My Thoughts on The Ken Ham versus Bill Nye Debate

I'm sure most of you probably heard about the debate between Answers in Genesis founder Ken Ham and Bill Nye, "The Science Guy", which took place on February 4th. A lot of you have probably even watched it online. If you haven’t (shame on you), you can do so Here - and I strongly recommend that you do. As in, go there right now and don't finish reading this post until you have.

Are we good? Good.

My work schedule prevented me watching the debate live, but I was able to see it the next day. Since then, quite a few people have asked me for my thoughts about it, so I decided I might as well write up a post on my opinions and put it up here. Enjoy! : )

In talking to people about the debate, one of the most common things I've heard is disappointment that Ken Ham wasn't bold enough or aggressive enough in his presentation. Honestly, I was floored the first time I heard this. Set aside the fact that, in general, accusing Ken Ham of not being bold is roughly equal to calling Ronald Reagan a liberal; looking specifically at the scenario of the debate, I saw no difference. Ken Ham was assertive in his presentation and gave no ground to Bill Nye's arguments, but he did so while remaining completely respectful and professional about it.
The trouble is, there is a very fine line between "Bold" and "In-your-face," and all too often people with good intentions and a lot of passion inadvertently cross that line, making themselves seem extremely obnoxious. When that happens, people stop listening. Proverbs 16 tells us that pleasant words are persuasive, and 1 Peter tells us to defend our faith with gentleness and respect. Ken Ham's presentation and conduct were pleasant, polite, gentle, respectful, and considerate... and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Even atheists who watched the debate have posted comments on Facebook and Twitter commending Mr. Ham for his professional and polite behavior.

I found this to be especially refreshing when put in contrast to Mr. Nye's attitude of mockery and condescension. I must admit that I was a bit bewildered by his multiple insinuations directed not just towards creationists specifically, but towards Kentuckians in general, telling them in one case that they should be very concerned that no university in their state offered such-and-such a degree. As if just having the Creation Museum and (in the near future) the Ark Encounter in their state has somehow already set them on a path of scientific decline. Mr. Nye is not the first to suggest that the mere presence of AiG's facilities on Kentucky soil is having detrimental effects on the state, and I am certain he will not be the last, but honestly it's a very shoddy argument--if it can even be considered an argument at all.

I was also very annoyed by Mr. Nye's incessant referrals to "Ken Ham's creation model," "Ken Ham's flood," etc, as if Mr. Ham is the first person in history to believe these things, or just makes them up while the rest of us fall blindly into line as his little cult followers. In the first place, Mr. Nye should review his history books: mankind believed in a divine creation first, long before anyone ever thought of evolution, and that belief has never disappeared despite any and all efforts to extinguish it. And while naturalist theories of origins are not as new as many people believe, they’re still the new kids on the block by comparison.

Furthermore, although Ken Ham has definitely become a figurehead of the creation science and apologetics movement, it’s not because it’s all his idea. With all due respect and admiration for Mr. Ham, I would believe in biblical creation with or without him. My belief is dependent on the word of God, not on anything Ken Ham or anyone else says or does. Yes, Ken Ham has been an immense encouragement to me in my beliefs and ministry; I have learned more from him about science, theology, witnessing, and apologetics than I can say, and I know many others can say the same thing. But Ken Ham is not the reason I believe in a literal six days, a roughly-6,000-year-old earth, or a global flood. I believe it because the God Who cannot lie said it, clearly and explicitly.

It was obvious from statements made throughout the debate that Mr. Nye enjoys thinking of himself as “a reasonable man” whose beliefs are based entirely on logic and facts rather than faith. This became very ironic when, in response to one of Mr. Nye’s repeated assertions that creationism is detrimental to scientific progress and discovery, Ken Ham pointed out various scientists responsible for wonderful inventions and discoveries—such as the MRI machine—who were also devout young-earth creationists. Now, a man who was truly reasonable would look at this evidence and rightly deduce that creationism doesn’t actually impede progress and discovery after all. But that was not Mr. Nye’s response. He completely ignored this devastating rebuttal of his assertion and kept right on repeating it, going so far as to say that if creationism is allowed to propagate, science in the United States will deteriorate to the point that we lose our position as a world power and a leader in technology.

