Is Our Freedom Being Taken Through the Medium of Science?

I watched this eye-opening documentary yesterday and I wanted to share it with you. It had been recommended to me more times than I remember, so I am glad I finally got around to watching it. Maybe you can make some time for it during your Thanksgiving break (don't worry, it's not in black and white). Feel free to share your thoughts about it below.

Cherry Picking Data?

Creationists research is sometimes disqualified by evolutionists because they are said to be biased towards certain information - that they cherry pick their data. The aim of science is to be objective as evidence is gathered. Evolutionists refuse to consider catastrophic events that are outlined in the Bible (such as a world-wide flood) because they don't want to introduce religion into their work. Creationists believe that the Bible has important clues to the creation of the world so do not discount it.  This is considered bias. In my opinion, the bias is in not being willing to consider the events - but I digress...

It is dishonest to claim that one doesn't have a bias. Every person has a paradigm with which they view the world. Even when a scientist is trying to be objective, he/she still needs to acknowledge that they have biases they may not be aware of.

Objectivity is best achieved when scientist admit there is bias when they look at and interpret evidence. Scientists are dishonest when they deny this fact.

Is there proof of bias in evolutionary perspective? The following video shares a good case study about how this happens even with well-respected researchers when it comes to guessing the age of a discovery. It also teaches us why various radiometric dating methods seem to confirm each other even though many claim that these dates are not close to accurate.

Assignment:
Watch: Complete creation 21 starting at 3:10 (25 min)

Write: Thoughts, questions or insights you had from the video in the comments below

Outcomes of Faith in Evolution

On Thursday, Vince Newmeyer gave a lecture about how not believing  in God could affect a society. There are certain assumptions about the meaning of life and the worth of individuals that stem from our belief of our origin.

We also learned of the agenda by the National Science Standards leaders to teach only evidence for evolution at early ages so that children come around to that way of thinking even if taught differently in the home.

After watching his lecture and/or the youtube video below, please comment below on the possible outcomes you see for individuals or society when the evolution of man becomes what we believe in.

The following YouTube video does a good job of showing that evolution is a belief system (it is not possible to believe in it without faith in things you cannot see). It also does a good job of showing some of the outcomes of that belief system in the choices we make regarding human life.

Does it Matter if Evolution is True?

The most common statement I hear when people start discussing evolution is something like this: "It doesn't matter - if God used evolution to create the Earth, that's fine. If he didn't that's fine too. It doesn't make a difference to my faith."

Does it not matter either way? For this week's assignment we will look at one reason it may matter a lot.

1. Listen (click on "listen" at the top of the article):
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/09/138957812/evangelicals-question-the-existence-of-adam-and-eve

2. Watch:
https://youtu.be/BA_46qTBag0

What about their claim that the genome is absolute proof that Adam and Eve did not exist? Is it true? Well, once again, it depends on your assumptions as you look at the evidence.

3. Watch: https://youtu.be/oRJE6mQ3PY0
(For a more detailed account of Dr. Carter's research, see this article: http://creation.com/historical-adam-biologos#endRef1

4. Please comment below with your thoughts!

P.S. Thanks to everyone who was able to make it to the geology hike! It was really fascinating. I wrote some of my experience here, but it's kind of personal so maybe don't read it if you don't know me because you'll likely misunderstand my intent in sharing my  thoughts :-) Happy learning!

What Does the Fossil Record Tell Us?

All right everyone, we get to go on a hike this Saturday to examine the geological evidence of a creator. Vince Newmeyer is coming with us and guiding us through the science there. Unfortunately, we probably won't be able to film it for those of you who cannot make it because he will be sharing information that has not yet been published - but isn't it cool that we'll get to hear some awesome research from a scientist who has been studying this canyon for 8 years?! What an opportunity!

If you have been doing our study group, but have not commented, please comment on the assignments so that I know you are participating and I can get you an invite to our hike. You need to have done this assignment and last 3 assignments to be ready for this field trip.

At A Glance:

1. Learn:
Video 1: Watch from 20:15 through the end (7 minutes)
Video 2: Watch from beginning to 11:00 (11 minutes)
Video 3: Watch it all (9 minutes)

2. Understand:
Review past 3 assignments and comment on the comment section if you haven't already

3. Teach:
Comment below with questions, thoughts or insights. I hope you will come with lots of questions for Vince during our hike. It might help to look at some arguments that refute some of the things we've been learning about so he can help clarify any confusion. 

