Yes, dear reader, once again, the most wonderful day of the year will soon be upon us. April First is the universally recognized day for celebrating the genius of creationists — not only here on Earth, but throughout the whole galaxy.
To add to your holiday joy, take a look at a column we found in The Northern Virginia Daily, titled Beware of fools in April!, written by George Bowers, the Senior Pastor of Antioch Church. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:
A fool is one who believes a lie. We often lump someone who is gullible into this category too for being so undiscerning. In this day of scams and sophisticated thefts, it can be very costly to believe certain lies.
Costly indeed. Then the rev says:
Of course the surest way to determine the truth is by examining the evidence. … This method is most valuable in protecting ourselves from internet scammers and those who try to sell us oceanfront property in Iowa. Do your homework. Check the map. Examine the evidence before committing cash, energy or emotions to someone’s claims.
Good advice. And here’s more:
If a stranger promises you millions from their Kenyan bank account, you’re wise to delete that email or at least check with the Better Business Bureau before replying. And if someone says they really love you, scrutinize their actions before trusting them with your heart. By wanting something to be true that isn’t, many have become fools.
That’s great, but what about creationism? Here it comes:
Even more costly is to believe lies that could have eternal consequences. Some say that science has disproven the existence of a Supreme Being while others deny any possibility of an afterlife. Often these types of claims are marketed in the same package and we would be wise to examine the label before we purchase them. Eternity is a very long time to be a fool.
Good advice indeed! The rev continues:
Although some Christian beliefs must be taken by faith, this becomes much easier once one has carefully researched the many objective facts that are readily available. Consider, for instance the infinitely small possibility that our universe could have come into existence by random factors and the even smaller chance that life could have arisen accidentally. Even many non-Christian scientists now realize these claims are false.
Yes, obviously false. Let’s read on:
Attempting to disprove the Creator, researchers have actually proven His necessity whether or not they believe in the Biblical One. [How did that happen?] So many processes and ratios have to be precisely tuned to very tight tolerances that even one of them would be unlikely to have arisen randomly, while all of them together is statistically impossible.
Ah yes, the fine tuning argument. See The Discoveroids’ Proof of Fine Tuning. Skipping a bit, the rev gets really serious:
Most importantly, we must examine the claims of Jesus’ resurrection. If you can disprove that, you can dismiss His statements about both His Heavenly Father (God) and the afterlife, for He mentioned both heaven and hell numerous times. … To deny this event simply because it is uncomfortable or seems impossible or because His teachings condemn our behavior, is to fail to check the most important claim of all time. If it is true, dismissing it without serious research will result in an eternally foolish decision.
Egad — eternally foolish! The rev goes on a bit more, we’ll leave him here. And because tomorrow is April Fool’s Day, we’re declaring another Intellectual Free Fire Zone. Please use the comments for the discussion of pretty much anything — science, politics, economics, whatever — as long as it’s tasteful and interesting. Banter, babble, bicker, bluster, blubber, blather, blab, blurt, burble, boast — say what you will. But avoid flame-wars and beware of the profanity filters.
We now throw open the comments to you, dear reader. Have at it!
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