His patriotism is commendable, but once again, he needs to check his history books. America rose from being a collection of half-starved colonies to being a major world power long before the ideas of evolution were generally accepted. Granted, not all of those who helped found and build this country were creationists or even Christians, but those people were the minority. The United States was founded on Christian principles by a majority of people who believed the Bible to be the inerrant word of God. So how is it that those same beliefs are, according to Mr. Nye, going to be America’s downfall? It would seem he is not quite as reasonable as he likes to believe.

When you watch the debate, make sure you stick around for the Q&A at the end. In my opinion, it does more to reveal the true nature of the overall creation/evolution debate than any other part of the production. I won’t discuss the whole thing here—this post is way too long already—but I will point out a couple of things that really jumped out at me.

1.  Throughout the debate, but particularly towards the end, Mr. Nye begged Ken Ham for examples of the creation model of origins accurately predicting a scientific discovery. Besides ignoring the order and function in the world that could not exist were nature all that exists, Mr. Nye is exposing an enormous blind spot in his ideas. He can’t see the forest for the trees, as it were. The fact that we can predict anything, the fact that we can know anything, the fact that laws of nature and logic and physics exist, can only be explained if the Bible is, in fact, true! If nature were all there was, there would be no laws of logic. If the laws of nature were the only force governing the matter in the universe, that matter could never have randomly arranged itself via chaotic processes into orderly, functional forms. The only reason science is possible is because there is an order, a design, and unchanging laws of nature and logic, set into place by an orderly, creative, unchanging and logical Creator.

2.  In response to the question “What would make you change your mind?” Mr. Nye stated the following: “We would need one piece of evidence. We would need the fossil that swam from one layer [of sedimentary rock] to the next. We would need evidence that the universe is not expanding. We would need evidence that the stars appear to be far away but they’re not. We would need evidence that rock layers can form in 4,000 years instead of an extraordinary amount... Bring on any of those things and you would change me immediately.”

That sounds great on the surface—Mr. Nye, that “reasonable man” he loves to call himself, is just following the evidence where it leads him, open to the possibility of being wrong—but if you take his statement apart and look closely it’s a different story.

“We would need the fossil that swam from one layer to the next.” This deserves a discussion unto itself, one we don’t have time for here. For now, suffice it to say that there are fish fossilized across multiple layers of sediment, not to mention polystrate trees that, while they aren’t living creatures that would try to swim out of the layers burying them, certainly won’t last for thousands or millions of years to be fossilized gradually.

“We would need evidence that the universe is not expanding. We would need evidence that the stars appear to be far away but they’re not.” These are both very telling statements. Both the universe’s expansion and the distances of the stars are well-established, so by implying that one cannot believe in both these and in creationism, Mr. Nye is bringing back the age-old accusation, “Creationists deny the facts of science!” The truth is just the opposite. There is no reason whatsoever that a young-earth (biblical) creationist cannot believe that the universe is expanding or that the stars are very far away. The Bible itself alludes to the universe’s expansion when it describes God “stretching out the heavens” and there are solid scientific answers to the question of how starlight reaches the earth within a 6,000 year timeframe, even from such great distances.

“We would need evidence that rock layers can form in 4,000 years instead of an extraordinary amount.” The Mt. Saint Helens eruption of 1980 provided all the evidence any “reasonable man” should need to believe that. Rock layers were formed over periods of hours, days, and weeks that, according to evolutionary timescales, should have taken thousands of years or more to appear—irrefutable proof that, given the right catastrophic conditions, it only takes a little while.

