On August 20th, creationist Terry Mortenson presented a lecture on “Millions of Years” at the infamous Creation Museum, in Petersburg, Kentucky, attempting once again to explain how the Earth is a mere 6,000 years old, and that the idea of a world “millions or billions” of years old is the result of some kind of 19th century anti-biblical conspiracy by a cabal of sinister geologists. More noteworthy, of course, is biologist PZ Myers’ essay that lays down the scientific facts in refutation of Terry Mortenson’s lecture.
Says Myers: “When fundamentalists tie their faith absolutely to a claim that is easily refuted, that contradicts the evidence, and that requires them to constantly escalate their denial and delusions in order to sustain their belief, it makes it really easy for atheists to demolish their religion. We don’t even need to attack religion in the classroom at all — we just calmly lay out the facts, let the students work out the conclusions, and sometimes…it’s epiphany time!”
Read more of Myers’ essay on “Millions of Years” at his excellent blog Pharyngula, highlighting the history of 19th century scientific discoveries that lead to the conclusion that Earth is millions (indeed billions) of years old, despite the deep religious beliefs of the scientists themselves.