Total: 27 minutes

 Assignments:
I heard from some of you that you enjoyed the videos about geologic columns. I really like watching Ian Juby, he is entertaining, intelligent, and informative. We will be hearing from him in these first 2 videos. I hope you enjoy the 3rd super cheesy video as well. It may be silly, but they teach some important points in an entertaining way.

Video 1 (from 20:15-end):



Video 2 (from beginning to 11:00):



Video 3 (all of it):

Geologic Columns - What do they tell us?

At a Glance (see videos below):

1: Watch 4 video clips:
Watch 5 minutes of video 1 
Watch 11 minutes of video 2
Watch 11 minutes of video 3
Watch 12 minutes of video 4
 Total: 39 minutes

2. Further Study anything that was interesting to you from the videos (see ideas below)

3. Comment below with questions, thoughts or insights

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This week's assignments - Geologic Columns:

I hope you found the findings of soft tissue and Carbon-14 in dinosaur bones interesting.  Like some of you said, it doesn't hurt to examine our assumptions once in a while. I found it interesting that no one thought to question the age of the bones since the age is so ingrained into our beliefs.

Why is it ingrained? Several reasons. The geologic time scale is one of them. Here is what most of us have learned about Geologic Time. See if you can pick out the assumptions before reading on.

Watch from 1:15-6:25
Video 1


We'll talk about glaciers and fossils later, but for now, let's focus on the geologic column. The video sites the principle of superposition, which, as you will see below, has been falsified.
One assumption they make is that the same thing that is causing weathering now is what caused weathering always.

But if there was something that happened to the earth in the past that is not occurring right now (such as a world-wide flood). Then that assumption would be wrong. Things that presumably take millions of years to form could form very, very quickly if the earth was flooded with water at one point. Is there evidence of a world wide flood?

The more I read and watch, the more I find that the evidence is overwhelming. Here is a snippet:

Watch from 16:07 - 27:25
Video 2:

Watch from 0:50-11:30
Video 3: 


Watch from 2:30-14:47:
Video 4:


2. Further Study Ideas:
Grand Canyon
Tapeats Sandstone
Shinumo Quartzite in Green Shale
Austin Chalk, Dr. Erik Ager - cretaceous seas
Mount Everest Fossil Clams
Lyell

3. Comment below with questions, thoughts or insights.

Soft Tissue and Carbon-14 Found Inside Dinosaur Bones - What Does it Mean?

Assignments at a Glance (see videos below):

1. Learn:
Watch: Video 1 (5 min) and Video 2 (3 min)
Read: Article 1 (about 5 min) and Article 2 (about 2 min)
Watch: Video 3 (12 min)
Total: 27 minutes

2. Research: Further Study (suggestions below)

3. Teach: Comment with question, thought or insight below

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Assignments - Soft Tissue and Carbon 14 in Dinosaur Bones
Thank-you for your comments and questions last week. I enjoyed thinking about the things you brought up. An analogy hit me as I was hiking (after a comment about how the age of rocks is measured.) Correct me if I'm wrong, but I learned that some rocks are "born" after they cool to a certain temperature that closes up the changing atoms and isotopes within them. This is when the rock starts to "decay" (or the unstable atoms start loosing matter and energy from their nuclei).

The atoms can turn into different elements or isotopes as they loose this energy and matter. Scientist measure the rate of decay, and that is how they come up with the age of the rock. We learned last week that they need to make several assumptions in this measurement, such as the assumption that the enclosed rock had 100% parent atoms (atoms that have only the original radioactive element in them) and 0 daughter atoms (atoms that have lost some of the matter and energy from the nuclei). Yet, this has never been the case in any "newborn" rocks they measure.

Anyway, it occurred to me that when we have the spirit of God in our hearts - our hearts are open to change and ready to love. It is when our hearts grow cold that they start to "decay" and we loose that energy, or life force, that helps us feel and love. So it is important that we keep our hearts warm by doing things that invite that Spirit into our hearts. Gospel principles are found all over nature. It's like God's book for us to study.