So why, then, has Mr. Nye not “changed immediately” as he said he would if given this evidence? The answer is simple: his problem with creationism is not an intellectual problem, or an ignorance problem. It is a heart problem. The truth of creation necessarily means the existence of a Creator. The existence of a Creator equals moral accountability for the creation, and that is something that few people are willing to accept. Evolution is not the problem, it is a symptom, and a shelter that lost souls can run to for assurance of safety without having to acknowledge the lordship of Christ.

I would encourage all of you to pray earnestly for Mr. Nye, that his heart would be softened and that he would be willing to swallow his pride and acknowledge the Creator and Savior Who loves him very much.

*

So what? What did this debate (which has been referred to as everything from “The Debate of the Century” to “Scopes 2”) really accomplish?

Quite a lot, my friends, quite a lot. Of course there is the tremendous outreach value it has had and is still having. In addition to the 900 who actually attended the event live, millions have watched online and on the new DVD. Major news channels broadcasted coverage and excerpts of the debate. One way or another, untold millions have seen and heard a skillful presentation of the evidence for creation and of the gospel, the reason creation matters at all.

Additionally, a topic that has been challenging to get discussed in public forums has suddenly hit the mainstream and gone completely viral. The debate was the number one trending topic on Facebook and Twitter for several hours before and after it took place. Countless blogs and other social media pages have hosted discussions and subsequent debates. Personally, I have had total strangers hear me mention the debate and want to talk to me about it. This is a current event, a hot topic that people are interested in and want to talk about. Don’t let that go to waste! Christians, an incredible opening has been created for us. Watch the debate, then go out and start talking. Don’t waste this awesome opportunity.


Questions, thoughts, comments? I'd love to hear your take on the debate and get some discussion going. (hint-hint)

Please, Don't Insult My Intelligence

This afternoon I was looking through this month's issue of National Geographic Magazine and came across this:

The computer makes it hard to see, but just to the left of center in the photo is a little circle outlined with a dotted white line. That portion has been enlarged in the circle you see just right of center. According to the caption, that dark-colored smudge in the enlarged circle is a remnant of "feathers up to eight inches long". At top right you'll see an artist's concept of a tyrannosaur-like dinosaur covered in furry, fluffy feathers.
Now, first of all, while I am not a paleontologist and don't claim to have any kind of expertise in this field, I think I'm smart enough to recognize a fossilized feather when I see one.
This is a fossilized feather:

This is a fossilized feather:

Sorry, but I don't see any feathers in that NatGeo photo. Those smudges are far more likely to be collagen fibers, created during the decay process of the fossilized animal's body.

The brief writeup on the photo states that the feathers were "soft down (that) may have kept the animal toasty during a Cretaceous cold spell", not rigid feathers meant for flight. It describes the dinosaur as "a supersize chick".
I'm a little confused about the idea of "soft down" eight inches long, though. The closest thing I can think of to that is an ostrich's soft body feathers, which do get that long but would, one would think, show up in a fossil as more than a smudgy spot or two, and well enough to be defined under a term a bit more precise than "filaments" (the NatGeo writeup's word of choice).

I also have to wonder how this fits together with the new theory that dinosaurs' own methane emissions (i.e. burps and gas) caused global warming. (No, I'm not kidding. That is an actual theory, and you can even read about it in the LA Times here.) If dinosaurs went extinct during the global warming they caused between 161 and 145 million years ago, how did they have the time or foresight to evolve feathers for the Cretaceous cold spell 125 million years ago? And if they were adaptable enough to evolve feathers in time to keep from freezing to death, how did they manage to go extinct in the first place?
All that aside, the most glaring problem with the downy insulation theory is the fact that dinosaurs are reptiles and therefore, we can reasonably assume, cold blooded. If their bodies are not generating their own heat, a layer of insulation is totally pointless. If anything, it's going to have the opposite effect: keeping out the warmth that needs to be coming into the animal's body from outside.
Secondly, down only works as insulation if there is a course outer layer over it. Back to my ostrich illustration, you'll notice that an ostrich's feathers are all very soft and down-like. But the ostrich lives in the desert. The feathers help it keep cool, not warm. Even a goose-down sleeping bag is covered with an outer layer to hold the warmth in. Those of you who have raised chickens know that baby chicks (covered only with soft down) are extremely susceptible to even slightly cool temperatures, because they have no outer layer of feathers to hold in the warmth. Where is T-rex's outer layer? Shouldn't that be showing up in the fossil too?

