. It’s called Granger, WA, and I have probably passed through it in the past — it’s near Yakima and the Tri-Cities, but they only started celebrating dinosaurs after 1994, after my time. As you might predict, some people don’t like it.
Here’s one old man complaining about it in the Tri-City Herald.
During my grandson’s dinosaur obsession, he brought home an elementary school library book that taught dinosaurs came into existence by means of evolution. He told me that he asked the school librarian if there were any books that taught that God created them, and he was told no.
I wish our public schools would present creationism (Intelligent Design) as a possible alternative. I shared my story with a local school board member to bring awareness and, hopefully, to include a few books that promote a viable option to evolution.
We are frequent visitors to different branches of the Mid-Columbia Library and at the time, we couldn’t find any physical books on dinosaurs that didn’t teach the theory of evolution. We requested they purchase “Dinosaurs for Kids” by Ken Ham, who is noted for building the full size replica of Noah’s Ark in Kentucky, named Ark Encounter. This particular book offers a view based on creationism. They were kind enough to purchase the book, and it is now a welcome addition to the library for our grandson and others to enjoy.
Or laugh at, as the case may be.
He does obliviously fail to notice one thing, though: the libraries aren’t afraid to include a wacky book from a religious source, but you won’t find any science books at the Ark Park. He does not, in fact, have any factual basis for presenting the narrow, sectarian cult beliefs of Answers in Genesis as comparable to the books the library did stock. Oh, he does have the usual argument from personal incredulity.
Both creationists and evolutionists easily acknowledge that the modern day inventions of a F-22 fighter jet, the Freedom Tower, or Mount Rushmore couldn’t have happened by accident or chance, but had to have a designer. I believe a much more complex structure, a living breathing human being, had a creator.
To me, it seems to be a blind leap of faith that the universe popped into existence as if by magic; in that matter created itself out of nothing by sheer random accident.
This seems to defy all science and mathematical probability, in my opinion. Others can consider another perspective, but I’ll stick with the idea that God, who wants a personal relationship with us, created this beautiful world by design.
So…he misrepresents evolution, which does not argue that complex organisms arose entirely by chance; he conflates evolution and the origin of the universe; he has an opinion that evolution defies science, rather than being part of it; he claims to have knowledge of the personal choices of an invisible intangible supreme being that created a universe of many trillions of stars so that he could be friends with a few mammals on one planet. I pity his grandson.
He ends his silly little opinion piece with what he probably considers a clever remark.
Dinosaurs may be extinct, but my beliefs don’t have to be.
I don’t think he understands that words like “extinct” can have multiple meanings, or that his beliefs aren’t persecuted — witness the Mid-Columbia Library’s response to his request.
You might be wondering how this random old guy has such authority in science that he can be advising the local school board. Here are his qualifications:
Lee Walter is Sunday School superintendent at Columbia Bible Church in Kennewick and vice chairman of the Tri-Cities Child Evangelism Fellowship.
No qualifications at all, no understanding of science, but his opinions are regularly featured in the Tri-City Herald — and he’s distressed that he can’t find his religious myths sufficiently represented in the public library.
Does anybody else find the concept of a Child Evangelism Fellowship distinctly creepy? What kind of person signs up for that?
Chances are we’ll never know what started the Big Bang. But if we did get some vague clue it was created by deliberate action by an intelligence it doesn’t mean that intelligence was his version of God. But that’s the real goal of creationists and believers in so called Intelligent Design, proving the details of creation match up with their holy book, and hence their version exists. If they really believed in science they’d follow the evidence where it truly led, even if it proved the Universe was created by Dizgdgo, the god of the extinct So and So tribe, in a fit of annoyance with his wife.
“What kind of person signs up for that?”
A weird kind of person I’d say. The bad, creepy kinda weird.
If you put two F-22 jets in the barn and come back the next spring, is there a baby F-22 poking it’s nose through the hay? No. Of course jets had to be designed and created. No one contests this. What is contested is ts relevance.
Next he’ll be asking why, if jets evolved, prop planes still exist.
They are worse than that.
They are a destructive cult version of fundie xianity.
They target children in public schools for conversion to fundie xianity.
The version of xianity they teach is far right wing authoritarianism mixed with anti-science and anti reality beliefs.
Parents watch out!!!
The ugly cult xians really are coming for your children in their grade schools.
If Protestants evolved from Catholics, then why do Catholics still exist?
Gramps would make better use of his time sitting in the park, feeding the non-extinct dinosaurs.
If that were true, he wouldn’t have to rely on opinion. He’d be able to prove his argument mathematically if not scientifically.
Dinosaurs were designed by the Old Ones for their amusement. As T. Rex was created as a joke by Nyarlahotep I do not think grandpa’s notion of divinity would stand up to a reality check.
What kind of person signs up for that sort of thing? Unfortunately the usual answer is “a paedophile”.
Without getting into how or why, we have good evidence that the universe came into being billions of years ago while humans only appeared less than a million years ago. So it seems very unlikely the universe was made for us.
Of course, to be fair, the library should now add children’s books saying dinosaurs were created by Allah, or the Trimurti, or Great Manitou. (And maybe grandpa’s head would asplode.)
I would dispute that. I t depends on your definition of “humans.” Probably you meant something like “modern humans.” The genus Home has been around for probably 2.5 – 3.0 million years.
So he’ll believe that not only did the universe popped into existence by magic, everything else in it was also created by the magic of his god. Quite logical indeed.
You can have creationism in your schools the day you let atheists teach Sunday schools.
“No qualifications at all, no understanding of science, but his opinions are regularly featured in the Tri-City Herald”
I had one of those who used to send letters to my local paper. After the first few I decided to respond, contradicting his nonsense. This led to a few months of back and forth sniping through the letters pages until after one particularly sarcastic response of mine upped the ante. He trawled through the phone book calling people with the same name until he found me. Then he threatened to make me watch as he raped and murdered my wife and children before raping and murdering me. A good Christian gentleman. I of course reported the threats and heard no more from him even his letters in the paper ceased and a few weeks later the editor wrote a short obituary in the letters page noting his passing.
As stupid as he is old.
I love the argument from incredulity. Dude, I can’t believe that people as ignorant as you exist, while I’m actually talking to one. I certainly can’t believe in anything as fantastically improbable as your god. So if incredulity is a valid argument, then I’d say we’re done here now.
Jean @ 13
Everything was created by genies, as in “I Dream Of Jeannie”.
Booiinnng! Stuff pops into existence. Let’s start the Church of Larry Hagman.
Who can say – maybe it really was was accidental magic; an alchemy experiment that went awry in an alternate universe.
Maybe it was indeed a “god” tripping on some mind-altering drug beyond our imagination.
But we don’t KNOW and isn’t that fascinating? We have so much more to learn and I’m here for it.
I keep remembering a cartoon of God letting out a fart that started the Big Bang . Stephen King had a giant turtle that had indigestion and sorta threw up the blob that became the universe in his story It 🤮. We don’t know what started the Big Bang and they’re about as equally plausible as the abrahamic God’s versions . I’m personally ok with We Don’t Know what started the Big Bang even if we do know that it happened.
The creationist in the OP would be better off feeding the modern dinosaurs in parks as a previous commenter already said
Come on now, people, put your colander sacred headgear on: everyone knows the dinosaurs were created by the Flying Spaghetti Monster just to toy with the creationist xtian terrorists.