Ready for more interesting discoveries? Here are the videos and articles for the week:
1. Watch and Read:

Video 1:


And:

Video 2:
Following are some findings that conclude that chemical bonds in the DNA structure have an average half life of only 521 years at 13.1C. They then summarized that it is impossible to find DNA from creatures living tens or hundreds of millions of years ago. One calculation claimed that DNA, even several million years old, would be undetectable:

Read:  https://news.ncsu.edu/2012/10/tpschweitzer-bone/
and http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/32799/title/Half-Life-of-DNA-Revealed/

In particular, pay attention to the assumptions in these videos and readings and the conclusions drawn from the assumptions.

Also watch:

 

2. Further study:

• Anything of interest to you in these topics (including things that refute the evidence presented here.) I was going to add a video that refutes the evidence for you to study - they all blame it on contamination -  but I couldn't find any without swear words, so be cautious as you search.
• Webpage of the group that did the testing:  http://www.dinosaurc14ages.com/carbondating.htm
• Video of their presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbdH3l1UjPQ

3. Comment below with assumptions and conclusions you noticed, and/or with questions or principles you learned from your study.

Getting Started

Welcome to the first assignment. Each week is broken down into 3 parts (learn, study and teach). "Learn" gives you information, "Study" gives you understanding as you work to make sense of the information. "Teach" will ask you to formulate that information into your own thoughts or questions - which helps it stay in your mind and opens you up to inspired application. I try to keep each week to less than one hour of work, but it may be more depending on your curiosity. This week is a little longer than an hour because the second video really clarified the dating methods for me, but it is a little long.

At a Glance:
1. Learn:
Watch Video 1 (11 min)
Video 2 (25 min)
Video 3: (10 min)
Total: 46 min

2. Research (see further study ideas below)

3. Teach: Comment below with a question, thought or insight


"Getting Started" Reading and Assignments:

I was warned not to start with the age of the earth when bringing up alternate viewpoints to evolution. It is too unconventional and it turns people off. There is lots of other evidence against evolution that has nothing to do with the age of the earth. However, this sparked my interest so I am asking others to keep an open mind and look at some of these theories just to be aware that they are out there and that the evidence shows that they are plausible. Most of us believe that the Earth is very old. We were brought up on the evidence that shows it to be so. Maybe it is, but we tend to think that anyone who thinks otherwise is a little delusional or uneducated - at least that's what I used to think when I would hear such talk. I felt bad for those stubborn enough to look past the evidence and insist on a literal reading of the Bible.

Then I met some of these people in person. They were very intelligent, leaders in their fields, and passionate about finding truth and evidence. They were kind, respectful, and practical. I was forced to ask myself if they knew something I did not know. Given my scientific background, that was an easy jump to make.

I started looking at some of the books, videos and articles they referenced in their conversation... I was surprised to find that there is a world of evidence that I was never told about in school. I learned that the understanding of what it means to separate church and state makes it so that schools do not teach anything that testifies of a creator. Instead they teach evolution. And evolution requires a very old earth.

Since I want to have a balanced understanding of the evidence, and I want that for my kids and those I mentor, I started this study group for us to research it together. I hope others will join us in our journey.

I thought it would be best to start our studies with some information about the methods used to date the Earth. The reason for this is that it helps to open our minds to the fact that these dates may not be as accurate as we have been led to believe. Once we are open to that, we may be more open to evidence based on different assumptions.

1. Learn - Watch:
Video 1:

Video 2:

And Video 3:
 

 2. Study - Do your own research about anything you want to study in more depth about dating methods or anything else mentioned.

Some Further Reasearch Ideas: 
- Do a word study on "Rock" (look up the definition, look up scriptures and words of prophets, write your own definition that includes an application to how you live your life).

-Read or research more about:

• Radiodating-
• The history of skull 1470 (some info can be found in Complete Creation part 21 on Wazooloo)
• Mars Rock alh84001 
• Dr Steve Austin- Mt St Helens Radiodating
• Analysis Calibration 
• Paluxy river in Glenrose Texas (famous for dinosaur and human footprints) 
• Analysis of Excess c14 in geologic record by Sanders
• Rate project volume 2
• Co2 Wells and c14 - deep Wells - deep time? By Daughty 
• C14 in oil, coal, fossils, dinasour bones or diamonds 
• Dinosaur Amber c14 by Miller et al

3. Teach: Post what you learned about below and any thoughts you had as you watched and studied. Be sure to share something that will be applicable to your life (someway you can live better because of what you learned - if you phrase it in the form of a goal or action item that's a bonus!)