I could go on. The entire writeup (less than half a page long) is so full of items and points I could challenge, but I'll stop here. I'm sure you all get the idea, though I would encourage every one of you to look up the article at your local library or online and see it for yourselves.
I would also encourage you to learn more about these so-called feathered dinosaurs scientists have found and touted as powerful evidence confirming evolution. Answers in Genesis has a fabulous article on the very dinosaur pictured above, explaining details about it with tremendous depth and clarity. Click Here to read AiG's article. Learn the truth about these controversial fossils, so that you can always be ready to give an answer for your faith when people question you or make false statements like this.
And lastly, don't be afraid to stand up and speak out about things like this. The propagation of evolution is dependent on intelligent people keeping their mouths shut and not asking too many tough and embarrassing questions because they don't want to challenge an 'expert' opinion. You may not be an 'expert', but the people who are learned from other experts, who learned from other experts, who learned from looking at fossils and making up theories. You're an intelligent human being who can see a fossil just as well as they can. Don't let them insult your intelligence by making you feel ignorant, and don't be afraid to respectfully challenge their expertise.

Don't be afraid to call a feather a feather, if indeed it is a feather. But don't be afraid to say it isn't a feather, if it isn't.

Vacation Chaos and Photos, Part 2

As promised, here are more photos from my fabulous vacation to the Creation Museum! Without further ado...

This is a life-size figure of Beowulf, the dragon slayer of legend.

He stands over the entrance of Dragon Hall Bookstore.

This dragon stands in the Palm Plaza, over the entrance to the Dragon Theater.

This is one wall of the Palm Plaza. The two inset lines in the wall behind me are actually fountains that flow down into a pool behind the barrier I'm sitting on.

This is another one from the bookstore - a bas relief telling the story of St. George and the dragon.

I so want one like this in my house now!

This is the Spitz A3P star and planet planetarium projector that was used up until the year 2000 to train NASA'a Mercury astronauts. Hmm... might make a cool author photo for the backs of my future sci-fi novels, what say?

And, hands down, the highlight of the trip: I met Ken Ham!!!!!

He was at the museum for just a short while on our first day there, so I was able to get my picture with him. I was so excited, I could have screamed! For me, this ranks right up there with meeting Martin Luther (not just the wax figure) or William Tyndale, no joke. After meeting Jason Lisle this spring, and now this, I'm running out of names on my 'people-to-meet-before-I-die' list!

Alright, that's all the pics for now. I've got one more batch to post, as well as a few more Pursselley mishaps to relate, so be watching. In the meantime, hope you've enjoyed these!

