Thoughts on "Young Earth" Fundamentalists

I once talked to a person who I had known for a few years.  One day, after exchanging pleasantries, I thought I'd bring up a non-controversial topic that did not involve religion.  However, as a precaution, I asked if he thought that the Earth was billions of years old or just 12,000 years old.  He shocked me when he said that it could be 6,000 or up to 12,000 years old.  He then explained to me how he got to that conclusion.  "Just think about it,"  he said, "If you think of the many technical advances made in the past 50 years, think of how far we would be if the world was billions of years old!"  I changed the topic.  People with such beliefs are sometimes called the "young Earth believers."

Isn't life interesting?  There are Catholics, Jehovah Witnesses, Protestants, Scientologists, evangelicals, liberals, Mormons, Hindus, atheists, agnostics, Islamists, Buddhists, Fundamentalists, etc., etc., of all levels of intelligence and all levels of education, who are looking at each other and saying "I can't understand how they would believe THAT!"  And they might also say "I can't understand why they don't believe THIS!"

However, I can't imagine being a "Young Earth" parent today.  Would they warn their Jr. High and Sr. High children that their science books are not to be trusted?  Would they forbid their children going into fields of geography, geology, and biology, because all colleges throughout the world are teaching falsehoods in those fields?  How would they explain to their children that universities all over the world have colluded to teach that the world is billions of years old?

In the matter of Noah's Ark, I would ask how the pair of butterflies have now evolved into over 15,000 species today?  After the flood waters receded, I wonder how Noah directed the kangaroos, koalas, etc., to practice celibacy until they reaches the shores of Australia!

In the Broadway musical, The King and I, the King of Siam expressed my sentiments exactly when he said:  "THAT is a PUZZLEMENT!"

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