Falwell Confidential: DEFINING CREATIONISM

[meegbear]

Falwell Confidential
Insider weekly newsletter to The Moral Majority Coalition and The Liberty Alliance
http://www.moralmajority.us <http://www.moralmajority.us/>

Date: May 19, 2005
From: Jerry Falwell

DEFINING CREATIONISM

If we are to believe Vanity Fair columnist Christopher Hitchens, people who believe in creationism — the belief that the designed university actually has a Designer — are idiots.

I can almost see Mr. Hitchens smiling under his tousled hair saying, “Yeah, Falwell. That’s right.”

In a recent Wall Street Journal article titled, “Why I'm Rooting Against the Religious Right,” Mr. Hitchens defines the conservative Christian faction as a “creeping and creepy movement” that is “trying to force government leaders into following their position 100%.”

That is certainly a simplistic — and wildly exaggerated — way to define the efforts of religious conservatives who want to preserve their rapidly disappearing rights in this great land. In appearing on the daily talk shows to promote the article, Mr. Hitchens has specifically gone to great lengths to define Creationism as “nonsense” and to belittle those who dare to disbelieve that the universe just randomly appeared.

Well, even though our era’s fashionable intellectuals seek to disparage those who embrace biblical truth, I want to proudly state that I am a Creationist.

In fact, Liberty University will be co-hosting a Creation Mega Conference ( http://www.answersingenesis.org/events/megaconference/ <http://www.answersingenesis.org/events/megaconference/> ), in concert with Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis, July 17-22 on the Liberty campus in Lynchburg, Va.

I would like to use this column to personally invite Mr. Hitchens to come to Lynchburg to attend the conference so that he can learn that Creationism is not just the whim of a bunch of snake-handling mountain evangelists.

This conference will be led by an assemblage of brilliant men, scientists who have dedicated their lives to the study of the earth and its history.

The conference features an impressive list of speakers from a wide range of disciplines. Topics will include everything from human origins and Noah’s Ark to fossils and the big bang.

Speakers will include Dr. Werner Gitt from Germany, Dr. Jonathan Sarfati from Australia and Dr. John Whitcomb, co-author of “The Genesis Flood” with Dr. Henry Morris, will also be one of the speakers. (This book is largely credited with establishing the modern creationist movement.)

Liberty University’s own Dr. David DeWitt says this Creation Mega Conference is especially designed to equip Christians to defend the Genesis account of creation and biblical authority. Pastors and teachers will be given information that they can use to teach others. Parents will be shown how to counter evolutionary arguments that their children might be exposed to in school or on television. Young and old will be encouraged in their faith as they see evidence that supports the truth of the Bible.

By the way, Dr. DeWitt has been publishing and doing research on Alzheimer’s disease for more than a decade. He will be one of the featured speakers at the Creation Mega Conference, speaking on “Molecular Evidence for Creation.”

The Liberty faculty and our guest speakers hope that many people who are skeptical about creation will come to the conference to see high-quality, scientific presentations supporting biblical creation. They may be very surprised what they see.

Dr. DeWitt believes that biblical authority and origins are two of the most pressing issues for the Christian church today.

Answers in Genesis founder Ken Ham, who will be the moderator of our Creation Mega Conference, often states, “If you can’t trust the Bible’s history, how can you trust its morality?” Christians must be equipped to defend their faith and be prepared to give an answer to everyone who challenges them on their views.

Readers who are interested in creation or have questions about origins are encouraged to join us for the, July 17-22.

Visit our website to learn more about this special event or to register to attend: http://www.answersingenesis.org/events/megaconference/ <http://www.answersingenesis.org/events/megaconference/>

And Mr. Hitchens, I’ll be looking for you in July. If you’re going to beat us up all the time, I encourage you to at least come and see what we really believe and on what we base those sincerely-held beliefs!

[liberal N proud]

1. What a pompous ass!

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. I still don't see why they get their panties in a bunch like this. I have

no trouble being a theistic evolutionist, myself.

And they are trying hard to get there too, except they are too proud to accept the possibility that man evolved from an ape-like ancestor, who evolved from primordial goo.

It is not that big of stretch, "reverend" to say that God invented everything INCLUDING evolution.

You can say it Jerry, you know you can. Just TRY.

Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/liberalchristians.htm

[slackmaster]

3. Jerry's pushing a degenerate form of Christianity

I've started using the term "degenerate Christianity" as distingushed from the kind I learned as a child, which regards mankind's abilities to observe and reason and learn as gifts from God.

I remember being in Sunday school at about age 8, and having our class directly address the apparent contradictions between the biblical creation story which I have referred to as the "Genesis myth" since an enlightened teacher called it that in 10th grade English class.

The Sunday school teacher told us that the Holy Bible had been through many language translations and much of it should be taken as allegory rather than literal historical truth. That was a Presbyterian church BTW.

I gave up Christian dogma by age 16 but kept the essential moral values taught in church. I'm a third-generation atheist on my father's side. My mom is Christian but not dogmatic, and she wanted to make sure I had a chance to make up my own mind. I did.

[toddaa]

4. The critical statement in this letter

Liberty University’s own Dr. David DeWitt says this Creation Mega Conference is especially designed to equip Christians to defend the Genesis account of creation and biblical authority. Pastors and teachers will be given information that they can use to teach others. Parents will be shown how to counter evolutionary arguments that their children might be exposed to in school or on television. Young and old will be encouraged in their faith as they see evidence that supports the truth of the Bible.


This is why Americans are by and large, intellectually and culturally inferior to the rest of the world. We no longer rely on reason or critical thinking. Instead, we go collect a handful of "debating points" that have been preselected for us so that we can win some sort of argument tennis match. And it's not just the religious right who engages in this silly cut and paste argument technique, although they usually are the most pathetic. I wince everytime someone posts a "help me counter this email" message to DU. I know that most times people are just trying to get their facts straight, but what I suspect is happening is that someone's ideological position is being challenged by new information and they want a quick and easy argument to fight it off so they can go back to their comfy reality tunnel.

Whose fault is this? All of ours. We've removed logic and rhetoric from our schools, nobody gives a damn about reasoned debate, and worst of all, we treat philosophy as complete waste of time. When schools look to cut corners so that kids can focus on becoming professional multiple choice test takers, we don't have to worry about philosophy being one of the cuts. It's NEVER been taught in our schools.

And into this vacuum, enter Jerry Falwell and cut and paste cretins.