Random Vacation Chaos and Photos, Part 1

*Warning: Extremely Random Post Ahead*
Our vacation got off to a bit of a rough start, true to Pursselley form. The plan was to leave home Wednesday at 8AM and stop at Big Spring on our way to Paducah Kentucky for the night. All that needed to be done at the house was to load the luggage, give shots to a few cows who had come down with pinkeye, and move them into a new pasture so our friend who was taking care of them while we were gone wouldn't have to feed hay. All that should have taken maybe two hours.
But, bovines being the charming and delightful creatures that they are, it ended up being 4 o'clock in the afternoon before we finally rolled out. Yes, our poor guys spent eight miserable hours fighting with the cows in the heat (it got to 106 degrees that day).
Due to the delay, we cut Big Spring out of the itinerary and went straight on to Paducah. I've seen the Mississippi and Ohio rivers both in daylight many times, but this time when we crossed them I got to see them by moonlight. So gorgeous! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a picture.
When we reached our destination for the night, Mom realized that she had left her purse at home - the first time she's ever forgotten her purse since she was twelve years old. So she was without her ID, her keys, and her wallet for the entire trip.
Thursday we arrived at the Creation Museum. We never travel with cash, so when we went to buy our passes Dad used his card. But the machine kept denying it, so he tried another one. That one was also denied. We finally ended up calling the company to see what the problem was. Come to find out, they had spotted out-of-state charges and assumed that the card had been stolen, so they'd locked it down. *shakes head* Nothing like someone trying to save you from yourself, is there?
Once we got that whole ordeal straightened out, it was on to the museum itself - the real adventure!
I have so many photos that I want to share. Unfortunately, at the moment my computer is being moody and refusing to let me post certain ones, so I'll have to post them in rather random order.

A fountain in the botanical gardens.

Me on a bridge in the gardens.

My hero!

This is one of the displays in the Biblical Authority room of the museum... or maybe the Biblical Relevance room. I don't remember for sure. I just remember thinking 'Whoah! I can almost say I've met Martin Luther!'  : P

One of the may cool beasts in the Dinosaur Den! I don't remember what this one was called, though.

And my favorite photo from the entire vacation. This magnificent creature is perched over one of the doors of the Dragon Hall Bookstore (many more pictures of that to follow), reading a book of Dragon Legends. How totally awesome is that?! I wonder how many Christian Fantasy writers have keeled over in the AiG bookstore just because they were overwhelmed with awesomeness. Surely I can't be the only one. ; )

That's all for now, until I get these issues with my computer figured out. But there will be more - many more, from the gardens, the dinosaur den, and of course, Dragon Hall Bookstore (where, by the way, I could probably take up residence and be perfectly content for the rest of my life. Just sayin'.)
Until then!

My Return from the Wild Country...

... a.k.a. 'Kentucky'. That's right, I just got back at 5 o'clock this morning after spending a lovely four days with my family in beautiful, rugged Kentucky... where they've received a good deal more rain than we have here. Coming home, it was amazing to see the difference between the rich green of Kentucky and the parched brown of Missouri. Please, all of you, keep praying for rain. Drought comes with the territory of Missouri summers, but I have never seen it as bad as this before. In fact, this evening we could look out our back windows and see the smoke from wildfires miles to the west of us, and that has never happened before. Maybe in places like Colorado that's normal, but not in Missouri. We don't just have wildfires around here like that, and it's actually pretty scary to realize that we've reached that point. Your prayers are appreciated, and desperately needed.
But back to happier things: namely, my trip! It's been several years since my family has taken a real vacation, so this week we ventured out to Kentucky for my great-grandma's 95th birthday party. But we also spent two days at the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum! We've been wanting to go there  for years, and if you haven't been to it yet, let me assure you it's well worth the trip! As I said, we spent two days there, and we could have easily spent much longer.
It was a typical Pursselley endeavor: riddled with mishaps and random chaos. Details to follow. But we had a fantastic time. We took literally hundreds of pictures, and I'll be posting some of them here at the Lair tomorrow or Tuesday, so be watching!
Until then, friends!
Travel-weary,
Mary

What Now?

