Tip #
3: As you work through the sections on evolution, remember that textbooks only give a highly-biased fraction of the story. Often evidence for evolution that
seems very compelling completely collapses on closer examination. Make
use of resources such as Refuting Evolution, The Creation Answers Book or the
Creation Ministries International website. Virtually all the questions or objections you will
encounter in the classroom have already been addressed extensively.
Case
Study: Radiometric Dating
Biology
textbooks often touch on radiometric dating methods (carbon dating,
uranium-lead, etc.) and claim that these prove that the earth is billions of
years old. Sadly, many people accept the
claims at face value because they sound so mathematical and precise. Once, I was invited by a high-school Bible
club to do presentations on creation to one of the club members’ grade 12
biology class. Because I thought
radiometric dating was such a dull topic, I did not address it until the last
presentation. I was very surprised to
find that the radiometric dating presentation evoked more questions than any
other. It was as if the evolutionist
students and teachers had assumed radiometric dating was irrefutable, and when
I challenged it, it really startled them and shook their faith. So, don’t be
afraid to challenge radiometric dating claims.
Creationist physicists and geologists have done extensive research this area, and, like the other evidences presented in textbooks, this
ends up being very compatible with the creationist view. For example,
- Carbon-14 (the radioactive kind) decays relatively quickly, so that any material older than at most a few hundred thousand years old should have no measurable carbon-14. However, virtually all fossils do. Carbon-14 has even been found in diamonds, thought to be billions of years old. The presence of radioactive carbon in these specimens is totally consistent with the Biblical timescale of thousands of years, but certainly inconsistent with the supposed billions of years of evolution.
- Rock specimens of known (young) ages still give radiometric dates of hundred thousands or millions of years old, such as the 50-year-old rock samples from Mt. Ngauruhoe that were radiometrically dated as over a million years old. This sort of thing doesn’t really inspire confidence in the millions-of-years dates claimed for rocks whose actual ages we don’t know!
Extra Credit: When introducing new evidence not presented in textbooks,
be as prepared as possible. Make your
point quickly and clearly. Since the
teacher will probably not be aware of creationist research that contradicts the
textbook’s claims, you might also bring a copy of the article or book and offer
to leave it with the teacher. (Some
teachers will have enough time and interest to read the material and some won’t,
but at least you’ll demonstrate that you've done your research. And maybe another
student will be interested even if the teacher isn’t.)
See also:
These references and tips for students are great - I am passing them along. Thank you!!
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