"Age of Universe" from a "top level" per

SLAM: debunk creationism, pseudoscience, and superstitions. Discuss logic and morality.

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Magnetic
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"Age of Universe" from a "top level" per

Post by Magnetic »

I recently went to a chapel service and the speaker was a person who is high up in my denomination's heirarchy, . . . more on the non-biblical front, though. I can't go any further than that description out of respect for him, but he holds a very high job within my religious affilitation's business entity.

Anyway, he was talking about how vaste the universe is, how many millions of light years away celestial objects are, . . . . .so (I know him personally) I emailed him about how a christian person is to look at the subject of the Biblical genealogy (that being the earth and universe is some 6,000 years old), and how that conflicts with the light year distances, . . . . . . . and this is what he said:
With regard to the time frame question, the evidence is beyond overwhelming, and is now incontrovertible, that the universe is 13-14 billion years old, and that the earth is 5 billion years old. There are many ways that this can be proven. The bottom line, no matter what nonsense you may read on the internet, is that there is not one shred of evidence for a 6,000 year old universe. Any alleged “proofs” of a young universe are all bogus. One of the many death blows to a young universe, as you point out, is the speed of light. We can now measure, with great accuracy, objects out to 100 million light years, and with a fair amount of accuracy out to 13 billion light years. If the speed of light is constant, which we know it is (with perhaps a tiny fraction of one percent deviation over 14 billion years), then this is an insurmountable problem for those who believe in a 6,000 year old universe. They are left with one option – the appearance of age. That is, God deceived us into making the universe look 14 billion years old when in fact it is only 6,000 years old. Of course, this is absurd, and makes God out to be the great deceiver. The Bible says that God cannot lie, so this pathetic attempt to salvage young universe creationism must be rejected.
:o

Sadly, the actual religious leaders of my denomination would (and probably actually do) hold to the YEC. Of course, the person in the quote is VERY intelligent, so I'd be more apt to believe him anyway.

Just thought I'd let you know that not all Christians are uber-pious.
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Post by kheegster »

Not everyone who is religious is uber-pious, but unfortunately they are a small minority and exert little influence on the religion. Thus, their existence does not exonerate religion.
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Post by Magnetic »

kheegan wrote:Not everyone who is religious is uber-pious, but unfortunately they are a small minority and exert little influence on the religion. Thus, their existence does not exonerate religion.
By no means does it. However, the fact that someone who is high up in the organization that accepts the age of the universe as true is a step in the right direction. A step away from the literal. I find it hopeful! :)
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Post by The Guid »

kheegan wrote:Not everyone who is religious is uber-pious, but unfortunately they are a small minority and exert little influence on the religion. Thus, their existence does not exonerate religion.
But it means that not all religion need be condemned.
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Post by Metatwaddle »

kheegan wrote:Not everyone who is religious is uber-pious, but unfortunately they are a small minority
What makes you think they're a minority, and not just a quiet majority?
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Post by Zero »

I'd honestly say that majority aren't the uber-pious type, the others are just much much more vocal. Most people don't really care much about their religion. It's something they believe, but not something they worry about. I say this simply because most people that I talk to are christians, and most of them never care to say a thing unless asked. The more agressive religious attitudes tend to stick to the south.
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Post by General Zod »

Ah, I see we have an asshat using the tired old "But God made it look old!11!1!!!!1!" argument. Which has been defeated many a time.
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Post by Zero »

General Zod wrote:Ah, I see we have an asshat using the tired old "But God made it look old!11!1!!!!1!" argument. Which has been defeated many a time.
Actually, he mentioned that argument as an absurdity, if you actually manage to finish the bit.
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Post by General Zod »

Zero132132 wrote:
General Zod wrote:Ah, I see we have an asshat using the tired old "But God made it look old!11!1!!!!1!" argument. Which has been defeated many a time.
Actually, he mentioned that argument as an absurdity, if you actually manage to finish the bit.
*re-reads* Ah, righto then. In that case ignore my last post.
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Post by CmdrWilkens »

I would say that most poeple who enter into the heirarchy in any context are pious but they might not be quite so dogmatic. Piety is simply great devotion to a given faith rather than strict adherence to all its dogmatic tenants (at least in my book)
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Post by Drooling Iguana »

The Guid wrote:
kheegan wrote:Not everyone who is religious is uber-pious, but unfortunately they are a small minority and exert little influence on the religion. Thus, their existence does not exonerate religion.
But it means that not all religion need be condemned.
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Post by Magnetic »

CmdrWilkens wrote:I would say that most poeple who enter into the heirarchy in any context are pious but they might not be quite so dogmatic. Piety is simply great devotion to a given faith rather than strict adherence to all its dogmatic tenants (at least in my book)
Your point is well taken. I should change that from uber-pious to uber-dogmatic.

Thanks, CmdrWilkens! :)
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Post by Pint0 Xtreme »

Discombobulated wrote:
kheegan wrote:Not everyone who is religious is uber-pious, but unfortunately they are a small minority
What makes you think they're a minority, and not just a quiet majority?
In the United States, this is truer than most Americans would like to admit.
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