Articles – April, 2010
CSI, Cold Case, and GPS’s (Part 2)
Written by Mike Webb; 4/30/2010
So what, you may be asking, does <em>CSI</em> have to do with Creation Science or Naturalism?
Science operates in much the same way as our CSIers do. At least the historical sciences do. Anthropology and archeology are good examples. Archeologists dig (yeah, I know – I made a bad pun) for clues in ancient civilizations trying to put together what everyday life looked like and how different events unfolded. Are they 100% correct? They may be, but probably not. Who knows! If no one was there as an eyewitness, much of it is a circumstantial “best guess.” It’s terrific when a written record can be found to verify their conclusions. Unfortunately, too often, written records necessitate archeologists going back to revamp and revise their models as more details are revealed.
Naturalist scientists in fields such as genetics, astronomy, biology, etc… are in the same position when they try to posit on origins; origins of the universe and of life itself. They dig and dig trying to find evidence. This evidence, however, doesn’t “say” anything on its own. It has to be interpreted. Is there a way of doing so with 100% accuracy? To quote myself, “There may be, but probably not. Who knows! If no one was there as an eyewitness, much of it is a circumstantial ‘best guess’.”
Now, I don’t mean to imply that Creationists have all the answers as to the exact sequence of events in Earth’s past history. We do have the main sequence of events. Even better, we have a written record – The Word of God. To quote myself again, “It’s terrific when a written record can be found to verify their conclusions.”
“Ah-ha!” the secularist will shout, “You start with a position that can’t be studied. ‘God’ can’t be studied or proven.”
I admit that is correct. But let’s be completely, intellectually honest, the other side has some unanswerable, un-testable questions of their own.
I can hear the screams now – “Wha…?! What questions are there to which we have no answers?”
I don’t have the time or space to cover them all. I encourage you to actually do some research. Ask yourself a hard question, and then try to find a 100% completely satisfying answer.
Here’s one that stumps me: where did the matter or energy or whatever was there in the beginning come from? Don’t know for certainty? No one does! That one is sort of like asking, “Where did God come from?”
Here’s another question for you: where and how did life originate? Did it crawl up out of some primordial soup? Know one knows for certain, regardless of what you have been told. You see, it’s un-testable. You would have to completely duplicate the conditions present at the time. What were they? Beats me; I wasn’t there. Nor was anyone else!
A related question: “How do we know animals have evolved from one kind to another?” We don’t see it happening in front of us and we can’t make it happen. Not true “evolution.” We can see mutations and we see variety in animals, but we don’t see the “links” we are supposed to see.
“What about Archaeopteryx? That’s a link!”
Is it? I see a fully functional, original bird that happens to have teeth. Who’s right? How can you be certain? The fossils don’t offer up any more info other than what they are – fossilized remains of organic material/
So, like a good detective, keep an open mind to all of the possibilities. Keep studying, testing, and digging. Keep trying to piece together the past. But remember, without an eyewitness, you’re dealing with circumstantial evidence. Like any CSI knows, it may, or may not, be enough for a conviction.
CSI, Cold Case, and GPSs
by: Mike Webb, 4/24/10
Our upcoming trip to the Creation Museum started me reminiscing about our last trip there 2 years ago. To people of faith, it was incredibly affirming. To those with no, or a questioning, faith, you may wonder why, or how, anyone could possibly believe “that nonsense.” After all, science has definitively shown the Creationist position to be just silly. Hasn’t it?
On our way to the Museum, we chose to use our GPS. I really like the female Australian voice on our GPS – “her” name is Karen. Now, I know, as a general rule, if you’re traveling someplace serviced by the Interstate network, they are the best choice to get to where you’re going rapidly. But this trip, we chose to listen to Karen. If you’ve ever had a female navigator, you know this not a great idea. Karen is no exception. Karen is terrific at finding addresses when you are nearby, but she really needs to learn about our interstates here. Things must be different in Australia. Karen chose to take us off of the Interstate system. Talk about a long trip. The miles may have been shorter, but you’ll never gain any time by going through small towns with 35 mph speed limits.
There were 5 of us on that trip. Leave it to the youngest of the bunch to remind us of a truism. Perhaps because the younger folks are more technologically literate than us old folks, she also realizes the limitations of that technology better than we do. Jennifer reminded us that, “just because we have the technology, we shouldn’t turn our brains off.” Hmm, shouldn’t turn our brains off. That works for more than figuring out directions.
Secularists tend to complain that Creationists are the ones who have a “mindless” faith, or of “checking our brains at the door.” But really, don’t they do the same? Aren’t they rather accepting, uncritically, of whatever “science” says is a “proven fact” and is the “truth?”
So, if you’ll bear with me for a second let’s turn our brains “on” and, like the characters in our title’s TV shows, play detective.
If you’re a fan of the CSI you’re aware of how they operate. The investigators dig and dig, gathering evidence and piecing it together to create a picture of what happened during the crime. CSI always “get their man.” Unfortunately, CSI is not real. I know, I know … I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but it’s …well, television. Make believe. Fantasy.
The truth is, real life CSI doesn’t always get the bad guy. If they did, there wouldn’t be a Cold Case. That show exists because there are some times when the evidence doesn’t point to an undeniable conclusion. Or, because there is some missing evidence, hidden, undiscovered evidence: the picture is incomplete. Or worse, one critical, missing piece can point in the wrong direction entirely.
Next post – find out what all this means for you and for me.
