Discussion of John MacKay's Views

Hi EilidhIs there any chance of getting Mr John Mackay to actually take part in this debate himself? I understand that you are personal friends with him? Woud you ask him?You have freely admitted that you are ill equipped to defend his views against those with more scientific training than yourself.
Would John Mackay not be interested in defending his own work from the fairly detailed attacks that have already been made on it?It would be an interesting discussion and test of his position don't you think?A debate with a real life 'creationist scientist' rather than someone re-iterating the views and findings of others would be worth seeing (and taking part in!).

I wait with eager anticipation.

Hi Eilidh
That is quite disappointing. I really was hoping to see a written, permanently recorded debate with a creationist scientist which would be open to all to view and assess.
Such a debate relies on the evidence and arguments presented 'doing the talking' rather than the charisma and showmanship of the debators.I am sure that Mr John Mackay is an execellent public speaker and showman. I have no doubt that in a one on one verbal debate he is extremely entertaining, convincing and adept at presenting his case as superior.However I am infinitely more interested in the detailed arguments and evidence of the creationist viewpoint than the personalities of those presenting them.To my knowledge no fully fledged creationist scientist has EVER taken part in a forum style publicly viewable written debate before.Mr John McKay would truly be a trailblazer in his field if he were to agree to take part in such a debate!!!
It also avoids all the logistical problems of a face to face single point encounter (travel, expense, availability etc. etc.)If he wants a 1 on 1 debate rather than a mass exchange that is a perfectly fair request. There are a number of willing participants here at EvC who will take on that challenge (Dr Adequate has already started along that track and could continue)Would you pass on my comments to Mr McKay and suggest to him the compromise of a written forum 1 on 1 debate rather than the more superficial presentation he is suggesting?I look forward to hearing back from you (and John MacKay!) soon

Is there a single recognised creation scientist who is willing to take part in a publicly viewable written debate?Can Mr Mackay reccommend or suggest any suitably qualified creation scientists to present the creationist case in his place?Will you ask him that?There must be one!!!This should be a new EvC campaign - To have a publicly recognised (i.e. one who regularly contributes to official creationist literature) creation scientist take part in a written forum debate.How can we present the challenge to the official creationist movement?

Thanks for the link.I actually think the "neo-creo" put the case they were trying to make surprisingly well in this example!! True they avoided the detailed issues and completely conceded ground on a true literal biblical interpretation..... but still.However the devil is in the detail and this was much more of a "state of the debate" with a related overview of the scientific issues sort of discussion.It would be great to see a detailed scientific discussion of specific evidence as per the Dr Adequate post within this thread or numerous recent examples of RAZ on the age of the Earth.Is there a creation scientist who will oblige?

Exactly the sort of thing I had in mind.If it could be widely publicised via creationist sites then it could really kick off.Without wanting to place the burden of responsibility on any particular potentially unwilling participant - I think that there are a number of candidates amongst the existing EvC ranks who could do the job more than adequately.In the unlikely event that a creationist "expert" comes forward we could have EvC debate candidtaes put themselves forward and then an "election" of some sort..........