I found myself asking that question Friday night as I lay in bed staring up at the dark ceiling and listening to my Yorkie terrier 'woof' in her sleep. What do I do during the waiting period between Son of the Shield being finished and the next step, getting it published?
It's a bit of a silly question, considering the number of other projects I have waiting for my attention. But for five-and-a-half years now, Son of the Shield has been my focus, my Priority 1 writing project, and now suddenly it's done. I don't have to worry about tweaking this bit of internal monologue or revving up that fight scene or intensifying those emotions... it's done.
Weird feeling, let me tell you.
But, being born and raised a hillbilly, I don't know how to sit still for more than a few seconds, and it didn't take me long to push that 'what now?' feeling aside. So today, after enjoying my first Son of the Shield-free weekend in five-and-a-half years (Attending the Answers in Genesis conference made a great weekend vacation!) I'm turning my focus onto my next project!
Have I got you curious?
Some of you may have been following my short story series on Avenir Eclectia (you can Click Here to read it). For those of you who don't know, Avenir Eclectia is a multi-author micro-fiction project from Splashdown Books. I started writing stories for the project last year, mostly just for fun. But when the AE project's artist and composer, Michael L. Rogers, offered a creative idea for a plot twist, the story thread I had started began growing quite a bit.
The Avenir Eclectia Anthology, Volume 1, is slated to release later this summer or fall. Here's a look at the awesome cover art:

Notice the fifth name from the bottom? : D My first time in print - as in, on actual paper, not just online! I'm so excited!
Only one of the several stories I've published with AE is going into the anthology, though. Reason being:
Grace Bridges, the Avenir's commander-in-chief, has given me the go-ahead to turn the rest of my short stories, the ones that follow the same characters and plot, into a novel!
That's my next big fiction project: an Avenir Eclectia novel. So I'm shifting gears from fantasy to sci-fi for a while - and it ought to be quite a ride!

Do you find it difficult to 'shift gears' from one project to another? What do you do to make the transition easier?

Here in the Power of Christ, I Stand.

This afternoon I was reading an article by Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis. He was speaking about the horrible trend that has swept the church and caused many professing Christians to compromise their beliefs and allow evolutionary ideas into their worldviews. Many of these people have done so because they are insecure in their faith in the authority of God's Word. They haven't been shown the evidence that supports the Genesis account of creation exactly as it is written. Somehow, they have come to believe that scientific 'evidence' outweighs the authority of Scripture, and a tragic number of Christians have stopped speaking with authority because of this. It has become very easy for the atheists and evolutionists - who are speaking authoritatively, whether they are justified in doing so or not - to drown them out.
This is an issue that is continually on my heart, so imagine how encouraging and refreshing it was when I read the following in Ken Ham's article:

"In Mark 1:22 we read that many people were astonished with Christ's teaching, for He spoke as one having authority. Today, we can speak with this same authority, because we have the Word of God! Jesus Christ, the Creator and the Word, has given us the Bible, and He told us how He created all things."

I can't tell you how refreshing it is to read that.
Don't let them intimidate you into compromising on your beliefs, my friends. If you find an evolutionist's arguments or 'evidence' intimidating or jarring to your beliefs, don't just sit there and let it gradually erode your faith away. Make war against these lies and the Liar they came from!
Do an in-depth study of the Genesis creation account - I'm talking with a concordance and everything. Look up key words and learn exactly what they mean in the original language.
Find good books, articles, documentaries, and lectures on apologetics and go through them carefully. Answers in Genesis is a great place to start. The Institute for Creation Research is another fabulous resource. Master Books has a library's worth of resources available. (And of course, I'd be more than happy to recommend some of my favorite resources with anyone who asked. ; )
Talk to your parents, a pastor, or a friend who has not allowed themselves to compromise on their faith in light of scientific 'evidence' that supports evolution. Tell them what you're going through (don't be afraid to be honest and tell them you're confused and struggling). Ask questions. Ask them to help you study the topic that is bothering you and learn the truth about it. Ask them to pray for you. Email me and ask me to pray for you - that's what Christian brothers and sisters are for.
Above all, pray for yourself and ask God to help you learn to stand on the authority of His Word. God doesn't lie, friends. He can't lie. It's completely contrary to His nature, and He wouldn't be God if it wasn't.
Even Christian creationists don't have all the answers, and many things are still mysteries to us. But we still have the words of a God who doesn't lie, and He has told us what we need to know to stand on those words.
Like the song says:

"Til He returns or calls me home, here in the Power of Christ I'll stand."

Stand strong, my friends.